The third and ten throw to the nixt throw after he came back in the game, to Zach, can you kind of walk us through the call the last drive? Yeah, the twenty yards passed. Oh oh oh yeah yeah yeah, okay, um yeah, so you know, um, just to call that's
been in our offense. Um again thinking thinking of our playmakers obviously you know al Shaw making a tremendous catch and then and then Earth's uh the two defenders for Houston actually collided, um, and which allowed Zack to really really pop free and Nick did a great job there have just been able to be patient in the pocket, find him and put up a good throw and then have the awareness of getting out of bounce on. There's
been a few couple orders. What were you thinking? We got time and time outs again and uh, have a lot of confidence in the offense, and you know it's something that um, you know, we we work on a lot. There's a two minute drive and tempo offense and um, you know, um, this league has always been about about players making plays and and uh, you know a lot of credit to the offense today for for putting us that position to win this game. Nicole was plays with
calmness with poise. But how impressive was it today, especially after he took that hit, had to come out then to come back and direct the offense. You know, that's just that's just Nick. Um. You know, he's always been calm, you know, in in in and around the you know, his preparation during the week and then of course leading up to the game. And you know, he's a guy that just wants to wants to continue to just help the team win and and and dish the ball and
put it put it in our playmaker's hands. And you know, um really not not get much credit. Just just let the other guys do it, you know. And and uh, even after taking that hit and then going back in, I thought it took a lot of a lot of courage excuse me, a lot of courage and guts at that point to want to finish the game and come back in. And it's just credits to credit to Nick. What did he say when he came off the field for that one play? Um, I was getting Nate ready,
so I didn't talk to him. You guys think you're playing your best football this season right now heading in the next week, Yeah, I think so. I think I think he you know, UM, these last you know, three four or five games, I think things have um kind of picked up for us. Uh. I do feel like that this time of the year. Uh. You know, if you want any kind of momentum, um, you know, if you get a chance to go to the postseason, you
need to be playing your best football now. And and UM, I think that's uh, you know, I think that's what we're doing at this time. You got lead for most of the game. But the past front ratio is pretty lot time favorite past stuff because they were kind of depleted at a corner. Did you see their rush defense today? Thirty five yards rushing in football? It was hard? Oh okay, okay, maybe maybe we need to run the ball more or something. But um as a tremendous defense. Now, it's a great
group that front seven eight guys with their safeties. I mean that they do it. They do a really good job. They're um uh they create um different angles for our offensive linement. And so some of the things that we've been able to do on the last couple of weeks, Um, they just kind of took us out of it. And and so you know, I knew we're gonna have to we're gonna have to run the ball late in the game, you know, even when we went up the you know
by the third, by thirteen there, twenty nine sixteen. I felt like we could, you know, get a little momentum run the ball, Uh, make them use timehouse. You know, maybe we could finish the game at that point. But um, we didn't do it. It's just a great defense on the version of the first hand. Two questions, what made you go for that one? And was there an except as Um, well, the I wanted to go up six
at that point, so that's really the option there. Um And then um, yeah, you know it's something we'll just have to take a look at. You know, we'll send we'll send it in tomorrow and see what we get back. But uh, um nothing for eighty three that able. Yes, Yes, Lane Johnson on j J to Day did a tremendous job. JJ's name didn't get called very much. I'll tell you Lane, Lane had a great week of preparation, got it got in the in in his mindset. He's he's awesome. I
mean he's awesome. He's he's a tremendous right tackle and you know he's had to block some really really really good defensive ends. Uh this season. Um, this was probably one of the uh, probably the best one he's he's seen all season. And I did a nice job, did a really nice job, and and uh it's a credit to him and um well deserved. They check out of
on that audible. It was into coverage check that he saw something Houston had been running earlier in the game, and he saw it, got to another, got to another one of them that got to a play that would attack that coverage, and uh, great protection and allowed him to get the ball down the field play it was a pass play to begin with. Yes, yeah, exact broke
Wittin's record tonight today. What does he meant to your quarterbacks to have a guy, particularly on third down and in the red zone that they know can get open and they can count on. Yeah, first of all, it's it's a great honor for Zach and and um you know, can congratulations go to him. You know, but he's another one of those guys that very unselfish. UM quarterbacks do
have a comfort level with him, you know. He seems to kind of be that guy that that uh, you know exactly where he's gonna be and Um, you know he's he's obviously great after the after the catch, Um, runs great routes. So you know, for the quarterbacks to have that type of guy, Um, again, it just gives you that little comfort, you know, do you especially in crucial moments like you know, the the corner route that
he ran late in the game. Um, It's just it's a moned to credit to him for how hard he works and then and then his uh relationship with our quarterbacks. You see, I was just proud of him, told him how proud of proud I was. And you know, um, we had to we had to come through a lot of adversity today. Uh and and and they hung in there, they hung together. The game wore on our Our team got tighter and tighter and tighter and played played well
down the stretch. And you know, it wasn't pretty obviously. Um. You know, there were a lot of a lot of mistakes and a lot of things that went around. But but the bottom line was they they found a way to win past a certain feeling about your team. Are you seeing something now in these past five natures that
gives you encouragement? I'm value prospects you yeah, I mean you know that's and part of the message in the locker room too, is just you know, I'm proud of the way they come to work every day and prepare that day. It's Wednesday or Thursday or Friday, whatever it is, they prepare that way and it pays off, you know in these games. And um, you know, our guys don't make plays that they made today if we don't practice those situations or at least put them in situations to
make those plays in practice. And you know, you're just seeing how a lot of our young guys are really maturing now and they're growing up and they are they are contributing and making some plays and you know it's not again, it's not perfect. There's still some mistakes being made, but you know, the veteran guys are rallying. The veteran guys are making plays there, um, doing the things that that we ask them to do. And that's for me. Um,
that's all I can ask for. The effort is there, obviously, Um, you know, the excitement is there, the passion for the game, the desire to win, and you know, it's a resilient group. Was like a few times this year, and that resiliency, this group has been at least playoff wise declared dead for the year, even part of today. What does it say? And how proud of you that you're going into week seventeen with something to play for us? Now? Oh, it's
it's everything. I mean, these guys are so excited to be to be still you know, in the hunt and and and to really um, you know we talk about controlling things that we can control. Well, we get to control where you know, our destiny a little bit. We get to make our own and create our own and and and so that's that's that's why I'm you know, these guys never quit, you know, they they don't quit. And um, it would have been easy, you know today just to you know, kind of let your guard down
at the end and and not finish the game. But um, again kind of goes back to your question. Just it's a veteran group, resilient group. They hang together and they find a way to win and and uh, you know, as a head coach, that's what you can all you can ask for, really,