New England Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel addresses the media during his postgame press conference from Gillette Stadium on Sunday, September 21, 2008
Q: How disappointing was today's loss?
MC: Well, it is disappointing any time you get a loss. They came in here and you have to give credit to the Miami Dolphins. They did a great job defensively, offensively and on special teams.
Q: What did they do well against your offense?
MC: They stopped us today. We had some opportunities and we didn't take advantage of that. They played physical and they played tough and you just have to give credit to their defense.
Q: The Dolphins gave up 72 percent of their opponents' completions before today. What was the difference today?
MC: I said this before. From one week to the next in the NFL a lot of things can change. They played well today and they played better than us today. That is sometimes how it goes. You wish that you could go out there and score a bunch of points and win every week and it sometimes just doesn't happen.
Q: Did they do anything to surprise you today, or was it just a matter of execution?
MC: Nothing that they did really surprised us too much. They just came out and they played good fundamentally and they played sound and they played physical. They did a good job.
Q: Did you feel like you were forcing it a little bit, especially there at the end?
MC: No. We just went along with the game plan and tried to throw it to the open guys. They did a good job of stopping us once we got into the red zone and we didn't take advantage of the opportunities they gave us. That is sometimes how it goes.
Q: Is this good timing heading into the bye week?
MC: Good timing? I guess you could say it is good timing, yes. Any time is a good time when you get a bye week. We're able to regroup, get back to work tomorrow, keep working hard, come back out and have a better performance next time out.
Q: How did being behind impact your ability to manage the game?
MC: Any quarterback in the NFL, you have to manage the game. You have to manage the game in order to win, and that means taking care of the ball and that means getting points on the board. So, today we played from behind a little bit. It is just one of those things. We are still going to call the offense the same way and we have to go out and score points and try to cut that lead down.
Q: Did you learn anything today?
MC: You learn something every time you go out there. Every time you get out there on the field you learn something. This is just one where we have to go out and regroup. They beat us today. And it is also one of those situations where it is a learning situation for me playing from behind. You have to continue to rally guys on the sideline and continue to go out there each and every series and know that it means something.
Q: Randy Moss said that the Dolphins wanted it more. Do you agree with that?
MC: I don't know if I agree with it, but if that is what Randy said then that is how he felt and maybe that is his opinion. I know that we wanted it as a team and we wanted to win. Just today they played better than we did.
Q: Is that part of your responsibility to rally the team? Were you concerned to see Randy Moss sitting alone on the bench?
MC: No, I don't really pay attention to that. When we come over to the sideline we get with the coaches and we try to figure out what the next best thing to do is. So I didn't even notice the fact that he was anywhere other than on the bench.
Q: How much are you looking forward to getting back out there?
MC: I look forward to it. It will be fun. We go on a road trip. We have San Francisco and then San Diego. So, it will be two big road trips for us. We will just regroup and get back together and get back to work and hopefully put out a better performance.
Q: What will you take away from this loss?
MC: It is something where we will have to go and we will have to watch the films and see where we need to improve and improve on those things and then move forward.
