Joe Flacco meets with the media after Cleveland's 45-14 loss to the Houston Texans.
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00:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:10 >> What day for you guys, was it one day more than another from your standpoint?
00:14 >> I think you'd have to go back and watch it.
00:15 But those guys were flying around today, you gotta give them a lot of credit,
00:20 just the way they were flying around and playing physical.
00:22 It seemed like we were keeping up there a little bit and
00:28 it was a decent little fight for a quarter and a half and really the first half.
00:33 I mean, 24-14, not that you're asking for things, but that's playoffs.
00:39 It's not gonna be easy, you're gonna be in tough games where you have to battle to
00:42 the end.
00:42 And obviously we just came out in the second half and
00:45 weren't really able to put it together enough.
00:48 >> How difficult is it for this fun, magical ride along to end the wait?
00:53 >> It's always difficult, man, when you get to this time of the year.
00:56 I think a lot of times you can view it as,
01:00 you think from the outside, you think you get to the playoffs and
01:06 you get to the wildcard round, division round, the AFC championship game,
01:09 the Super Bowl.
01:11 Usually the further you go, the more heartbreak there is,
01:14 just from my experience.
01:16 It's a lot of fun along the way, but if you do get beat, it's hard to deal with.
01:25 I don't wanna let everybody in the locker room, but there is part of me that wishes
01:30 you could see just how much everybody cares and
01:34 how much everybody cares about each other and just what kind of team that was.
01:41 So yeah, it's definitely a shame the way it went down and
01:44 hard to deal with at the moment.
01:46 >> The first interception, were you trying to throw it away?
01:48 >> Yeah, I was trying to throw it away, I mean, taking it back.
01:50 I could see the guy was getting pressure pretty quickly.
01:53 I wish I would have just, I knew where he was gonna be, Elijah was gonna be.
01:57 So I knew I had to throw away there.
02:00 I mean, looking back on it, I wish I threw it at the lower guy's feet,
02:04 kind of thought of that earlier.
02:06 Or just took the sack, to be honest with you.
02:08 I mean, but obviously when you look at things in hindsight.
02:12 >> Joe, as you went through your five games, I mean, there was interception, but
02:15 they didn't seem to affect any game, any of that range game.
02:19 Were you at all concerned about the rate of interceptions coming into this game?
02:24 >> Listen, you never wanna throw those.
02:26 I do think you have to look at interceptions as a quarterback and
02:30 as an offense, as a quarterback group.
02:32 When you go back and watch the film, you have to look at them for what they are.
02:35 Are they bad decisions?
02:39 Are they bad throws?
02:39 Are they just a happening because it was just something wild happened?
02:45 So I think you always have to address those.
02:48 You don't wanna turn the ball over, but you do have to see.
02:51 I mean, like you said, it's just some of the ways some of them have happened.
02:55 It is what it is.
02:56 And today, like I said, you're trying to throw a ball away.
03:00 Not trying to make a bad decision, but
03:03 at the end of the day, you have to be able to live with sacks.
03:07 And I think in that drive, we overcome a second and long from a holding.
03:12 And in the back of your head, you just kinda like, okay, we got over that one.
03:15 Let's not get back in that position.
03:17 And you just, you almost let your guard down a little bit.
03:21 And like I said, I think you have to realize that sometimes sacks aren't bad
03:24 things. >> Joe, this is such a magical run.
03:27 You get signed with this team in November.
03:29 You went the entire offseason, half the season unsigned.
03:32 Get the team into the playoffs.
03:34 And then in the way that it did, what's your emotions on the magical run and
03:39 then just the way that this- >> Just like we talked about,
03:43 I think I was so fortunate to become a part of this team.
03:48 It's a special group.
03:49 And I know a lot of people can say that, but it really is.
03:53 So to be given a chance to do this with those guys,
03:58 I'm super grateful for it.
04:02 Listen, this is why we love football.
04:05 This is why we love NFL playoffs.
04:08 It's 14 really good football teams, and it's one game.
04:12 And unfortunately for us, but just fortunately,
04:17 in just the general sense of everything, there's always a winner and a loser.
04:23 And today, like I said, unfortunately for us, we were the loser.
04:25 But that's what we love about this game.
04:27 There's going to be a winner, there's going to be a loser.
04:30 And you have to learn how to deal with it when you're not the guy.
04:34 And like I said, everybody's, it was a close group, so
04:40 you can imagine how they're taking it, but they're gonna hold their heads high,
04:43 because I know who they are.
04:44 >> [INAUDIBLE]
04:54 >> Well, yeah, obviously.
04:55 I mean, I don't think there's really much that needs to be said about it.
04:57 I mean, when you're driving down and you're trying to get back to a one score
05:00 game, and then all of a sudden it's a three score game or
05:03 whatever it ends up being.
05:05 I mean, the second one's on fourth down.
05:06 I mean, maybe you can, I thought I'd be able to jam one in there and
05:10 that's just a calculated risk at that point.
