Bill Belichick's Post Game Press Conference Transcript - Patriots at Falcons
Here's the complete transcript of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick's post game press conference following the Patriots win over Atlanta:
OPENING STATEMENT:
"Alright, well, once again, sixty minutes, that's the way it is in the NFL and I'm really proud of the way our team today. We played a good second half against a good football team. As usual they fought right to the end. I mean, that's a good club that coach [Mike] Smith has over there in Atlanta, they fought us right 'til the end and fortunately we were able to make a couple more plays than they did. It's a good example of what it takes to win in this league and that's sixty minutes of good football. We've got to do a better job of finishing out the game, but we did a good job of putting ourselves in that position, a seventeen point lead with six minutes to go in the game. Obviously we could have played a little bit better at the end. But it's good to be 4-0, and good to come out of here with a win."
On how pleased he is with the offensive performance today:
"We did some good things in every phase of the game I think. There were some good things, and then there were some things that weren't so good, obviously. So, gotta keep working to improve."
On if it was important to establish the run in the fist half to set up what they did in the second half:
"Well it's important to move the ball and score points. So whatever we need to do to do that. It's always good to have balance, but we'll do whatever we need to do to try to make that work."
On the fact their defensive backs were able to slow their receivers down:
"I thought we competed well with their receivers. In the end, they made a few plays, they had a couple big plays in the fourth quarter and obviously we had a lot of trouble with the tight end and the back in the first half, we didn't do a very good job on them. We tightened that up a little bit, and then the receivers made some plays for them. But that's a good skilled team offensively. They've got good receivers, good tight ends, good backs, a good quarterback. So it's hard to get them all stopped, but I thought our guys competed hard against them and in the end we made enough plays."
On if he had any information regarding Vince Wilfork's injury:
"I don't have any, no."
On the performance of Aqib Talib:
"Aqib's played great for us all year, all the way back to the spring training camp. He's stepped up in every game, played well, played the ball well, played against good receivers, and he's tackled well, he's covered well, he's done a good job for us."
On Stephen Gostkowski and his performance:
"It was key. Obviously it ended up being the difference in the game, or part of the difference in the game. I know it was a seven point game, but that was a big kick that made it a three score game. So he's done a good job. It's a good operation, all those guys, Danny [Koppen], Ryan Allen, and Steve, and our protection. I mean, it's all got to be a good operation there."
On if he felt the offensive line did a good job to protect Tom Brady and open up holes in the running game:
"Well, we had our moments. Yeah, we had our moments. I mean, there was times when it was good. I mean that time where it was third and whatever it was, twenty, that we hit [Kenbrell] Thompkins on was real good protection and Tom was able to step up and make that throw, that was a huge play in the game. We blocked some plays well, but obviously there were some other plays that weren't as good, so a little bit of both."
