Steelers 36, Bengals 10
Q. Joe, it looked like Pittsburgh decided to rush three and four and play more coverage seven and eight in the early stages of the football game. They rushed four a lot, very rarely rushed five, maybe just a couple times in the second half. Did you guys expect that? Did you expect them to play as much coverage as they did, and did they do a lot of different things in terms of coverage or just do a few things well?
JOE BURROW: They did a few things well. They're a really good defense, and that's what the great defenses do, they play one or two things and they're really, really good at them. We were moving the ball in the first half after we were three-and-out three straight times, and then I thought we hit our groove, and then I just played terrible in the second half. A missed a lot of throws that I usually make. That was the game. I missed a lot of throws in the second half.
Q. To go 0 for 13 on 3rd down, I think it might have been 0 for 13, something like that, obviously that's not going to win you football games. What was the biggest reason in your mind that it worked out that way?
JOE BURROW: I missed throws. That's all it came down to. You're not going to be able to win football games against a team like the Steelers as good as they are when your quarterback plays like I did in the second half.
Q. Joe, you said you were terrible in the second half. Why in your mind do you think you played so poorly in the second half?
JOE BURROW: I just missed throws, throws I always make. I'm not really sure. I'm excited to get back to practice and get that fixed.
Q. What happened on the play before halftime when you got thrown into the bench? Did you lose momentum or get tripped up? How did that play out?
JOE BURROW: I just rolled my ankle.
Q. Did you get pushed from behind or did you feel like it was clean and all good?
JOE BURROW: I mean, it wasn't a hit or anything. He might have pushed me a little weight, but it wasn't a hit. I just -- he gave me a little extra boost and I ended up rolling my ankle on the sideline.
Q. Were you still feeling it in the second half there?
JOE BURROW: It doesn't matter.
Q. Why aren't you getting some of those late hit calls? What do you think?
JOE BURROW: I didn't think there were too many today. I think Pittsburgh did a good job of not hitting me too late, and if they did, they kind of held me up and didn't fall on me, so I don't think there were too many late hit calls today.
Q. The Ravens and now the Steelers beat you guys pretty handily. Do you view these two teams as like measuring stick games?
JOE BURROW: Absolutely. They're the two best teams in the division, teams that we're striving to be, teams that are really, really good year in and year out, and that's what we're chasing. I think you never want it to happen, but in my mind we got two of those out of the way. Now I've played them one time, and I'm excited to play them the next time.
Q. Was there anything coverage wise that they were doing that kind of made things a little bit more difficult for you than you anticipated?
JOE BURROW: No, they just have really good players and have a really good plan. They do what we expected them to do. They played we call it two carry and 3D and they're really, really good at it. They have good players, they have good rush, and we moved the ball for three or four straight drives there in the first half. Like I said, I thought we got our rhythm and then we came out in the second half flat and I didn't play very well. If I played better in the second half, I think we'd have a chance at the end.
I missed T down the sideline there on the double move. That was a big play. I needed to hit that one. And then I missed TB on the sail route on the sideline that we ended up challenging, and he kind of bobbled it but that was a terrible throw from me that TB almost made a great play on. If I hit those two, I think the game is a little different.
Q. Were there any discussions of you coming out late in the fourth quarter? Did you lobby to stay in the game?
JOE BURROW: No discussions like that.
Q. Do you like the idea of staying in there in even what looks like a futile situation and finishing the game off?
JOE BURROW: Yeah, I'm not a quitter. I'm not going out of the game. Doesn't matter if we're down 100, down 10, down 20. I'm not going out.
Q. The way the game started with two turnovers in the early stages of the football game, the one thing you really probably didn't want to have happen, how deflating was that?
JOE BURROW: I think we responded well. That's going to happen sometimes. We had a special teams one and then we had one while we were driving, but we responded well in the first half. Went down and scored, cut it to one score. I think it was 12-7 or 13-7, something like that, and then they went down and scored, and I take that sack in the two-minute drill that I can't take, and if that doesn't happen we have points. So there was just a lot of mistakes for me after that first quarter and half.
Q. What are the value of games like that and games against the Ravens where clearly there are things you can take away from it?
JOE BURROW: Yeah, it's never good to lose like this, but it's always a good learning experience. I was talking on the sideline, and I think we're in that game if I don't suck in the second half and I'm not going to suck a lot. We're going to come back to work every day, and I'm excited to go back to practice on Wednesday and start getting these kinks worked out and move on to Washington.
Q. It looked like the two tackles played really good, Adeniji and Spain. Spain never played tackle before. It looked like they were doing all right.
JOE BURROW: I thought they played really well, considering the circumstances. I thought they did an awesome job in the first half. That sack in the two-minute drill I can't take. That one's on me. They did awesome all game. They really did.
Q. You had talked about basically taking your lumps and knowing those were going to come throughout your rookie year. Are these games today kind of what you anticipated you were going to have to deal with as you were going through your rookie season?
JOE BURROW: I hoped not. This is not fun, obviously, but there's no -- it's not demoralizing in the locker room. We knew we had a chance in that game if I play better, if we play better in a couple spots. We're in that game until the end. So you hear me talk and I'm not too down in the dumps because I know I'm not going to play like that very often. I might play like that hopefully never again but maybe once a year. There's no -- we're not down in the dumps or anything like that. I'm excited to get back to work.
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FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports