Head Coach John Harbaugh

Opening Statement: “Obviously, this is a win that we’re really, really pleased with and proud of. It was a prolific passing game coming in here. Their defense had done a good job against some good offenses, and we found a way, play after play after play to execute, move the ball and score points. The thing I’m disappointed with, to be honest with you, is finishing at times – finishing at the half, finishing at the end of the game. We’re staying on the field [on defense]. We’re getting off the field [on offense]. [An example is] the first drive where we didn’t knock it in. Those are the areas that we can get better at. Let’s talk about within each play, as well as we played in so many ways – outside of that – we have to find a way to keep getting better at those areas, and that’s what I’m excited about our team. Now that’s something we can do that’s a clear-cut area where we can get better. But the running game was on. I don’t know how many yards we rushed for – maybe over 200, I guess. It was a tremendous job of running the ball north and south. I thought we did a nice job of making catches outside against single-high coverage. We covered them really well. We really did. Take that last [drive] out – those two plays down the sideline. We got some good pressure on Kyle Orton, which was really important. All in all, it was a heck of a win. It was an important win for us to get where we’re going as a football team. This is a game we really had to win at home against an AFC team, and now we have an opportunity next week to go up to New England and play the team we’re playing – a team we’re going to have to deal with throughout the course of the season. It’s an opportunity to do some good things up there.”

(on Ray Rice running the ball) “He did grind out yards. I think that’s a good description. It was one of those kinds of games for Ray. Ray has proven he can run between the tackles. He does some flashy things when he gets in space, but he ran the ball between the tackles, and we were grinding out yards, really in the third quarter.”

(on bouncing back from the first-drive turnover on downs) “Well, that was big. I think offensively, I would’ve liked for it to have been 21 [points] at that point in time. But for us to [move the ball well the first drive] and then to do it again and do it again, I think it establishes [momentum]… That’s what I’m saying, play after play, we were executing. We were blocking people, we were completing passes, we were protecting. That’s a sign of a good football team, and I think that’s a good place to start.”

(on if the plan was to rotate CBs Josh Wilson and Lardarius Webb) “It was predetermined. We want to play those guys. If you’re looking at a team that’s going to throw the ball a lot, a team that has some guys that are going to make plays, you’re going to put a lot of corners on the field. We were in a lot of different packages, and we were just trying to get guys reps. I bet, when it’s all said and done, it was a pretty even mix. I’m not sure who might have had more reps, but we tried to spread the reps out a little bit for those guys.”

(on the secondary and CB Fabian Washington) “There was one drive where we didn’t get much pressure, on the two-minute drive at the end of the half, and we gave up the points, but the pressure was there pretty much all day, especially at the end. I think we had them on the run a little bit. I’m just disappointed in the two plays down the right sideline that got them out of the whole and got them the points at the end and got them all those yards. But I thought Fabian was all over the field. He covered really well. It’s one of the better games he probably ever played here. He was singled up a lot of the time out there, and he played really well.”

(on how good this team really is) “Well, we’ll find out, won’t we? That’s why we play the game. I think we have an opportunity to be a really good team. That kind of a football team is in us, and that’s what we talked to our guys about. We want to take steps today toward finding that. We wanted to play that way today, play like the team we can be. I think in many ways, we did, but in some other key ways, we didn’t. Maybe that’s how it usually works, but that’s what we need to find out as we go.”

(on improving on the takeaway-giveaway ratio) “Obviously, the special teams play was huge. I thought Jason Phillips was unbelievable, and it’s as good a job as you’re ever going to see covering a kick. That was a huge hit on [Demaryius Thomas]. Their guy was smoking it up in there pretty good like he does. He’s a big man. And then [Ken] Hamlin getting on top of the ball, that was good for us.”

(on the scare of DT Haloti Ngata being slow to get up in the first half) “It was. It was a double whammy there. We didn’t get it in, and then we’ve got Haloti with a potential injury, so that was. You take a chance sometimes when you put those guys out there, but then again, you want to put guys in situations to help you make plays. To me, that’s what football players do. People can say, ‘Why is he out there on offense?’ or, ‘Why is he out there playing on special teams?’ Because you’re trying to win those plays. You try to put your guys in position, within reason, to do that. Fortunately, he was OK.”

(on the status of CB Josh Wilson) “It’s a little bit of a hamstring. We’ll have to see. Other than that, I don’t know how serious it is.”

(on the speed of CB Fabian Washington’s recovery) “Now, what they’re doing with ACLs is pretty amazing. He worked hard every single day. Lardarius [Webb] is in the same category. These guys were training every day to rehab that thing. But, he’s very determined. Fabian – I guess I’d put Lardarius in the same category – Fabian is very determined to be an elite corner in this league. That’s his goal. He’s got the speed to do it; he’s got the athleticism to do it. I think he’s become a very good technical player in the last two years, better than he ever was before. That’s a credit to Chuck Pagano, what he’s done with our secondary. I just like the way Fabian works.”

(on why the Ravens match up so well with the Broncos) “The biggest thing is the last two years, we’ve played them here. I think that’s a big edge. Home-field advantage in this league is a big deal. You go out there and play Denver in Denver, and that’s a big challenge, too. That’s the only thing I can think of for the last two games. And then we’ve played well. Our defense has done a nice job against them.”

(on establishing the running game) “It’s important. We need to be able to run the ball. It’s nice to know we can run the ball. That’s a defense that’s pretty much set up to stop the run in a lot of ways, and we did a good job of running on them anyway. We’ve got to be able to do that. And that’s not to say we’re going to be able to run for that kind of yards every week, but hopefully we’re becoming the type of offense that can do both really well.”

(on K Billy Cundiff’s four touchbacks) “Thanks for brining that up. I don’t know how often that happens, that you’re not talking about Denver, really. He’s been as good as any kicker in the league as far as kicking off. He’s making field goals. It takes a lot of pressure off your kickoff team.”

(on the Ravens establishing a physical presence) “I think you have to be. That’s the type of team we want to be. That’s the type that I think the Ravens have always wanted to be, and we want to be that in all three phases. We want to be a rough, tough, physical football team. We also want to be smart. We want to be a disciplined football team. We want to play hard every snap. We want to make good decisions. I wasn’t real happy with some of the penalties today. I thought the holding penalty was a bad penalty at the end. It shouldn’t have happened, and it gave them a chance to get the ball back. That’s just one example. There was one on the kickoff return that shouldn’t have happened, and it backed us up to the 10-yard line. We still managed to move it out, but you don’t finish games by committing those kinds of penalties, and we’ve got to be better than that.”

(on if the Ravens are getting better each week) “Absolutely, I think we are. Our goal is to be better this Sunday than we were last Sunday as a football team. We’ll look at the tape, we’ll determine that. It’s always an area here and an area there – you get good in some areas, and some other things pop up. But, overall, generally, we want to push everything up as much as we can every single week.”

(on if S Ed Reed will be ready to go when he’s eligible to play) “I think he’ll be ready to go. Obviously, you never know until the guy gets out there and starts practicing the football stuff. But based on the way he’s moving around now, I don’t see any way he won’t be ready to go.”

(on not having a let down after a big win the previous week) “Our guys talked all week about following up the big win with a win. That’s really important. If you don’t follow it up with a win, then you kind of negate the big win, because you just count for one apiece. So, this was a big game for that reason. And it gets you to 4-1, gives us an opportunity to go into New England to be 1-0 this week. It’s really an important game.”