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Dolphins Postgame Quotes

CB Jason Allen

(On if New England surprised them with anything they did)
- "I don't think they surprised us. It was one-on-one and they just made more plays than we did. I can only speak for myself going against Randy Moss; he made more plays then me."

(On being right there on coverage and Randy Moss making plays)
- "I have to give respect where respect is due. He's a Pro Bowl type wide out. He's a good wide receiver. I give my respect to him and he just made more plays then I did."

(On if Matt Cassel was different from the first time they played them)
- "We knew that coming in that he was a totally different quarterback. He's built confidence and he's playing with confidence. You tip your hat off to New England and the way they prepared."

(On if he expected them to throw that much)
- "We knew they would throw the ball but I think they threw the ball a little bit more than what we expected, but like I said, they made plays and they made more plays then we did today."

(On being one-on-one with Randy Moss so much)
- "Regardless of what I expected, I just have to make the plays. That's what you have to expect week in and week out; one-on-one and make plays."

S Yeremiah Bell

(On if he expected the Patriots to come out and test them right away)
- "We figured they would come out and run the ball a little bit. They were in the spread last week so we figured they would get in the spread some. They made a habit of it. That was their game plan today, to come out in an empty [backfield] and spread the ball out and throw the little, short underneath passes and they did a good job."

(On the Patriots WRs making good plays despite their good coverage)
- "You have to give your hats off to those guys. They played hard to day. They came in and knew what they wanted to do and they came in here and did it. At the same time, we made a lot of errors on defense. We lost out cool at the end of the game when we were still in the game, so those things are on us. All we can do is get back to the drawing board and come out and play hard next week."

(On if this team needs to go through some growing pains)
- "Yeah, it's something we have to go through. The game is over now so we definitely have to go through it. This isn't the end of our season. We have many more games. This was an important game and we didn't get it, but we've got a lot more to go. This thing is not over and all we can do now is get ready for next week."

DT Jason Ferguson

(On what they didn't do right defensively)
- "They just came with a good game, no doubt about it. They just showed us that Matt Cassel is ready. They showed us that Cassel isn't the backup quarterback that everybody was saying. We had a chance to make plays, too. They just made more plays when it counted and hats off to them. We just have to move on. We can't carry this on our sleeve. We definitely didn't show our class in the game. They didn't show theirs either. I think a lot of the stuff got initiated and I think the guys [referees] should have gotten more control of the game. It's just what it is. At the same time, not to put the game on them, there were enough emotions; fighting for first place, trying to get a game here in the division and all those things."

CB André Goodman

(On the pass interference call)
"I thought it was, honestly offense (pass interference)
, I am not going to lie. I felt like I was in good position, (the official)
said that I cut him off, I tried to beat him to the space that I thought that I was entitled to, but he said that 'I was not allowed to cut him off with my body', which I will never understand. He made the call he is the official, and we got to live with it."

(On the play of Matt Cassel)
"He played with confidence, I don't think that he is any less that what we thought he was, he is playing with confidence. The ball is coming out a whole lot faster, he is making plays with his feet, he is a dangerous quarterback when he is on his game."

(On the touchdown to Randy Moss)
"I felt like I was in good enough position to make the play, I was trying to balance myself to get a good lift off the ground, wasn't able to get off the ground. Thought that maybe I was going to get the flag to go my way but I didn't and you have to live with the call."

(On the offense being able to match the Patriots score for score)
"We couldn't get off the field. The offense is good, but we are not a bad defense. At the end of the day it's whether you make the plays or you don't, it's a man on man game, we didn't make the plays and we lost. It's very frustrating because we were making a lot of progress on that side of the ball; you've got to get off the field if you want to win the game. Like I said they made the plays today, take nothing away from them, because they won the game"

DE Vonnie Holliday

(On the loss to the Patriots)
- "First of all, what's so disappointing about this loss; not only were we beat, but physically, these guys came out and they put out the points, but the way we handled the game especially at the end right there. That's embarrassing. It's an embarrassing loss on a big stage with a big opportunity. What our team, I feel like what has been our backbone throughout the first half of the season has been smart, disciplined and tough football. This was an embarrassing loss. An embarrassment to us, this organization for the way we handled that and the end and I just want to extend our apologies to our fans, to ownership because that's just not how you go about it. We're a team that's certainly building and changing a culture and what we did today was the exact opposite of what we want to do."

(On Matt Cassel)
- "As it goes with Cassel, I thought they came out with a good game plan. Watching him on film leading into this game they were trying to be physical upfront and run the ball more. [They were] totally opposite in this game. They changed it up from the beginning trying to slow us down on pass rush with the screen and then pretty much from there, open it up with empty [backfield]. We weren't able to get there with a four-man rush. It's as much my fault as any. We had our DBs out on an island against very good receivers, guys that can make plays. The one guy that you can't let beat you beat us."

(On why the game unraveled)
- "There's a lot of emotion that goes into this; an opportunity lost. I felt it slipping away. What's so interesting is even with four or five minutes to go in the game, you're still only down by two scores and I think we lost sight of that a little bit. There were a lot of things going on on the field; not only with the patriots but with the refs. I think emotion got the best of a lot of people today, not just players."

(On if he still feels like at 6-5 there is still time to get things done)
- "This is going to be a pivotal point in our season here no doubt about it. Of course you want to go home a winner but things are completely different. Now as a team, you're at a cross road. What's going to happen now? How are you going to respond after a loss like this after everything transpired on the field today? For us as veterans in this locker room, leadership is very important right now. I know Coach Sparano and what direction he's going to go with this and we've got to all get on board and learn from this because this was an embarrassing loss and the things that went on on the field today we can't play the game that way. We can't have that going regardless. For us, there's life after this game. It's certainly a disappointment and one that you'll be thinking about for a long time; the opportunity lost, but we still have an opportunity. We just have to go back to the way we've been winning game; smart, tough and disciplined football."

(On the loss of emotions at the end of the game)
- "I thought that was terrible and they'll probably get fined for this officiating, they missed the call on that, no doubt about it. Channing (Crowder)
is a rebel rouser is you will, but in that situation, he's clearly not in the wrong. You really have to watch what you say when you talk about officiating around this league. You've seen the fines and as much money as we make, I don't want to give it away. I'll just leave that alone."

(On the Patriots in general)
- "They were embarrassed at their place, so you've got to know these guys are coming in with a big chip on their shoulders and wanted revenge. We talked about that earlier this week. At our expense, they got that today and you want to take about class? We didn't sho much class at the end either, so that's all I'm going to say about that."

LB Matt Roth

(On if he is disappointed he might not see the Patriots again)
- "Yeah, we're 1-1 [against them]. It would have been nice to get two games on them and jump up, but we always have next year with them and I think it's going to be a good rivalry."

(On the Patriots coming out and throwing)
- "Yeah, I thought they were going to come out and spread us out a little bit and throw the ball around a little bit. That's what they did well against the Jets. It's what they did and we just didn't make enough plays out there."

(On the biggest difference in Matt Cassel)
- "He's getting rid of the ball quick. That's kind of what [Tom] Bradys thing was. They had Wed (Welker)
coming around in the slot and Randy (Moss)
can make big plays. They just did well. He got rid of the ball and they didn't get enough pressure on them."

(On if he expected them to line up in the shotgun as often)
- "We had a good idea. Of course, that first series, we knew it was going to be their game plan. So, we expected it."

RB Ronnie Brown

(On how disappointing this loss is after having won four straight games)
- "It was a big opportunity for us to come out and do something special and obviously get another game in our division on our field. Unfortunately, they played some good football today and they made plays when they needed to."

(On if players started to lose their cool during the game)
- "Yeah, at times, I guess in certain situations. It is football, but then occasionally it turned into something else unfortunately. There was some things that didn't look so well and didn't go so well as far as stuff that may have happened."

(On 28 points usually being good enough to get a win)
- "At the same time, they've got a great offense themselves. They're playing good football like I said and they have some offensive guys over there that made plays. On third down situations they were able to make the plays and were able to stay on the field in certain occasions. We knew a big part of this game was trying to keep the ball and time of possession."

