SEAN McVAY: Golly, but I'll tell you what, what a great start by us, by our guys. You credit Indianapolis and Shane Steichen and their coaching staff and their players for getting back into the game, but I think we came out ready to go. I thought we were going to put together a complete performance. They obviously felt otherwise.
There were some different things that led to them getting back into the game where it's a 23 23 game and there were some opportunities for us to be able to be able to close it out.
I can't say enough about the guts, the resilience, the mental toughness of this group. I thought Aaron shined really bright. I thought the turnover Jordan fuller forced earlier in the game was a huge play. I thought our offensive line battled really tough. I thought Kyren Willliams and Ronnie Rivers both did an outstanding job, and I can't say enough about Puka Nacua, and I can't say enough about Matthew Stafford. The guts, the resilience, the mental and physical toughness as he was battling through. Got his hip and you could see that he was limited, but just making play after play. We put the game in his hands, and he delivered in a big way with a vintage performance that's in alignment with who he's been throughout his career. We're sure glad he's our leader, but, man there's going to be a lot of things we can learn from. But I'm proud of this group and I'm proud that we found a way because that's what's it about in this league. There's no style points and certainly there's going to be a lot of learning opportunities for us, but I'm really grateful and I love working with this team.
Q. (Off mic).
SEAN McVAY: You know, he's be better equipped to tell you. I know it was kind of banged up throughout the course of the game and then the one time they brought a zero blitz on Tyler Higbee in the flats and they dropped him in coverage, he re aggravated it, and and you could see it was really difficult. It was the majority of the second half. He'd be able to tell you exactly when it happened, Sara, but he was just gutsy, he was resilient, you know, and that's what he's always been and that's who he is but, man, you don't take it for granted for sure.
Q. (Off mic).
SEAN McVAY: We talked to him a little bit. That wasn't something that he felt was necessary. I'll always defer to him in those situations. No, if you feel like you're going to limit him to risk but he's tough. That was anything that we discussed.
Q. (Off mic).
SEAN McVAY: Well, that's a little skewed stat right there, too. Because you're in a two minute mode and we had that third down and one and where they ended up not really rushing anybody where you might have a chance to pop a draw or something like that. A little bit of miscommunication. That obviously starts with me, but, you know, they were able to extend some drives. There were just a couple different reasons and you look at it and, I mean, plays that guys are going to be able to make, you know, when we get into some of those Tyler Higbee is going to make that play more times than not when that's going to be a catch conversion, first down.
We felt like we had got some of the looks we wanted, but ultimately it doesn't always go down the way you want, but the guys just stayed the course and that's what I love the most, Adam, they just kept battling, found a way to get it into OT. Great tails call by Ben Skowronek to be able to get us the freaking, the ball, and then I just thought there was, you know, consistent production. I thought even just some of the check downs that Matthew had, I thought Ronnie Rivers run, Kyren showed up.
Even after we go incompletion on the second down, you know, just missed Higbee where Matthew ended up putting it in a good spot for him and then on the third down, they end up bringing some pressure, kind of dropped him. Matthew put it in a spot for Puka to make another big time play. I want to say he was nine catches on ten targets. The guy was a man today and he's been a man throughout the first three weeks, but it was a good win. A lot for us to be able to learn from and I'm excited to be able to look at the tape. We know we got a great challenge coming up but we're going to enjoy this for right now.
Q. What's going through your mind when you see Matthew operating, scrambling, making all kinds of plays like that?
SEAN McVAY: Just he's special. He's special player. He's a special competitor, special person. He's unbelievable, and I thought that was on display today. There's nothing you can say but would holy I mean, he was great.
Q. ... overtime in field goal range.
SEAN McVAY: We're playing for the win. You know, the way that that game ended up going down and the way they they got back into it, our mindset mentality was be aggressive. I think you could see that was reflected on the first call of the drive. We go long developing play action, hit Puka over the middle for a big play. We had a little bit of miscommunication on some of the substitution things when some guys had to come out. Puka had to end up getting his shoe tied and got a couple calls off that. I really probably wouldn't have called otherwise just based on some of the substitutions and some of the guys that we had in there as opposed to kind of being able to be in attack mode, but there was a couple times where they ended up going coverage, we found a check down, ended up getting ourselves into manageable situations, and then, like I said, you know, it's where you're already in field goal range, but you're saying, hey, third down and four. We were calling that to try to be able to get to the end zone or at least get a conversion, but we were certainly trying to not allow them to even get another possession, and our guys delivered.
Q. (Off mic).
SEAN McVAY: I think it was important to be able to find a way today, Gary, because that's all we can control. I thought we talk about being present, being in the moment. Was it perfect? No, but, man, you can really learn a lot and it's a lot easier to be able to learn after you find a way to just stay the course and figure out a way to piece it together at the right times.
There was a lot of things, and, again, I don't want to take away the credit that the Colts deserve for being able to get back into the game, some of the conversion, whether it be two point conversions, fourth down conversions, but there's a lot of things that we can take from it.
Here's what I'll tell you: I love this team. It's not just because we found a way to get that done today, Gary, I love the way they work. I love the consistency, how they approach their process. There's a growth mindset where they want to be able to get better. They're doing everything that we ask. We're continuing to learn about this group, we're continuing to see our leaders lead and through four weeks, you know, I think each game and each week has a little bit different story, but I think it's about being able to continuously stack blocks. Let's continue to try to improve together, and let's not shoot our shot every single week regardless of what happens, and I'm really happy for those guys. But I love this team, Gary, I love going to work, and I'm excited about, you know, figuring out how we can improve and how I can improve and think these coaches and players, I would happy for them today to be able to get the result that they did.
Q. (Off mic).
SEAN McVAY: I wouldn't say that. I think, Sara, the biggest thing I would say is you lose a little bit of perspective. You lose perspective and purpose and there's a lot of things that led to that. Ultimately, I think what's rewarding and refreshing is being around people that you love and you want to work hard because you don't want to let them down and that's exactly what we got with this group.
Q. Matthew's done this in his career several time where... Did you see something different on the sidelines?
SEAN McVAY: It's just who he is. I think when you've got a guy like him at the switch you know know you're always in a game. No matter what happened before, I think one of the things that's as powerful as anything, Kirk, about him is he just responds. Whether it was a great play before, whether it was a challenging one, he keeps competing. He's able to reload and reset every single snap, and that's why I think he's a hall of fame player. He's obviously a Super Bowl champion, but more than anything, he's an igniter that elevates everyone around him and like I said, we're sure grateful to be able to have him, and that was certainly on display, and I think that's been on display a lot throughout the first month of this season.
But what you don't see is just the way that he pours into guys and the way he elevates them, not exclusive to just today's game but in the meeting room, on the practice field, and, you know, love Matthew.
Q. (Off mic).
SEAN McVAY: Oh, yeah, we had total command right there. We missed a field going going go the half right there. Didn't want to leave ourselves to going backwards. You're really saying, hey, I felt like we were in good situation, maybe we could have put the petal to the metal, but when you have a chance to go up three possessions, you know, and we were already up three possessions, but 23 and 20 is a big difference right there. And so that was kind of the way that we wanted to be able to play that out. Knowing that they got the ball coming out of the second half and it was because of the penalty that set us back a little bit, you know, where we got ourselves in at first down, but then oh, now we have to go beyond the sticks. So now you're saying let's be smart, maybe a little conservative. I can deal with that. But we felt like we were in good field goal range for Brett to consistently hit that and it didn't go down the way that we wanted.
Q. (Off mic).
SEAN McVAY: I think he's going to continue to play at a high level, Gary. I don't see any indications of that changing. Now, we evaluate snap in and snap out. It's not exclusive to just what we see on the stat sheet. I see the way this guy plays without the ball. See the way that he's running routes even, if he might not be part of the progression where Matthew ends up finding him, but he has done a great job. I think he's only gotten better and when you're able to add another great player to the mix, it's only going to help our offense.
I'll tell you what, I thought other guys, whether it was Tutu. I thought Van Jefferson's fourth down catch earlier in the game was huge. You talk about makes a great catch on the sideline and an early down but then the fourth down and three that enabled us to be able to get our second touchdown of the first half, what a big time throw and catch and Van made a couple clutch plays I was really happy to see that from him as well. Okay? Thanks, guys.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports