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Steelers 30, Seahawks 23.
Q. How much does this one hurt, that you kind of lost control of the playoff situation?
GENO SMITH: Yeah, that hurts. You know, it hurts whenever you lose. It hurts whenever you lose.
We wanted to control our own destiny, obviously, like you said. We can't do that anymore. But there's no time for us to kind of feel sorry for ourselves. We've got another game to play. Still got a chance, still got an opportunity, so next week is going to be big for us.
I think the message is to keep going, as always, to keep going and keep fighting.
Q. Did you have any sense of the blindside hit there? Obviously you lost the ball but were still trying to throw.
GENO SMITH: Yeah, guy made a good play. It's a game full of plays. We played -- I don't know how many snaps we had today. I felt like we were clean for the most part, and that one they got us. But again, those things happen in football games, and I don't think one play per se can be the difference in the game. I think we had more opportunities to make it happen, and we just didn't get it done.
Q. You said there's no time to feel sorry for yourselves. What's going to be the process the next couple days?
GENO SMITH: Yeah, I think the process is to go back to work. That's the main thing for me. Shoot, I'm going to keep working hard. I'm going to work my butt off, get back to the weight room in the morning, get back to the film room, figure out a way to be better next week.
That's all I can do is continue to work my tail off, continue to help the guys get better, continue to lead this team. Like I said, we got a chance, we got opportunities still in front of us, so nobody is going to feel sorry around here. We're going to pick it up and keep going.
Q. Outside of the fumble, what were the biggest issues in your mind on offense today?
GENO SMITH: I think just overall, if you're going to be honest, teams are playing keep away. You've got teams running the ball, milking the clock in the first quarter. That's been the past two weeks. I think that's the ultimate sign of respect when teams are doing that.
I think when they're playing a bunch of zones they're not going to play us in man coverage, they're going to try their best to keep us on the sideline because they know how explosive we are.
I think, again, not turning the ball over, that's a big factor in the game, and then overall being better on 3rd downs. I think we were 3 for 9. That's not up to our standard.
Then finishing in the red zone. That's some things that we talk about every week, but it's got to be better, and that's all we can do is continue to fight and get better.
Q. You had emotional comeback wins the last couple weeks. Do you think that took anything out of you for this week?
GENO SMITH: No, I think we were prepared. I think guys came out and were ready. I know I was. I felt like I was ready for the game and really excited for this one. Like I said, it's a tough football game.
The Steelers are playing for their season, as well. It came down to a couple plays here and there. It was a really close game, really hard-fought game between two good teams. Today it was their day.
We got things that we've got to clean up on our side of the ball. We've got things that we've got to clean up as a team. That's all we need to focus on is getting better. Nothing else besides getting better.
Q. You got a front row seat to some of the plays that Ken made today. What did you see on some of those big runs he had?
GENO SMITH: Shoot, man, that's Ken Walker. We've seen that all year. We've seen that since he's gotten here. He continues to show up, get the ball in his hands and watch the magic happen. As a matter of fact, go get a block. Don't watch the magic happen, get a block because that guy is going to make something happen.
We're blessed to have a guy like that on our team. I tell him every single day he's one of the best, one of the best I've seen with the ball in his hands, and we've got to keep getting it to him because he's that special.
Q. (Indiscernible).
GENO SMITH: Yeah, Stone and Olu, always, all season, they've stepped up when their opportunities have arised. Today was another example of that. I thought both Olu and Stone stepped in and got to it and things kept rolling.
I thought those guys played a great game. I thought they helped us get down the field. I know it's not easy anytime you've got to step in coming in cold off the sideline, but their mentality I thought made it happen, and those guys are ready.
They understood their assignments, and they came out and they did what they had to do.
Q. You mentioned that -- you kind of talked to us about 3rd down and red zone stuff all year long. What do you make of those things being an issue in a game that you had to have?
GENO SMITH: Man, it's football. Shoot, they're going to stop us sometime. That's one of the best red zone defenses in football. They've got great players on their side. You're not going to score every single time you touch the ball, although that's the goal. The reality is that sometimes they stop you.
I think one of those trips down there we had two chances to score, we had the ball in the right place, and just the play didn't happen.
We always say it's a game of inches, and sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way, and you can't feel sorry about it. You've got to keep going.
Q. This time last year you guys needed some help to get in the playoffs. You're in the same position this year.
GENO SMITH: Yeah, again, I never imagined we'd be in this situation again, but here we are. What we can do is continue to fight, get ready for next week.
Arizona played a great game today, came up with a win, and we know they're going to fight all the way to the end.
Next week is not going to be an easy game. We've got to go out there in their place and make it happen. We're the type of team that's going to always bounce back. We've got the right leadership. We've got the right coaches, right players, and we're going to make it happen. We're going to find a way to make it happen.
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FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports