Despite entering the locker room at halftime trailing 14-6 on Monday night, Tampa Bay scratched and clawed their way back to narrowly escape New York with a 25-23 victory. With the help of two second-half interceptions from Carlton Davis and Sean Murphy-Bunting, two second-half touchdown passes from Tom Brady and a game-sealing pass breakup from rookie Antoine Winfield Jr., the Bucs moved to 6-2 on the season.
Head coach Bruce Arians spoke to the media following Tampa Bay’s victory. Read the full transcript below.
(On the flag getting picked up after the failed two-point conversion)
“Well the ball hit Antoine in the back. To me there was no pass interference, I thought it was a good call. I don’t know what it took so long. He had his hands out, there was no contact, the ball hit him in the back.”
(On the defense and Brady rising to the occasion late)
“Monday Night Football has always been so exciting. To play around all day. I’ve never driven into the Meadowlands and it seem empty and we didn’t find energy fast enough and we got hit in the mouth and credit Joe Judge, he had his team ready and they played their tails off and we made enough plays to win the game. Never apologize for winning. I thought we were very slow to start, I don’t like to see guys run the ball against us, but we made the plays that counted.”
(On Brady in the second half to find Rob Gronkowski and Mike Evans for big touchdowns)
“We kept stalling out around the 28, 29 and second down was what was killing us. We were missing guys open and ended up in third-and-9s, 10s, 11s when they should have been third-and-4s and 5s, just hitting some easy guys. In the second half we kind of fixed it and then a great throw to Mike, a great throw to Gronk. I think Tyler probably made the play of the game, Tyler Johnson, on that first- or second-and-20. Great catch by him.”
(On Jaydon Mickens being so involved)
“He took the spot of the F this week and that’s Chris (Godwin’s) spot and Chris is always involved. So we just put Mick in his spot and used basically the same plays and he did a great job for us.”
(On what he said at halftime to improve the offense in the second half)
“There was no hollering or screaming or anything like that, just do your job and we weren’t doing our jobs in the first half. Todd (Bowles) made some good adjustments on defense, Byron (Leftwich) made some good adjustments. It was just, go out and play like we’re capable of playing and we needed a turnover, something good to get the ball rolling and Carlton (Davis) provided it and then Sean (Murphy-Bunting) provided it and we capitalized off of those.”
(On what the team can take from this close win)
“The last time we had a close call we lost and this one we won so we’ve grown some as a team and it wasn’t our best effort but it was enough for a win.”
(On Ryan Succop)
“It was kind of a tricky wind but he’s a veteran dude and that’s what I love about him. Mind blank, he just goes out and gets his job done. He had a heck of a game, that was definitely a game ball-worthy game, that’s for sure.”
(On running the ball so frequently between the tackles on first down)
“Just continued it because the play action was setting it up. This is a good defensive front but you have to run the ball, you can’t just start throwing it all over the play.”
(On the defense’s consistency with getting turnovers)
“It’s been great and it’s been a different guy. Carlton (Davis) most of the time but I was really happy for Sean Murphy-Bunting to get his tonight. Jamel (Dean) had his hands on one, gosh, Lavonte (David) had one and you know that when you drop an interception something bad’s going to happen. The guys just kept hanging in there and played every play but yeah, turnovers have been huge for us.”
(On the fourth down conversions from New York)
“We lost contain on one, let him get out of the pocket and the other one same thing. We had him hemmed up, let him get out and if you let (Daniel Jones) get out he’s going to make a play on you and he did both times. We had good rush but we didn’t stay disciplined enough.”
(On scoring off of turnovers)
“For us, it’s take the turnovers and turn them into touchdowns. We got the field goals the first time that I was not happy with but we got the touchdown the second time and got the lead. It just energizes everybody.”
(On Shaq Barrett getting pressures that led to two interceptions)
“He caused both of them. His numbers aren’t the same but he’s getting a lot of push and he had the quarterback in the grasp both times. (Jones) is still trying to do too much and when you’re in the grasp of those guys, it costs them basically the ball game throwing those two picks but God bless him, he’s hard to handle and he’s a kid that thinks he can make a play.”
(On what he told the team about staying focused on the game at hand)
“Basically there’s an old adage about assuming. I can’t go into the whole thing but it was written on the blackboard and just remember last year. Coming out of halftime we assumed that we had a game won and we blew one. This one we won but basically that was it and it didn’t backfire, thank God.”
(On Winfield)
“He’s been consistent since the day he got here. He verbalizes so much out on the field which most rookies will not do, even second-year players. But he’s talking, he’s communicating, he’s a baller. He’s got it in his blood lines and there’s no stage that’s too big for him.”