05:12 I mean, the first one is the one that, like I said, I was talking about.
05:16 >> [INAUDIBLE]
05:26 >> Yeah, we were taking a shot.
05:27 We were throwing a shot to Elijah.
05:30 We were running him on a little pump route up the sideline, so.
05:33 >> [INAUDIBLE]
05:43 >> Well, it's disappointing the way it ends.
05:47 I mean, I think when the city embraces you and the team the way they have,
05:51 you definitely wanna do big things,
05:57 mostly for your teammates because those guys, like I said, have been incredible.
06:01 But it's hard not to feel the way the city rallied around the group of guys in
06:06 that locker room.
06:07 So you want, you do.
06:08 I mean, that's another reason why we love the NFL.
06:12 It's the fans and as crazy as they can be, it's what makes the game.
06:18 And we are in part, you're not necessarily thinking about it, but
06:23 that's what it's about.
06:23 It's about getting these communities excited about their team.
06:28 That's what we like to do here.
06:30 We love NFL and we like to get excited about teams.
06:32 So I can't thank the organization, my teammates, the city enough.
06:38 I mean, yeah, it stinks the way it ends, but it was a lot of fun and
06:42 I'm grateful for the time that we had.
06:44 >> John, do you feel like if given the opportunity that you'd like to
06:49 be back at the grounds and kind of keep this thing going a little bit?
06:54 >> Listen, I love it here.
06:56 And we're dealing with so much right now,
06:58 just going through the emotions of this game and
07:01 being so excited to be in this position and now to come up empty.
07:05 So I think that's where my head is, is just kind of trying to soak it all in and
07:09 let this digest a little bit.
07:10 >> How much different was Texas defense from the first time you had a playoff?
07:14 Schematically what they were able to do,
07:16 Mario didn't have the kind of game he did last time, obviously.
07:19 >> Yeah, listen, I think they did what they do well.
07:22 I think they played their defense.
07:23 I think that they seemed a little bit more aggressive.
07:28 They seem to be playing a little bit faster, just basic things.
07:31 Whatever you wanna say it is,
07:34 they play with a little bit more confidence,
07:38 a little bit more speed, a little bit more hunger.
07:42 They just seem to have a better day.
07:44 And listen, I thought we kind of weathered the storm there for a little bit and
07:47 we had two really good drives.
07:48 And if it was one of those tight games,
07:51 I felt like we could kind of stay out there and do that.
07:54 And we just, like I said, the game got away from us, obviously, and
07:56 we don't know why.
07:57 >> So did you get a chance to watch CJ a little bit?
08:00 And if so, I mean, can you just take that to the kind of game that CJ had?
08:05 >> For sure, for sure.
08:06 I mean, we were close to getting to him a couple times in the first half, but
08:10 he got the ball out.
08:10 And I think I thought he did a good job on a handful of throws that he had to make
08:14 in those situations.
08:16 And then you also just gotta give a lot of credit to the guys.
08:17 He got the ball, he got the ball too.
08:19 I thought they ran the ball really well today after they got the catch.
08:22 But yeah, there was a couple of plays where I did notice him kind of getting
08:26 hit in the pocket.
08:26 And he was able to stand in there and do what he needed to do on those plays.
08:30 And I think that's the most impressive thing is not dealing with a clean pocket.
08:34 And having to make the three, four, five plays a game that nobody necessarily
08:41 looks back on, but they kind of extend the drives.
08:45 >> This team had been so great at the end of the game,
08:48 set a franchise record with the last minute game winning drives.
08:52 How disappointing is it that you didn't have a chance as a team
08:56 to get it to the last few minutes where you guys have been so great this year?
08:59 >> Yeah, I don't think you ever want that to be the case.
09:02 Obviously, when you're looking and you're game planning and
09:04 you're thinking it out in your head.
09:06 But yeah, that's what these games come down to.
09:09 So it is a shame that it wasn't just one of those back and forth games and
09:12 came down to the last possession or last couple minutes of the fourth quarter.
09:16 It seemed like that was probably gonna be the way we were gonna win if we were
09:18 gonna win, and it just never happened.
09:20 >> [INAUDIBLE]
09:24 >> Man, we were just, like I said,
09:27 it's an emotional group in certain ways and you just go around.
09:33 I think we're all just looking at each other right in the eyes and
09:37 telling each other how much we appreciate each other and
09:40 how much we love each other and stuff like that.
09:42 No direct message.
09:43 The only thing I said was at halftime, hey guys,
09:46 this is how it's supposed to be in these games.
09:49 It's supposed to be tough.
09:51 There's no guarantee of coming in here and things are being easy.
09:53 That's not how it's supposed to be.
09:54 That's not how you want it.
09:56 You want to go through tough times and you want to prevail and
10:00 hold your head high and we just weren't able to do that.
10:02 Thanks guys.
10:03 >> Thank you.