Q: How much does this sting?
MS: I thought we had a great week of preparation. It didn't look like it tonight and that's the most frustrating thing. We knew we were playing a great team and we flat out just got outplayed. I made some poor decisions down the stretch. The first pick, [Brandon] Spikes made a pretty good play and we got the linebacker to bite that we wanted to and Braylon [Edwards] was coming open in the endzone and I just flew it a little flat and [Spikes] made a pretty good play. And then after that, I felt like I just started pressing a little too much before I needed to, and that's really too bad because our running game got going a little bit. But, we were down by so many points [that] you can't really run the ball at that point. So, it's frustrating as an entire team and an organization, but this is a good lesson for us that you have to play well in these big games. We'll have plenty more that will be big from here on out and we're going to have to fight and get some help from the outside to win the division. So, we'll see.
Q: Could you have imagined a result like this was possible?
MS: No. You never think about something like this during the week. We were positive all week. You'd be surprised, there are some guys that are really positive in that locker room and that's encouraging because we are a really resilient group. We got our butts whooped tonight. Flat out, that's the way you got to say it - outcoached, outplayed - Rex [Ryan] said it. But no, you'd never imagine this, but you'd be surprised how excited guys are just to get back out on the field. And this Miami game can't come soon enough. So, hats off to New England. They did a great job.
Q: Do you remember the last time you were on the wrong side of a game like this?
MS: Oh man, I don't know. Maybe Pop Warner or something, but this was a good old fashioned butt-kicking. There's no two ways around it. I need to play better, especially down the stretch. I need to make better decisions. When you play an explosive offense like that, you can't just give it to them. That's what I did and we obviously paid for it.
Q: It seemed that even early on in the game, you were making throws that you normally wouldn't make. Was there a reason for that? The cold? The weather?
MS: I think it was a combination of things. I would never say it was the cold or the weather, but me and the receivers just were not playing our best game. That led into them getting the ball back quick, either the three-and-out or the interception later, and then we just started pressing and I forced a couple of throws. That's when things started getting out of hand. Early on, we just didn't start well. They started awfully fast and instead of fighting to come back like we normally do, I threw some bad balls.
Q: Did you get hurt or get hit early in the game?
MS: No. They had some good hits all game, but nothing serious.
Q: Did anything that the Patriots did surprise you?
MS: No. I honestly think they just played their schemes really well. We had some of the right play calls and we just didn't execute at times and that's probably the most frustrating thing. We had some of the right calls and either I made the wrong decision or something else happened that didn't go our way. It's too bad, but they did play really well.
Q: How badly do you just want to turn the page?
MS: That's all we can do. There's nothing [that can] bring back this night. There's nothing to get back to 9-2 and start over. It's just getting to win number 10 and the best way we can do that is to go out and beat Miami at home. We know it's a short week. The most important part is to get in, watch this film tomorrow, learn from it, take the most important things from it, take it into a short week, apply it to the next game and go on. Don't change your routine. Get in there and get your lift in tomorrow - it's going to be worse than normal, but you just have to do it and move on. You have to be a pro about it and that's what we'll do.
Q: How confident were you coming out in the no-huddle offense?
MS: I felt good; I thought we moved the ball pretty well. Then we got to third down early in the game and just didn't execute. I don't know how many third downs it took to convert one, but obviously it wasn't our night and [the Patriots] played well and made it tough on us.
Q: Did they play better in a big game than you guys did at this point?
MS: The score dictated that. Our play dictated that. We played poorly and [with] a couple of them playing well, that's never a good formula. And that's not how we've won these big games - [turning] the ball over three times by the quarterback - that's not the way we can win. We know that. I know that. So, it's time for me to get better.
Q: The Patriots defense looked pretty good today. Can you talk about that?
MS: Sure. They did a great job. [Devin] McCourty made a great play on the underthrown ball. Spikes made a good play on a ball I threw a little too flat. And then - I don't even know who picked the other one - [James] Sanders, he had a good play there. We didn't get the route communicator right and I was throwing to a spot and we weren't quite there and then their pass rush did a really good job. So, across the board, they had a really good game. It looked like they played mistake free and then our mistakes really hurt us.
Q: Was there a lot of miscommunication tonight?
MS: Sure. It wasn't as fluid as we normally are and it obviously showed. It's just too bad because we had some of the right plays on, and [that one with LaDainian Tomlinson] was one of them and we just weren't on the same page. But we'll watch the film and get better and we'll be ready for Miami.
