Q: That sequence at the end of the second quarter, beginning with the fumble strip, it seems like you guys were swimming uphill from there, would you say that was the truth?
TB: Yeah, it's a key play in the game. If you give them seven points on the road like that, that stuff's tough to overcome, and we've seen that before. We saw it against. . . we're just giving teams points, it's too tough to come back from stuff like that if you really don't play well like we didn't play well today.
Q: Was there any communication problem out there with the crowd noise?
TB: No, it really wasn't. I think bad execution was the biggest factor, not making enough plays. The fact is they made more plays than we did, and I think I had a play to hit Deion [Branch] on a post, wide open, for a 70-yard touchdown that I missed, and you can't miss that. I've got to make sure I don't miss those.
Q: Tom, what were the Raiders doing defensively in the first half to throw you off?
TB: I think a lot of it was the stuff we were doing wrong. I think we knew what they were going to do, and sure enough, they lined up where we thought they were going to line up and I don't think there were a whole lot of surprises. So, I think when that's the case I think it more comes down to me getting the ball to the right guy and us being in the right spots and blocking well and everything. I think it just comes down to overall playing well and when you don't play well you get beat, especially when you play good teams, and that's the situations we've been in, when we play good teams we haven't played very well, I just don't think we're playing very well.
Q: (Re: the strip sack at the end of the second quarter)
TB: I was looking to the left, and I just kind of stepped up to get it to Antowain [Smith], it's just that I tried to pull my hand off to try to flip it to Antowain, and he got his hand on it. The ball's in one hand, and he hit straight on the ball, and the ball was out. That was a great play in the game, obviously, going down, what were we down? 17-6 I think, that's a key play.
Q: Tom, on that fourth and one at the 43 [yard line], what were you thinking about with the spread offense as opposed to sneaking, because you had been so successful with the sneak the past few weeks?
TB: They weren't in a very good look to sneak, I think that's what it was. I was going for the slant, hoping it was going to be there, and we just didn't convert. I think that's just the story of our day, there were plays there to be made, there were plays there in the first half, there were plays there in the second half, and some of it comes down to them stopping us, but more of it I think came down to us stopping ourselves.
Q: Tom, there were two long throws down field, one you already mentioned, you don't miss many of those.
TB: The other one I was trying the same play, it was a post. I saw the safety cheating up and I took a shot, and I think the second one was probably a better throw than the first one, I missed them both, but I think that David [Patten] was running as fast as he could. It was something coming in that we thought we could have hit, and there's no excuse for missing guys like that when they're open.
Q: Did you have any pressure playing here, it was kind of like a home crowd for you?
TB: Not really. To tell you the truth, I don't think I think about that too much. Whether we play in Buffalo, or whether we play in Oakland, it's really the same to me, we're just trying to go out and win, and it's frustrating, we need to play better than this.
Q: Do you think they wanted it more because of the playoffs last year?
TB: You got to ask them how much they wanted it.
Q: Did it seem like they had that kind of desire, that they wanted it more than you guys did?
TB: I think we wanted it pretty bad. I think like we felt like we were going to come in and play well, and for one reason or another we just didn't get the job done. I don't know how much of last year played into this year, I guess that it didn't play into anything for this team. You'd have to ask those guys if it played into anything for them.
Q: Did you put any added pressure on yourself based on the fact that you were coming home to play, and on what happened last year?
TB: I really don't, for one reason or another, whether we play on the road or at home, I think that's the only difference. I don't think it's being 2,500 miles away from Boston, or 200 miles, it just doesn't make much of a difference.
Q: (Re: The fumble and if he had a shot at it)
TB: I was reaching for it and some guy fell on me. I tried to look for it, and I think, and I think it got kicked away, I think Tra Thomas finally recovered it.
Q: You switched your gloves, were you wearing the same ones the whole time?
TB: I put it on in the second half.
Q: Were you not gripping it well enough?
TB: No. The ball was swatted out of my hand, I thought I could get a better grip on it, whether it would have happened or not, he hit it pretty good.
Q: You didn't have them on in the first half?
TB: I can't remember.
Thanks guys.
