Tampa Bay - 20, Minnesota - 17
Q. Congratulations. First win as a Buc.
A. Thank you. Not the prettiest start by any means. Great environment, like we expected, really loud.
Like we talked about being ready for their blitz package, we were, but every time we'd check, they would. That's kind of the story of what you saw in the first half right there.
Just one of those things that's kind of a chess match at that point, but luckily we were able to drive the ball a little bit in kind of a two minute hurry up situation before the half. Got Mike a touchdown and capitalized from there.
Q. What happened in that two minute where things started to click? Is it the fact you were pushing tempo?
A. Pushing tempo, not letting he them get into certain things, making them declare what they're doing.
I can't say enough about their defense and how they played. That's an incredible offense that we just played up against. A few turnovers. They did a really good job, especially with how many snaps they had to be on the field with us.
Q. You talk about the clutch plays. You make the throw for the touchdown, and you ran for a first down, helped run the ball at the end, and then the throw to Chris Godwin. Those seem to be huge plays for you.
A. You can always look back after a game, a close game like this, a few plays here and there that are really going to be the difference. That last play, Chris caught the ball with just his fingertips, incredible catch by him, sealing the deal.
Can't say enough about our guys, just playing the next play. It wasn't our prettiest effort by any means, but we finished the right way. We finished with the ball in our hands. We talked about that coming in here, and that's how we wanted to do.
Like I said, hat's office to our defense. Chase as well, 57-yarder, that's pretty impressive.
Q. First time with Dave Canales, didn't get much going in the first half. What did you talk about at halftime? Do you think this will grow as you guys are together?
A. Absolutely, it will definitely grow. Playing against Brian Flores, it's quite the challenge. He's a defensive mastermind, so it was a good test for us for our first match.
Yeah, we're going to grow. We're going to get better. Offensively we have a long way to go, but we'll take all the wins we can get. It's extremely hard in this league.
Q. (Indiscernible) said earlier this week that his favorite thing about you is that you have this ability to just remain super positive. When you make a bad play, it's immediately on to the next play. You're able to forget about it. For you, where does that come from?
A. I don't know. That just comes with time, playing quarterback for a long time. The most important play is the next one. You harp on the last one, good or bad, and you're going to affect the outcome of the next.
You can always make up for it. Game's not over until that clock hits zero, and I think that's where that mentality comes from.
Q. How big was that swing there to finish out the first half with a touchdown and then start the second half with that long drive? It really seemed like it got you guys some big momentum.
A. That's the biggest thing. Call it double dipping. People have different terms for it. Ending the ball with a touchdown in the half and trying to come out and get points in the second half. It's a huge momentum swing.
Especially when you have an environment like this, trying to take the crowd out of it a little bit. That didn't exactly work. They were still a factor early in the game. That was a huge swing for us, and we definitely need to do it.
Q. The touchdown to Palmer, that looked like a scramble for you all at the end, and you side-armed the ball to him. What did you see on that play?
A. They gave us a look for cover zero. They're going to all out blitz, and they actually do that or they drop eight. When they're rushing three people, you've got time to scramble. Our guys are going to get open.
We talked about that earlier in the week. Thad Lewis had our red zone presentation and did a great job explaining. They're going to give you the same look, and it's just two different outcomes, so stay alive. Trey did a good job continuing to work across the field.
Q. I know you guys don't give much credence to what the outside says, what the prognosticators say. Not a lot of people gave you guys a chance for today or this season. What do you think you guys' win today said?
A. We're just going to build confidence in the locker room. We're going to keep it in house, and that's the way we like it.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports