HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (opening remarks ) * *
"Congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts, Coach Caldwell, Peyton Manning, and that whole team. Their defense played very well, I just thought it was a heck of an effort by them. The kind of game you've got to play to win a game like this; so, congratulations to them. Obviously, we're disappointed at the fact we didn't win this game- we didn't play well enough to win. We didn't play well enough to win this game, on this day, against this team. That's our disappointment. Like I told these guys, it's hard for me to put into words how proud I am of them. I think they fought, they fought all year, and they fought today.
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on the wind coming out of the teams' sails at the end of the first half)
"In what sense? We kept playing hard. We didn't deflate in the game. We came out and we fought for the rest of the game. So, I wouldn't say the wind came out of our sails."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on the play by WR-Pierre Garcon to knock the ball from FS Ed Reed )
"Oh, it's a great play by Garcon. Obviously, that hurt us. Just like any ball carrier out in the open you have to put that ball away. The ball comes off your body low like that it's got a chance to be knocked out."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on any surprises defensively)
"I think they played good defense. They played good defense all year, and they played exactly what they've always played they just played it very well."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on QB-Peyton Manning )
"He does a great job of finding receivers. He finds a match-up. I thought we really did a good job of making that tough for him, for the most part, at times. It wasn't easy, they had no cheap ones. We made them go down the length of the field."
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QB-JOE FLACCO (on the biggest thing the Colts did on Defense)
"They know how to play what they do well. They are able to react quickly and defend quickly. That's what they say about this group of guys- they play with speed and react to the ball."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on feeling like the offense didn't click)
"No, not at all. It was the type of game where it was really close all around and they made some plays in the second quarter to get themselves ahead. We were just never able to click like we needed to to get back in the game."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on feeling like it went from 3-3 to 17-3 in an instant)
"Well, year. Obviously, they did a good job. They had a nice drive at the end of the half. Us not getting the first down at that point late in the first half gave them the opportunity to get the ball back. Those drives at the end of the half, at the end of the game, sometimes are the most crucial part of the game. I think that's been proven through the year this year that that's the way it has been. They did a good job in doing that. We didn't make plays when we needed to the rest of the game. We came out and looked like we were going to get together a little drive in the second half. We got stopped and gave it away. We could have at that point got back in this game but just didn't make the plays to do it."
OT-MICHAEL OHER (on the Colts being a fast defense)
"They definitely moved a little bit, but it was nothing we couldn't handle. But they just made more plays than we did."
RB-RAY RICE (on the Colts defense doing anything different to close the running lanes)
"Same thing they did last game. They seemed like they had the same game plan. They moved around. Their defense is based on movement. They are a moving defense. Catch them in a move and some big plays happen. We have to score. We will learn. We have a great group of guys and a great year. We learn to score, and we will be all right."
RB-RAY RICE (on the Colts making a concerned effort to stop him and RB-Willis McGahee)
"That's going to happen. They are making plays. Great teams do great things. It's like not game planning for (DE-Robert) Mathis and (DE-Dwight) Freeney."
RB-RAY RICE (on his fumble)
"It was a great play. It was a great play by him (DE-Raheem Brock). I didn't see him. I'm making guys miss. I had the ball high and tight and he just got a good helmet on the football. They played a good game today. We will learn from this. We have a great group of guys. We overcame a lot this year. We will just look forward to the offseason. I have to look forward to the Pro Bowl now. Best of luck to them. The guy made a great play. As long as our guys go down fighting. You will never see us quit. You will never see me quit. It's just one of those games were things didn't go our way. We will learn from this and that's what the offseason is for."
WR-MARK CLAYTON (on the Colts giving different looks keeping him and QB-Joe Flacco from connecting)
"We were just off. They mixed it up well between press two and press (coverage). Collectively, we didn't hit like we needed to win the game."
WR-MARK CLAYTON (on going forward and using this loss to spring into next season)
"A loss is always tough. We just have to come back and go to work. There's nothing between us, as players or coaches, that we can't do to win games. We could have won this game if we executed like we should have. We will go into the offseason and work on the little things. We have a great team with great players and great coaches."
S-ED REED (on intercepting the ball and not being able to get it back to the offense)
"Making QB-Peyton (Manning) turn it over, you can't do that. You have to give our offense a chance to score. They were the better team today. A great team. We knew that coming in. They pulled it out."
S-ED REED (on how tough it was with the Colts scoring twice at the end of the first half)
"Very tough. I think that has happened every time we played Indy. You got to protect the ball. We have to be smarter with the ball and make better decisions. Make better decisions as far as clock management. It happens every time we play them. We try to be smart about it. You can't give up points, especially against a good team. Field position is definitely key. I'm pretty sure they won that battle."
S-ED REED (on how tough the loss is as a player)
"Very tough because opportunities don't come often. As a player getting older, dealing with injuries, you don't know how much you can last. It's hard, really hard. You want to win for your team and for your city, but you don't always come out that way."
CB-DOMONIQUE FOXWORTH (on trying to stop the Colts offense)
"The Colts are going to make their plays. They're a great offense, probably the best one in the last 10 years or so. So, they're going make their plays. It's just our job to make more than they did. We didn't do it last time we played them, and we weren't able to do it this time. We just came up a few plays shy, again.
CB-DOMONIQUE FOXWORTH (on the touchdown at end of first half being a turning point)
"I don't know that it was a turning point. We had a whole other half and plenty of time to make things happen. Obviously, that was a pivotal moment and a key play, but we could go through a number of pivotal moments and key plays. But that was one of many.
CB-DOMONIQUE FOXWORTH (on giving up too many opportunities)
"I'd have to watch (the tape) all over again to see what it boiled down to. They're the Colts. They are a great offense. They're going to make plays, and our goal is to make more plays than them. Last two times we played them, we came up a couple of plays shy.
SLB-JARRET JOHNSON (on inconsistent play )
"I don't know. We need to play consistent. We've got games where the offense plays well, yet defensively we haven't, but we have also had a couple complete games. We've got to find ways when the offense is struggling to make plays and help them out and they've got to do the same for us."
SLB-JARRET JOHNSON (on QB Peyton Manning capitalizing on mistakes)
"That's the kind of guy he is, league quarterbacks they do that. You give them any error and they take advantage, that's somehting we didn't do last week against Brady but we did against Peyton. You do that and he's going to take advantage."
