Can you talk about how emotional this win was for you?
It was crazy. The emotional highs and the emotional lows throughout any NFL football game are wild. especially in a game like that, a close one back and forth, coming down to the wire there at the end of regulation. Going into overtime we go I think 3-and-out, defense gets a big stop and then hitting that pass to Torrey. You really saw the peaks and valleys of NFL football right there. Our guys did a tremendous job on both sides of the football, fighting through the adversity, playing clutch football and coming out with a victory.
What led to the play to Torrey Smith in OT?
The defense, they play kind of a high shell roof, they make you be methodical, make you execute at a high level, be consistent. There were a lot of throws underneath early on. Geep made a great call, calling an action pass there on the first or second down, I can't even remember. It was set up by all the throws we had underneath early on in the game, all the runs we ran out of that formation. It worked perfectly. Torrey did a great job tracking the ball in the air and using his speed to out run everybody.
Were you reading the cornerback during that play?
It is really off of everybody. Underneath defenders, corner, free safety. They took the bait and he did a great job selling the deep cross and hitting the back pylon. I tried to just cut it early with as much air as possible and let him find it when the ball was in the air. It worked out beautifully.
What did you take from Tomsula telling you to enjoy the last play in regulation?
It was crucial. Those are the times that make playing this game so special. You put in so much work throughout the week to have the ball in your hand last, coming down to the wire with two minutes at the end of the game and even in overtime it's even more magnified. I just tried to lead the team to the best of my ability and get a touchdown by any means possible and luckily they started playing man coverage there on that last drive and I just saw the middle vacate and made the free safety miss and got I the end zone.
Were you trying to make him think you were going to slide?
In crunch time like that it's all or nothing. I was going to the end zone, it was one one one, I ran past everybody else there in man coverage so they have coverage responsibilities underneath and on the crossing routes so one on one in the open field it's 50/50 chance and luckily he didn't make the tackle and we scored there.
Was that your longest run?
Probably. I'm not mice of a stat guy but I'm assuming so.
Do you think the team needed to see the offense come from behind?
There was a lot of adversity in that game. We had injuries on both sides of the football. Daniel Kilgore came in and Bruce Miller came in a all TE sets. We call it 13 personnel but we were really in 11. we call Kilgore a heavy guy but...[laughs]. They did a tremendous job in the 3rd/4th quarter. We were running the ball in that formation and we ended up hitting the pass out of it to win the game. We were just chipping away, taking what they were giving us. Helped us out in the end.
Can you talk about your development and needing to take a 3-and-out to not force pays?
It's about complimentary football. Having faith in our guys on offense, our guys on special teams until and our gus on defense. That there are going to be three and outs, there are going to be some drives where we don't come out with points but there are also going to be drives like at the end where we score in one play. So playing complimentary football is a great thing to have building this team.
Are you a patient guy by nature?
Patience is something that you have to learn over time and you can't get greedy with football. Like I was saying earlier, this defense makes you execute at a high level to score points. They are banking on the fact that their front four or five will get rushed, pressure on the rush and make you get the ball out quick but with that being said, hitting all those underneath throws early on in the game, getting our backs involve, getting our tight ends involved, wide receivers in underneath routes, it set up that touchdown at the end.