Hines Ward Game Quotations

We're still going to run the ball first and set up our pass game through the run game. That's our identity, and we're not going to change that because Duce or Jerome's injured.

We're still a great team. It's one loss. We didn't play particularly well but still had a chance to win the game against the Super Bowl champions. We've got to learn from it and get better, and get a lot of guys healthy and come back and make this 13-game run.

We're here without him. We never made it to this point with him. So, I don't think that we miss him. That was a big question mark coming into this year: What could we do in the passing game? Well, consequently, our passing game is the reason why we're here in the Super Bowl. So, I can't sit there and say that we miss him.

Since then, we've played in every type of ball game you can think of. We've learned a lot from it and hopefully it'll carry over into the playoffs and get us to where we need to go.

Of course, all wide receivers want to catch all the balls, ... But the game plan that day was for us to go out and run the ball. I only had two attempts, so I made the most of it.

If this is going to be his last year, what better way than to finish his career off where it all started in Detroit? Last year, we were one game short. This year, we're back to that and that's all we ask for is another opportunity. We're in that position to put him back in the Super Bowl.

We can look back at that game all we want, but I think there was a lesson to be learned in it. You can put up all the numbers, but if you don't hang onto the ball and you shoot yourself in the foot, you're not going to win. It's something for us to keep in mind when we play them this time.

I think when Champ intercepted that ball and ran it all the way back and (almost) scored, Denver had the game in control.

Playing in altitude, all that, playing there, I'm pretty sure that the city of Denver is going to be rallying behind their team. It's one game away from the Super Bowl. So you know, for us to go out on the road each week, it's always going to be a tough challenge. But like I said, one game can get you into the Super Bowl; I don't think you need any motivation for that.

I'm sure Cleveland is going to be looking to knock us out of the playoffs. It's a playoff run from here on out. We have to play on the road, and what better way to get that experience than to go out and approach each game like it is your last game?

That was great timing between Ben and I. He threw it to me before I even made my break. That's the timing we're starting to develop. We felt that we had control of the game at that point, but we just couldn't finish it off.

You just sit there and watch Ben and he has played night and day from last year's playoff time to this year's playoff time. He's just going out there and having fun playing the game of football.

We have a lot of confidence. Maybe the world doesn't believe that we can go out and win, but to beat the No. 1 and No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, you've got to have confidence. We felt like with the guys and coaching staff that we have in this locker room, we could get the job done. We've just got to go out and execute our game plan and make plays, and everything will take care of itself.

We didn't really plan to go this way. It's been twice I had home-field advantage, and we came up short both times. We're one game away from the Super Bowl. We're right back where we were last year.

We're not going to change our ways. We're not going to change our identity, we're still going to run first and set up our passing game through the run.

We'd love to have more pass attempts, but it all depends on how the game is going, ... If we run the ball well, why stop? But when we're called upon, we've got to make the plays in the passing game.

We beat the stuffing out of them, but turned the ball over too many times. (It was) frustrating because they didn't win the game. We lost the game. We did everything to lose the game and we did that. We shot ourselves in the foot.

We're not just a one-dimensional team. We can throw the ball down the field. Now we're one game from the Super Bowl, and we're taking the mentality that it's us against the world.

We have to count our blessings. The man above, he really looked down on Jerome and said, 'I'm not going to let you end your career on a fumble like that.' ... We're one game away from getting him to Detroit.

We fell one game short (last year). A lot of guys are focused, real hungry. Things didnt go particularly the way we wanted in the preseason, but you dont game-plan in the preseason. Our whole focus now is Tennessee.

At this point, mentally, the season's been long for both teams. Physically, we're fine. At this point, everybody's banged up. What motivates us is we're one game away from the Super Bowl.

There's no question this is a big game for him. You don't know how many more opportunities you're going to get.

I've never had a game where you had an all-time high to an all-time low and then have a guy who rarely misses a field goal miss one and go back to an all-time high again. We don't want to have to go through this many feelings again.

It was in slow motion. That sealed the game right there.

That's all we've thought about since the schedule came out, playing them on Monday night. That's why I'm here at camp now, that Monday night game. Losing that game hurt. But now we just want to get back there. Starting off with us and them on Monday night? That's classic. That's art.

I never went into the game saying I wanted to be the Super Bowl MVP. I just went out and played. And everything worked its way out.

I guess it was the big game with Chicago. At the time, Chicago was the No. 1 defense, being compared to the '85 Bears.

Can we win three road games? We can't look that far down the line. We just have to take it one game at a time.

He's touched every player in this locker room in some way, somehow. I just didn't want him to go out like that, one game short of the Super Bowl. It's not often you're playing with a Hall of Fame running back, and a Hall of Fame guy, period. I appreciate what he's done for my career, and having him come back and winning a Super Bowl where it all started, I'm glad to help him achieve that.

He threw a hell of a ball to me, and I think that sealed the game for us. It got our crowd back into it.