Detroit Lions News: What They’re Saying About Win Over Jaguars
By Zac Snyder
![Nov 20, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions tight end Eric Ebron (85) celebrates with wide receiver Golden Tate (15) during the fourth quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Ford Field. Lions won 26-19. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports Nov 20, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions tight end Eric Ebron (85) celebrates with wide receiver Golden Tate (15) during the fourth quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Ford Field. Lions won 26-19. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/9a743b212b27f97319ebda030db3caa47f7ab0b5819b34cccde01418948af475.jpg)
MATTHEW STAFFORD
On if there was a turning point in today’s game where things started to go right and what was wrong before that: “I don’t feel like there was, on offense. We were just struggling for yards all game. Struggling for yards, big plays, first downs, whatever it was, so we didn’t play as well as we can on offense. Luckily it’s a team game and our defense and our special teams played fantastic and, you know, really helped us out with a win.”
On how they were able to put together an eight-minute drive to close out the game: “You know, we started doing our job a little bit better than we were before. We had a nice two-minute drive there before the end of the half, got us a little bit of momentum and then, you know, we weren’t back on the field for a while and then we just, we were hurting ourselves. Negative runs, negative plays, sacks, missed throws, drops, whatever it was. Any way we could have a negative, you know, we had it.”
On if he was stunned Jacksonville jumped offside on a crucial third-and-short at the end of the game: “They’ve done it before on tape, so we saw it.”
On drawing Jacksonville offside on third-and-short late in the game: “Yeah, I mean I watched – Philip Rivers did it and it worked, so you know, just kind of a heat-of-the-moment call. Went up to the line and, you know, we always have options there. At that particular point I don’t think Coach (Caldwell) would’ve liked it that I checked into a play, but you know, it worked.”
On Jaguars DT Sen’Derrick Marks jumping offside and being an eight-year veteran: “2009 draft class, tough, tough times. Tough times, I guess. No, it’s a heat of the moment, it’s a physical game and he’s trying to make a play for his team. You know, I’ve been on the sideline and seen guys on our team do it before. It’s a tough situation to be in, you know, I was really proud of our guys for executing it. A lot of plays in this game, that was just one of them.”
On good teams finding a way to win: “Yeah, no question. I mean, this is a talented team. I know people don’t like to talk about it, but they’ve had a bunch of close games this year, they’ve just been on the losing end of them. From a physical standpoint, that defense we just played is really, really, really talented. You know, even on the offensive side of the ball they’ve got a bunch of great players, so it was a total team win. We knew going in it was going to take everybody, but you know, there’s a whole lot of areas where we can get better and we’ll have to do it in a short time.”