Patriots - 23
Dolphins - 21
BB: We'll start with really proud of the team, the staff, the team. Obviously we had a couple of tough weeks. Yeah, I thought those guys really competed well all week in terms of preparation, studying.
Obviously had some moving parts that we were dealing with, new guys coming on the team, not sure about the availability of some other players, some played, some didn't.
The overall resiliency and determination that the team as a group and the staff showed I thought was really, really good this week. So battled all the way through it.
Big plays in the game, like there always are. It was good to come out on the positive side of them today. We'll see what happens next week.
But Miami is kind of what we thought they were: explosive team. They certainly caused some problems. We were just able to make enough plays to win, so it's good. It's a good feeling. It's been a while since we beat them, so it's definitely good to finally get on the right side of that ledger.
Q. How big of a spark was Kyle and what he was able to do there for the entire team? Seemed to wake the stadium up. Second in three weeks. How difficult is that to do from your perspective? Explain to us what Kyle has the ability to do.
BB: Yeah, I mean, it was a great play. A little bit like Marcus' play. It was a great run. The interception, it was a good play, a good catch, all that. He made a lot of yards on his own. Like I said, like Marcus did last week, breaking tackles there midfield, 40 yard line, whatever it was, cutting back.
Yeah, we all know Kyle's a very, very explosive, athletic player. He's done a great job for us jamming receivers, making the run, tackling, making big plays. When he gets his hands on the ball, he's a hard guy to get. Not many guys out there that are going to catch him from behind on offense, so...
Detroit, scoop-and-score play, the interceptions here he's had the last couple weeks, last few weeks, he really helped us. Big play with Hopkins, knocking the ball off of him for the fumble in Arizona, that McMillan got. He's been involved in a lot of those big plays. That's obviously really helped us.
Q. You touched on it a little bit, but just the resiliency of this group after a couple tough weeks to get a chance in the post-season.
BB: Yeah, I think that sums it up. It's a good feeling. Guys worked hard. We have something to show for it today. It's a good thing.
Q. New Year's resolution this year to get a win?
BB: Yeah, sure.
Q. On the last offensive play before the kneel-down, the throw to Jakobi, David said the play that was executed was different from what was called. What did you see from what happened from the play called to what was ultimately executed on the field? What did Mac change on that play?
BB: All right, so the last offensive play before the kneel-down was the sack?
Q. I meant the touchdown to Jakobi.
BB: Oh, the touchdown to Jakobi.
They ran a goal line defense, shifted out. We had a couple options on the play. Jakobi was obviously one of the options. Mac took that when there were some other options on the play. I would say in practice it probably hasn't gone to him too many times.
But Mac saw the matchup, similar to the two-point play that we hit was it last week, whenever it was, a couple weeks ago, against Oakland. Different but kind of similar to that.
It's a one-on-one play. If he likes the matchup, he can go out there, that just trumps the other part of the play.
Q. What did you think of the job Mac did today, not just on the last drive but throughout the game?
BB: Well, we were a little inconsistent offensively, so there were some good things. Miami played quite a bit of man coverage on the first drive, then Josh switched to the zone coverage with a couple blitzes. He sprinkled in a couple blitzes. We didn't do so well against that.
We had a long drive, 90 yards, whatever it was, convert a couple third downs, a big play to Jakobi. Hunter had a good day for us on third down overall for us against man coverage.
They mixed it up pretty good like they usually do, man, zone, some heavy blitz looks, back to zone, a little bit of man, third down.
We got them some, they got us some. That's kind of the way it goes there. They did a good job mixing it up, but we were able to convert enough to combine with Kyle's score, converting enough to win.
Q. On the bigger picture with Jakobi, feels like through the years he's evolved so much to fit what you need on offense. What does that say about him over the last few years to get this far?
BB: Yeah, well, Jakobi has had a career like some other players at that position have had here. Free agent, wasn't drafted, low expectations. Came in, made the team. Not really sure how good it was going to be. Kept improving, kept working. Quarterback going to receiver. Learned a lot.
Played with some other good players, coaches. He's worked hard and gotten better every year, expanded what he can do, whether it's blocking the run game, run option-type routes, go down the field, make plays in single coverage outside. He's got a good feel. He's got a good concentration. He's smart. He's tough. He's come through for us in a lot of big situations.
But his progression has been pretty steady incline since he got here coming out of college, NC State, after he converted from quarterback to receiver. He just works hard, keeps grinding, keeps getting better.
Q. On the sack that Mac took in the fourth quarter from the 29 yard line, how much consideration was there to kicking in that situation? What was the thought process to not kick?
BB: The thought process is try to peg a first down. It was a long kick.
Q. How about the play? Was that the play you wanted there?
BB: Was that the play we wanted? Yeah, we called the play.
Q. How would you assess the way your corner backs and the secondary as a whole performed today?
BB: Played really well as a group. I think our more experienced players back there, obviously John, Myles, really did a good job of not only stepping up but also helping Tay and Q with some of the communication back there.
Our safeties are a safeties, had a lot of safeties today. Some three safety calls, four safety calls where they were all on the field together. Tried to jam the receivers. I thought overall we did a decent job of that.
Didn't give up a lot of explosive plays, which they've had a lot of them, probably as many as anybody in the league. 40-yard passes. They've had a bunch of them that have gone for 60 and 70. Did a good job of jamming the receivers, keeping the ball in front of us, converted on some third downs.
I thought the leadership from the safety group, plus John and Myles, was just really good. Kept getting things organized. Again a team that uses a lot of motion and misdirection, formation change-up, different personnel groups between the tight ends, some two-back sets, some fullback and halfback, two halfbacks, three receivers, two receivers, two receivers and Gesicki, two receivers and not Gesicki, then a lot of movement on that.
Those guys did a really good job. We didn't really have a lot of coverage mistakes. They hit a few passes on us, of course, which they do against everybody, a couple pop passes and play-actions. Overall, a lot of balls went to the backs on checkdowns and things like that. Those guys were hard to tackle, but at least we were able to keep the game under control like that. Anything is better than a 60-yard touchdown.
Thought our secondary did a good job, Mike, Brian, Steve, Jerod, all those guys. I thought our front played well, too. We handled a pretty good running game. We were competitive there. Then we got some pressure on the quarterback. A team defensive effort.
Q. On the Dugger interception, that's a coverage you guys have run this year. New guys on the field. A lot of moving parts on that play. Is that an example of guys taking coaching over the course of the season, the coaches doing a good job to come up with a play like that at the end of the season?
BB: Well, again, I think the big thing is zone coverage is having good awareness of the pattern. Any time you get pressure on the quarterback, and the quarterback doesn't have time to look off and move the defense, you get a good break on the ball, a player like Kyle who is fast and long, some players wouldn't have been able to quite get to that ball, but he did.
Like I said, it's a big difference when he got his hands on it, being able to run with it. Yeah, zone coverage is all about discipline, finding receivers, reading the quarterback, getting a good break on the ball. Kyle did all those, so...
We've used a decent amount of zone, man, pretty even I would say roughly on the mixes. A little more man on third down, a little more zone on early downs. Enough of each to try to keep the offense off balance.
Q. There are a couple of plays that Tyquan made today. What is your thought on his performance?
BB: Yeah, he certainly has helped us. It's good to have him. He came back early in the year but missed so much time early, a while to catch up on some things.
He's an explosive player that can attack the vertical part of the defense. Fast with run-after-catch opportunities, things like that.
Like any rookie, there's always room for improvement. There's things he needs to work on and can do better. But he certainly helps us. He's a big target. Obviously the quarterbacks, Mac likes to throw to him. Big, fast guy. Quarterback-friendly.
But, yeah, he's made some big plays for us. He opens up some other things for us because of his ability to stretch the field vertically. Hopefully we can hit on him some more going forward.
Q. When you were talking about the leadership of Myles and John, the safeties, Devin just spoke a few minutes ago, and he said that he thought about the possibility that this could have been his last home game. Today in particular, given the circumstances with the secondary this week, how valuable has his leadership been to get you to this point?
BB: Yeah, I think you captured it pretty well. That's really what's. Devin has done about everything a player could do for this program. Say the same thing about Matt Slater in the kicking game. I mean, I don't know if there's ever been or ever going to be a player than Matt Slater as an overall special teams player, the leadership he brought to the team, along with Devin.
Devin came in as a corner, went to the Pro Bowl, moved to safety, led the defense from the safety position from his second year on. His off-the-the field leadership, on-the-field leadership is superior, as good as anybody I've ever coached at that position.
He does everything right. He's done everything right since he's been here. He knows the line calls. He knows the defense inside and out, so...
He has total respect from everybody because of his preparation and his unselfish play. Same thing for Slater. I don't know if he was here either, same question, but probably. What those two guys have done, what they mean to this organization, what they mean to me personally, what they've done here, it's pretty impressive, pretty elite.
So, you know, sure Devin would like to have had one more interception on the ledger today (smiling). He gave us, again... You don't see a lot of great plays that he makes, communication or adjustments he makes. When we have to change coverages, make coverage adjustments, it always runs through him. The front runs through a lot of times Bentley, down safeties. But all coverage adjustments run through him.
It's like literally having a coach on the field, having somebody that can see a problem, fix it, or at least take us out of a problem because of whatever, the formation, sub late, whatever it happens to be.
He's got great judgment, great decision making. His decisions are quick, decisive, and they're almost always right. Any decision is a bad decision if you're hesitant and everybody doesn't get it. Making sure we're all on the same page, that's always number one.
Yeah, he's a special one. He's a special one.
All right. Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports