Vikings 39, Colts 36 (OT)
JEFF SATURDAY: Obviously a disappointing way to end that. Jonathan Taylor, ankle, same ankle. I don't have any information other than when we came out. I haven't had a chance to see him or talk to anybody.
You know, obviously tale of two halves, right? Started fast, had the lead, and ultimately give up too many explosive plays, don't make enough explosive plays, turn it over on our inside. Just they made more plays than us, and then penalties kept drives alive. You've got to keep your head, got to play disciplined football, and we didn't do those things the second half. Ultimately lost this game.
Q. Jeff, why did you decide to go for 4th down instead of having Chase kick a field goal?
JEFF SATURDAY: Yeah, for a long field goal, 4th and inches, I felt really good about the call. I felt like we had -- we've converted a bunch this season and felt like we had the match-up we wanted. Would have closed the game out, ended the game. Everybody -- I'm in, everybody is in. We didn't convert.
Q. For lack of a better way to ask this, can you believe what you just saw?
JEFF SATURDAY: Yeah, listen, I've played a lot of football, so I've been part of some crazy games myself, so yeah, listen, when we walked out at halftime, I told them, this team, they've won -- nine of ten of their games have been one-score games. We didn't overlook. We understood how explosive this offense is, how many points they put up.
Yeah, I'm disappointed in how we played in the second half and didn't find a way to close this thing out, but ultimately I told the guys in there, we didn't make enough plays, and that goes around the entire football team. You've got to look at yourself in the mirror and understand when there's opportunities to make and close teams like that out, we've got to make them, and we didn't make them.
Q. Did you feel like you got too conservative on offense after halftime?
JEFF SATURDAY: No, I didn't. Listen, we were still putting the ball up in the air. They were playing down all day. We were moving the ball running it. But we still felt like there were shots to be had. We just didn't convert them. There was nothing about the game or the way the game played out other than, again, we don't make the plays and they continue to make them that I look back with disappointment.
Q. Is this on the offense? You had a defensive score, you had a special teams score --
JEFF SATURDAY: No, man, it's on the football team. Everybody in that room knows it's on everybody. We don't point fingers. We don't place blame. Again, you're up big in the first half, you have opportunities to go out in the game and close the game on both sides of the ball. We didn't make plays. There was no one way to look at this. Everybody in that room played a part. That's the most disappointing part, and everybody in there knows.
Q. What were your thoughts on the penalty right at the end before they kicked the field goal, delay of game there?
JEFF SATURDAY: Yeah, frustrating. Listen, just frustrated. Again, felt like -- I know he wasn't holding him down, but he said he got in, knocked the ball around, we're doing those kinds of things. It's his call to make. He felt pretty good about the call and told me, yeah, Coach, I was trying to give him the benefit. Again, I don't know how many penalties we had. 11 penalties? Over 100 yards, we can't do that, we can't keep teams like this in it, and we just had too many of those on both sides of the ball. Again, there's plenty of blame to go around.
Q. You kind of have to help a team a lot for them to make that kind of comeback. Is that kind of what you're saying?
JEFF SATURDAY: Yeah, yeah. Listen, when we left at halftime, we talked about when the plays are there we've got to make them. It's all gas, no brakes. We've got to go make these plays. Again, I think every drive, I know they scored two touchdowns. We kick field goals, we're kind of swapping back and forth. But ultimately, again, it comes down to making plays, not sustaining drives. I know we had some conversions on penalties defensively, which is frustrating, and again, we penalized ourselves offensively; have a fumble in our own red zone or backed up. Again, that's how you keep teams like this in it. Make no mistake, we weren't overlooking how good this offense was. I knew how explosive they were. We all did. But to your point, making those mistakes keeps teams like that around, and once you get momentum in the NFL, it's hard to swing that thing.
Q. Did you think that there were any bad calls among the four or five 15-yard penalties, a couple of the hits like Rodney's --
JEFF SATURDAY: I'll have to look at it. Honestly, it happens so fast -- a lot of times they were on the other side of the field. I know there were two or three that were on their sideline, so you don't get clear looks, they're not going to show you the replay, so I have no idea. I'll have to go back and look.
Q. The past two games it's really fallen apart in the fourth quarter and it's like 55-0 scoring there. This team used to be pretty good at finishing. Why do you think that's kind of fallen apart?
JEFF SATURDAY: Again, self-inflicted wounds. If you look at it offensively again, you can't turn the ball over, you can't jump offsides on a short. Those kinds of mistakes ultimately cost you ballgames. So it doesn't matter what quarter it is. You start fast, it's a complete game. You've got to play all 60 minutes. As far as breaking it apart and doing all those kinds of things, it's much bigger than that. It's opportunities that you miss in the first quarter are no different than the fourth quarter. When plays are there to be made, you've got to make them, and we didn't make enough.
Q. Can you share what you said in the locker room to the team just after the game ended?
JEFF SATURDAY: Yeah, obviously it's a heartbreaking loss and you're frustrated. You're disappointed. We'll look back and know that self-inflicted wounds got us again, and those guys, listen, they understand this game and they know, and each of them will look at themselves and say what could I have done differently, no different than every coach in there is going to do, including myself. We'll all look back. But yeah, from my perspective, we've got another game on Monday night coming up, another opportunity, and again, for this team to take the next step, we have to continue applying what we're doing and get it to the game field.
For whatever reason, we're not stringing enough together, not making enough plays. We'll keep working, and that's the only way to make it happen.
Q. Will it sting more knowing that you're a part of history for the wrong reason, knowing what you wanted to accomplish today?
JEFF SATURDAY: Oh, it's going to sting either -- losing stings, man. It doesn't matter -- every time we lose, it stings. I look at this as no different than the other ones. You're frustrated by opportunities that are missed, and again, self-inflicted wounds that we talk about and we emphasize and ultimately have to learn how to make. That's part of it, and we've got to keep learning and keep growing. But no, man, they all hurt equally. Losses, they never feel good. There are no moral victories. It's painful no matter what.
Q. You guys have really ridden Jonathan Taylor since you got here. Obviously he's the best player you have. Him leaving the game, how did that change the overall approach on offense?
JEFF SATURDAY: Obviously you lose J.T., it's a big deal. I thought both Moss and Jackson both fought their tail off. I know Deon is devastated by the fumble. But J.T., losing him, just that stability that you have with a running back like that, explosive ability, it happens after he gets past the line of scrimmage, all of those different things that he has shown, that's a major weapon for us that obviously we lost. Anytime you have him, you're a much better football team.
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FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports