HEAD COACH JOHN FOX
On playing the game on a short week
“Not bad. Both teams had to deal with it. We were the road team, but any time you can go on the road against a division rival and get a victory, I’m pleased.”
On the run game
“I think you do what it takes to win. This is a timed game and we were trying to run some time off the clock. I think that will help us moving forward, you develop a little bit of a mindset. I think it was good for our offensive line. The blocking elements as well as the running backs to be able to do that to close out a game.”
On the win streak
“I think you need to get on a roll. To wrap up the division and get into the tournament, teams I’ve been associated with, you have to string some victories together. This team has stuck together and been able to do that.”
QUARTERBACK PEYTON MANNING
On the Raiders deferring
“That’s what we’ve been doing the past couple of weeks. That’s a philosophical thing, so I guess I didn’t think a lot about it. It was nice to get that first drive for a touchdown. When a team does defer, you certainly want to take advantage of that. If you go three-and-out, that is winning for them. It was a good first drive. Hit (tight end Joel) Dreessen on the touchdown and had a good mix. Had some good drives after that. Obviously, in the red zone, we’d like to score more touchdowns. That’s something we have to continue to work on, and we will work on it. I think we will get it fixed, but good job moving the ball tonight for the most part.”
On having a mini-bye week now
“I think the guys are tired. I think you use these next three days to get your mental rest, your physical rest and get kind of recharged. We’ve been on a pretty good run here, and we’ve got some guys beat up and like I said, mentally drained as well. These are tough games to prepare for in a short period of time. It was a physical game we were coming off of against Tampa, so I think we’ll use it well and we have a tough test going to Baltimore next week.”
On the run game
“I was proud of that. I thought (running back) Knowshon (Moreno) ran it tough. I was really proud of that last drive. I thought that was really something special. I know that’s probably more of a line coach’s dream – it’s probably not exciting for anybody doing fantasy, but any time you can run the ball and make them use timeouts and continue to run the clock and end the game with a kneel-down – that is something we can build on. That is something we haven’t been as good at the past couple of weeks, including last week. So, to do that tonight, I think we can build off that.”
WIDE RECEIVER DEMARYIUS THOMAS
On the play when he was injured
“The last play of the first quarter. A slant play. I tried to bounce it backside and ran into a dude. I felt it when I was trying to get up.”
On settling for field goals
“It’s frustrating a lot because you know you want touchdowns. That’s our goal – to score touchdowns. Moving the ball like that, you get frustrated because you’re just getting three points. We’ve got some things to work on. We’ve got a great team coming up, so we’re going to have to work on them a lot because we’re going to need touchdowns instead of three points to beat them.”
On winning eight in a row
“We’re rolling. We’ve just got to keep going and keep getting better. Hopefully just keep rolling.”
CORNERBACK CHAMP BAILEY
On covering a tight end in the red zone
“It just happens like that sometimes. If I’m only playing one side, I’ll see a tight end a couple snaps a game.”
On a mini-bye week before taking on the Baltimore Ravens
“It’s huge. I think we’re going to need all of it to get ready for that team. That’s a good football team. We’re going to take all this time to make sure we’re ready to go up there and win.”
On how much the team is addressing the notion of getting a first round bye
“Not at all. I think that will take care of itself. You can’t do anything about that except win games and just keep trying to get better. That’s all you can do.”
LINEBACKER VON MILLER
On his forced fumble
“We’ve just been rushing the whole game with a fanatical effort and relentless pursuit to the ball. It just happened to work on that play. I was trying to find a move to get back there and I was able to get back there on that play and make something happen.”
On knowing the Raiders would be tough
“Most definitely. Every team in the National Football League has players. The records might not show it, but they are great teams and great players on the Oakland Raiders. Today we were just able to come out in the end.”
On being 10-3
“It’s great. We’re just going to keep taking it one game at a time. That’s what’s been working for us all season – no need to change. Just keep taking it one day at a time, keep preparing well, keep going to work with those guys in the locker room and I’m sure we can do whatever we put our minds to.”
Tags: Oakland Raiders, Quotables, Week 14
Mitch Unrein is my MVP as well as Knowshon. Beating Oakland is never easy! Got to get ready for the Ravens! 10-3 BABY!!! Tap your cleats three times… Things JUST GOT REAL! Go Houston!
ive seen us win in better fashion than this but i will cut our team some slack since we only had a couple of days rest. we should be ready to roll next week in Baltimore. i wish i could get tickets to that game. i live about ten minutes from the Redskins stadium. and about 35 mins from the Ravens stadium. cant wait to get Kuper, Woodyard and Porter back for this game
Knowshon Moreno is making a statement
Im actually happy for Moreno, hope he maintains it.
Moreno is proving some doubters wrong… It really reminds me of DMT who got some very rough comments on the blog two years ago…. It will take another 3-4 performances likes this to shut up the last haters… Go Knowshon…
We can have sole possesion of 2nd in the afc in 9 days guys. All we have to do is beat the most elite QB in the NFL, Joe Flacco. hahaha.