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News | Washington Commanders - Commanders.com

Joe Gibbs Day-After Press Conference

On how they played on special teams against Tampa Bay:

"On special teams we felt like we did some very good things. We had no penalties and we punted the ball very well with the exception of that last kick. John (Hall) hit a huge field goal. That thing was big, not only was it 47-yards but it also gave us a seven point lead. We had three kicks inside the 20. We had some things that we need to improve upon. Our award winners were Pierson Prioleau. Ladell Betts, Cedric Killings, Khary Campbell and Mike Sellers."

On how they played offensively against Tampa Bay:

"Offensively certainly we struggled. We obviously did not get the production we wanted. We had a decent start to the game. We were worried about matching their intensity with the crowd noise and everything. We wanted to get off to a decent start and we did that. We didn't really sustain things like we wanted to. We had a tough time rushing the football. We couldn't hit anything. We took some shots. We had three early shots in their. We had a half back pass, a pump and a number of shots that we tried to take but they are very good at what they do. That is why they are number one in the league and why we struggled for a bigger part of the day. We weren't as productive as we wanted to be. We had some guys play extremely hard for us. It was a very physical game. Clinton (Portis) goes back in the game after coming out and we felt like he played extremely hard. He went after it hard. Jon Jansen had a real tough hit to his back at one point. We thought he might have an injury that could bother us but we wound up coming out of that ok. He stayed in the game and played the entire way. Same thing with Chris Samuels. I thought Derrick Dockery played extremely well. Ladell Betts filling in did a heck of a job for us there."

On how they played defensively against Tampa Bay:

"It is kind of hard to brag enough about our defense. It was a great day for us. It was certainly one of the best performances I have been around. We had almost every single goal that we tried to get. We went down our goal sheet and there is about 16 of those and we had almost every single one of them. It was a great performance by a bunch of guys that kept swinging. Our award winners were Marcus Washington, Lemar Marshall, Cornelius Griffin, LaVar Arrington and Coach (Greg) Blache gets to keep the magic chair."

On the game in general:

"I am extremely proud of our football team. To start off with it's a tough place to go. Any time you go on the road, and we are going to be facing that this week. Seattle is probably rated as one of the top three loudest stadiums in the league by the players and coaches. Tampa Bay is certainly a tough place to go. They had all the flags and everything going down there. It makes for a tough day to go down there. I think probably one of the things that highlighted the way the game went, this game is so much of an emotional game, was that the first game was 36-35. I think both defenses are very good and they made up their mind that they were going to play their guts out and I think they did. Fortunately for us we got the turnovers early, which also figures into your thought process as far as doing the things that you think will win the football game. I think we had a lot of injured guys stand guys stand up and a lot of guys played courageously. It was a very hard fought game. It was as physical as any game that I have been in. There were a lot of shots passed out believe me there were some guys rocking. That is what you hit in the playoffs. It is tremendous intensity."

On going to play Seattle this week:

"It is tough. They have earned the right to sit for a week. Of course that makes it tough on anybody going to play them. Certainly we are not looking forward to that. I think they have been rested for a week. They have a brilliant head coach. He is super smart. He is one of the best offensive guys around. They are very good on defense. When we played them here we kind of knew that was going to happen. They wound up at the top of the league also on defense. I think they are very solid across the board. I think Coach (Mike) Holmgren has kind of built the team around what he wants with the west coast offense. They have a quarterback that makes very few mistakes. They have a star running back. Their offensive line has some of the most high profile lineman in the league so we have a tough assignment. Their offense our defense feels like is exceptional and we will have a tough time with them."

On what the hardest thing is about stopping the Seattle offense:

"Our guys feel like they are the best balanced. Their tight end you can't go without mentioning their tight end, their offensive line and receivers. Their running back can hurt you in any way. He can hurt you by catching the ball out of the backfield. He is extremely dangerous in terms of breaking one. We played one of the best games that we have played and he still got away from us. I think it is because of their balance."

On the Seattle defense:

"I was impressed here with their defense. Their defense is very quick and very aggressive. They are very aggressive and came after us. What helped us here were third downs. If we hadn't had the third downs we would have struggled. We were able to convert third downs that day and made some plays on third down. They are very aggressive and get after it. They are very solid straight through on teams too."

On the fine the S #21 Sean Taylor received:

"Our feeling is that if that took place then we understand the penalties and somebody being kicked out of the game. Sean is so valuable to us. I had a long talk with him afterwards. He understands that. He is all football. He wants to play. He is one of our leaders and has had an outstanding year. I think everything around here this year has been outstanding. He is very valuable to us. We can't afford to lose somebody like that as valuable as he is. We had a long talk about that and he understands."

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