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Below is a look at what Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz had to say after Wednesday's walkthrough. (Quotes provided by the Lions.)
On not making the playoffs when he was with Tennessee: "At the time we knew that we needed to win. We needed a bunch of other things to happen. I think we needed to end up in a four way tie. That was the only way we could get in. We didn't win any tiebreakers unless it was a four way tie. It was sort of a crazy scenario. The first thing you want to do on your own part is take care of what you need to take care of. We need to go out and get a win this weekend. That's the most important thing and the only thing that we can control. Last week we had control of our destiny, now we can control the next game we play and everything else we just let play out."
On playoff potential: "I think you can also get ahead. We need to concentrate on this week. If we don't win this week, then it's zero-percent. I think that's the only thing that we can concern ourselves with is the Giants. This sort of goes back early on is that there are other things that need to happen right now. We need to do a good job in preparation, we need to come out, we need to play well and get a victory against the Giants. Whatever the percentages are then, we just have to go out the next game and play. That's what this League is all about. You see a lot of things that say there is a 30-percent chance that this play is going to succeed or this team has a 38-percent chance of winning. This League is 100-percent or zero-percent when it comes. You either get the win or you get the loss. We have to find a way to get the win."
On the defense not causing turnovers: I think it plays in a lot of different areas. You have to be opportunistic. It always helps when you're ahead in the score. You look at the Thanksgiving Day game and we got ahead in that score and that starts coming because offenses start pressing and start making plays that maybe aren't there. I think that plays in to it. We had a couple of close opportunities that the quarterback was able to get rid of the ball and the other one we had the ball on the ground and sometimes that's the luck of the draw. Whether you're on it, whether it bounces to you or not. I think there is something to just points of gain and we haven't played with a lot of big leads. When you play with a couple score lead turnovers it's a little bit easier to happen."
On the Giants defense: "They have always been good upfront. (Justin) Tuck's got nine sacks. They have some talent up there. They're top ten in the NFL in overall defense. Again, sometimes that's a little bit hard to read also. They're near the bottom when it comes to scoring, but again sometimes that can be a reflection of the game. Their run defense, they've been behind in a lot of games that they've played. It's hard to read too much in to statistics, but they can play some good eight-man fronts. They can get the run stop. They can put pressure on the quarterback. An opportunistic safety in Antrel Rolle. He's not only leading their team in tackles, but he's also leading them in interceptions. Generally it's not a good sign for you when you're safety is leading them in tackles, but I think in that case it's really not as bad as it would sound because he basically plays the linebacker position in their scheme a lot of the time, so you're not talking about a lot of runs that have been broken through."
On the dangers that come with playing a team that just experienced a shut-out: "I don't know. I think that every team is prideful. Every team wants to come back and play well the next week. I don't think they would be any different. They had a hard time getting things going on offense and you have to credit Seattle's defense. Seattle played very good on defense. They got a lot of turnovers. They made it very difficult for the giants to not only to run the ball, but also to drop back to pass. They had really good pressure and made a lot of plays in that game, so they'll be eager to atone for it I'm sure. We're eager to atone for last week too. We're both in the same boat."
On the commonality that occurs with offensive turnovers: "They have all been different. We've fumbled the ball some in there. We have thrown some interceptions. There has been some tipped ball interceptions. I think that if it was one common theme, then it was one thing that kept coming whatever it would be then it's a lot easier to get your hands on it and a lot easier to fix it and move on. It's been a little different. It's been coming from a lot of different areas and like I said, we haven't done a good enough job also on defense offsetting those with our own takeaways. That can go a long way to helping us also."
On fixing the turnover problem: "You just have to stay true to fundamentals. Running backs have to stay true to fundamentals and protect the football. I think we do a pretty good job of that. You have to continue to preach good decisions. There are going to be some things that happen. Matt (Stafford) got blindsided against Green Bay and got stripped and caused a fumbled. I think that's the only time this year that that's happened. I think he may have had one other one, but to get sacked like that and that falls in to the offensive line as well. There are other ones where you get tipped balls and things like that. Those things are all stuff that comes up in a game and it's no different than coaching on defense or coaching on special teams. You just have to stick with what you do and persevere through it."
On the ability for the team to put the loss behind them: "They weren't here on Tuesday. They were off on Tuesday. They just got back here. It seems different. They just got back here today. I like our team's personality that way. It was a difficult loss. It's a game that could have come down to one of half a dozen plays and they go in and kick a 61-yard field goal and it's like a knife to the heart. You have to bounce back and you have to come back and play. Our team has done that. We haven't gotten the number of wins that we want, but I don't think there has been any case where we haven't bounced back and had a good week of preparation and things like that. This week will be no different."
On the difference between coaching and playing in a must win game: "I don't know. With only 16 games, every game is so urgent and you live and die every single week in the NFL. There are highs and lows that go along with it. I don't know that you treat it any differently. It's probably a little bit different in baseball or basketball where there are 162 games or 81 games or whatever it is. It's a lot easier to move on from a loss in those teams and you don't see teams popping champagne in May with a win, but the NFL is different. With only 16, and I've said this a bunch of times, they're all must wins. The dynamic of this is a little different because to keep our playoffs hopes alive we have to come out with a win. That does make a difference. Week 1, that scenario is not there. Week 10 that scenario is not there. As we go in to the 15th game of the year, that scenario is there for us and there are probably 20 teams in the League right now that would like to switch positions with us. There are some teams that three games down with two to play. Not exactly good. There are a lot of times some of them are probably eight games down with two to play. Being one down with two to play, it's not our ideal situation, but it's the hand that we play. We are not dealt this hand, it's the hand that we're playing right now and the only thing that we concern ourselves with is the Giants."