(On if he was impressed by Matt Cassel)
- "Obviously, they're still the same team; they still got the guys around him that make plays. They've got Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Kevin Faulk. They still have the guys around him. He's had opportunities to play a few games and get a few games on his belt and get that experience. I think they're coming into their own as far as being comfortable with him in there."

(On still have five more games)
- "We got to go in and see some things that we didn't do well this game and obviously build on those things. We still have five games left and those are going to be big games as well. The next one is St. Louis and we'll focus on those guys."

(On Coach Tony Sparano's message after the game)
- "Pretty much it falls down to we didn't play in the way we are capable of the whole game. We knew it was going to be a tough one. They made some plays in certain situations and we didn't."

(On the electricity in the stadium)
- ""We were excited about the game and going into it and the opportunity we had as a team. Unfortunately we just didn't come out on the winning side today."

WR Ted Ginn, Jr.

(On if he knew it was going to be a boxing match today)
- "Yeah, it's always going to be a boxing match. You're playing somebody in your division, a division team with great guys on the other end. We're usually the team that usually knock them out. They don't want that and we want that and they just came out and played good. They played a better game than we did and we have to go back to the drawing board and get ready for next week."

(On if he expected this game to be a shootout)
- "As soon as we came out, we knew that on Wednesday. We knew that on Thursday. We knew it was going to come down to a field goal or something like that, whatever it may be. We got some situations where we didn't execute well early in the fourth and it hurt us. That's why we do what we do."

(On still having five more games to do what they need to get done)
- "We're down, but we're not out. The only thing we've got to do is get back to the drawing board, get ready for next week, keep playing hard, keep doing what we do best. At the end of the deal, we should be okay.

T Jake Long

(On how you bounce back from this loss)
- "This team has been bouncing back all year. We've faced adversity and this isn't the first time. We're going to come back tomorrow, fix our mistakes and go back to work on Wednesday and get ready for St. Louis."

(On if the wind was taken out of the team after a four-game winning streak)
- "It's always upsetting losing, but we've bounced back before from a loss. I have no doubt in my mind this team is going to come back tomorrow, correct mistakes, go out on Wednesday, get fired up and be fired up and get the winning streak back on."

(On how he's feeling health wise)
- "I'll be alright. I got my ankle rolled up on me pretty good, but I'll be okay."

(On the game getting chippy at the end)
- "We knew it was going to be like that. We knew they were going to come in here especially how we won last time. We knew they were going to come in and give it everything they got and we were expecting that."

(On what Coach Tony Sparano said postgame to the team)
- "We got to come back tomorrow, correct mistakes and keep working. We've been through this before; fix our mistakes, not create the penalties and all of that stuff and just correct everything and get back to work."

G Justin Smiley

(On the lack of balance on offense)
- "I don't know, that comes with football. We put ourselves in a position where we could run the football and that's just the way it was. We got down a little bit; we had to start throwing the football. It was a heavyweight battle in there man, it was 12 rounds. (Patriots DL)
Richard Seymour is a heck of a player and we were slugging it out in there. Samson (Satele)
was battling his butt off with Vince Wilfork. That's the kind of game it was and we knew that coming in. It was no surprise, it was man-on-man and those guys did a great job. They came prepared and got a win on the road and that's important."

(On if he thought 28 points would win this game)
- "No. The object of the game is to score one more than they do and we didn't do that. Our defense kept us in games this whole year and played unbelievable this whole year. They got some turnovers and big turnovers for us today. We had some opportunities where we were moving the ball and stuff like that and we shot ourselves in the foot with some penalties. They called me on a holding call and just stuff like that that you can't have especially against a great team like New England. You can't do that to yourself.

(On New England looking totally different now than in Week 3)
- "You go up there and you execute better and that's what we did. I'm not sure, I think we had two penalties the whole game on either side of the ball the last time we played the and look how many we had today in crucial situations. We were moving the ball and we shoot ourselves in the foot today. That's not the only reason we lost, but against a team like this right here, they were in the Super Bowl a year ago, they were 18-1, you can't do those kind of things. You put yourself in those positions and that's what happens."


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