EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF FOOTBALL OPERATIONS
On whether it's harder for the offense not being able to have a good game
"However you look at it, what hurts now is probably the turnovers, because to turn it over that many times, especially in this game to a great football team that you know you're playing in this game, it's hard to do. That's where you have to give the Seahawks a lot of credit. They played well tonight."
On momentum at the start of both halves
"Yeah. I don't have all the answers, but I 've got to imagine that had something to do with it. We just couldn't get in it in the end zone and really couldn't get it going. We had some opportunities to try to get back in the game, we just couldn't seem to get it going."
On not being able to overcome adversity tonight
"To me, the answers were that Seattle was that good on defense and really did a good job. They were relentless. They smelled blood and stayed after it. So, I mean, the bottom line is you've got to give them a lot of credit. We made some mistakes, but you've got to give them a lot of credit, too, because they really – it's hard to switch momentum against a great defensive team like this."
QUARTERBACK PEYTON MANNING
On the game
"I think we played a great football team. We needed to play really well in order to win and we just didn't come anywhere close to that. We weren't sharp offensively from the very get-go. The turnover on the first play of the game, giving them a safety – not the way you want to start a game. For whatever reason, we couldn't get much going after that. But I give Seattle a lot of credit. They're an excellent football team and they caused a lot of our mistakes. At the same time, we just didn't play well tonight."
On the turnover at the beginning of the game
"They have an excellent defense and certainly to get behind and give them the lead played into their hands. That's what they do to a lot of teams. They can get the lead on a team. It definitely benefits their team and their defense. We certainly didn't want to do that. We wanted to keep the game on the field, keep the score even. Got behind early, never could make a run to catch up. From that standpoint, it was definitely a disadvantage for us and an advantage for them." On a disappointing end to the season
"Well, it's disappointing for our entire team. We worked hard to get to this point. Overcame a lot of obstacles to be here. Put in a lot of hard work, did some really good things just to have this opportunity. But certainly to finish this way, it's very disappointing. It's not an easy pill to swallow, but eventually we have to."
DEFENSIVE END ROBERT AYERS
On the loss
"It's tough. I enjoyed the experience here, but this is not what we came here for. We didn't want to finish the season like this. But unfortunately we did. We've got to move on."
On getting behind on momentum plays
"That's part of the game. Our job as a defense is to respond and to keep fighting and get the ball back to the offense. I don't think we had any turnovers. I don't think we had any sacks. That's one of our goals as a defense, and we didn't do that today. As a team, we didn't do what we were supposed to do. The better team today, they're out there holding the trophy, and we're going to have a long offseason."
On holding them to field goals
"Holding them to field goals? We should've got the ball back. That's how I view it. Sudden change, they get the ball with a short field or whatever, we've got to go get the ball back. We didn't do what we needed to do. We didn't create turnovers. We didn't get sacks. We gave up chunk yardage. We stopped Marshawn a little bit, but Percy got off two runs. We didn't do our jobs. Field goals, whatever. In a game like this, we need blanks. We need to get the ball back. We need turnovers, and we didn't do that."
On not overcoming adversity tonight after all season
"It was tough. We did overcome a lot, but every team in this league does that. Unfortunately we came up on the short end of the stick. But there's a lot to look back on and reflect. I'm not going to say – I'm kind of at a loss for words after a game like this. It was the Super Bowl. It would've hurt just as bad if we would've lost by one as we did by whatever it was. It's tough. We just have to keep going on."
On the loss
"They beat us in all three phases. They ran, they moved the ball offensively, they got turnovers defensively, they returned a special-teams play. One play didn't beat us. It was a collection of things."
TIGHT END JACOB TAMME
On the opening snap
"That wasn't a great start, but we've overcome much more than that. That wasn't anything that hurt us that bad. We felt fine coming out after that. But you have to give theircrowd here credit. They forced us out of our cadence on the first play and forced a safety. Their defense played well. They played well as a team. They beat us in all phases and you have to give them credit for that."
On turnovers"Turnovers obviously are key in the NFL. They were a key tonight and again, you have to give them credit for the way that they played. We just weren't able to ever get it going."
On remembering season"I think I'll remember it as one of the most fun years I've had playing football. I really enjoyed playing with this group of guys. That's what really stinks about this feeling now. We won the AFC. That's not what we were looking to do. We did have a good year and we did have a good group of guys that I enjoyed playing with. It's just very disappointing right now."
DEFENSIVE END MALIK JACKSON
On getting this close and falling shortNobody wants to just come to the Super Bowl. Everybody wants to come and win it. It is very disappointing. It is very sad. But we're men, we'll take it well and we'll go home and recoup and get ready for next year."
On momentum"Those are plays we have to capilaize on. We can't let those happen. It was a simple mistake and can be corrected if we go out there and stop them on third down and get them off the field, but I guess we had a hard time doing that today. They did a good job."
On the seasonMinus this game, I think I had a great season, but you have to look at the season as a whole. This game will definitely weigh heavy on the season I had. It was a good season, but could have been beter."
On getting back"Oh yeah, just have to go home, recuperate and work. I'm sure Mr. Elway and Coach Fox will do a great job of getting some guys in here next year and we'll be back to work."
