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Below is a look at what Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz had to say after Sunday's win over the Chicago Bears. (Quotes provided by the Lions.)
On how pleased he was with the team containing Bears RB Matt Forté: "We could have done better. Particularly early in the game since we let them loose on the run that gave them their first touchdown. I think the biggest thing of taking Forté out for most of the game was when we got a big lead. The easiest way to stop the run is to be protecting a big lead where the run really doesn't matter."
On the importance of turnovers: "We have been good at turnovers. They made their plays also. They had a couple of turnovers that led to points. Our guys make their plays. We can't worry about what other people say about us or what they say about our opponents. We know what we have. We need to go out and play hard, play tough, play physical. We need to make our plays. Our guys have proven this year that they can do that. It was a big problem for us last year. We didn't get very many turnovers on defense. We got some playmakers on defense. We have some guys up front that can rush and guys in the back end that can go get the ball. We had a lot of injuries in the back end today, but we were still able to make enough plays to win the game."
On if the defense encompassed what he would call ‘Lion Football': "'Lion Football' is getting a win however we can get it. Honestly, I don't care about any stats or anything other than the final score. We got the win today. I'll leave all the stats for other people. All the scoring is for fantasy football people. I'm worried about winning games. Anyway we can get them, we'll take them."
On DT Ndamukong Suh's performance today being better than any other performance: "No. He has been playing at a high level the whole season. I think another play that may fly below the radar was they completed a third down which had gotten negated with a penalty that was against Suh with a hand to the face. They were trying everything to get him stopped and the very next play we intercepted. He's had a couple that don't show up on the score card with forced interceptions and stuff like that. That was another one. Our pass rushers were doing a good job. I can't believe we didn't get about a 100 holding penalties against them today."
On what the advantage is in a punt return: "Just flipping field position like that. The offense is already in scoring range and we can be aggressive there and not have to worry about getting it up. Early in the game we were moving the ball very effectively .We were getting held on those third-and-ones and third-and-twos and we ended up with a lot of field goal attempts. Eventually we got it right and we started scoring touchdowns. However the offense gets the ball, whether it's an interception, fumble, punt, big punt return, we put those guys in position. We have a lot of play makers on offense to go score."
On the offensive line: "They have done a nice job all year. We had an injury, Jason Fox went down. He's closer to coming back now. (Corey) Hilliard stepped in and has done a nice job. (Larry) Warford has done a nice job. I think overall those guys, have not only protected the quarterback well, they have also blocked the run well. They're an underrated group. They're not underrated to us, but it was a big worry every time in training camp I just took questions about how everybody is fretting about our offense line. I think our offensive line has done a pretty good job so far."
On the importance of replacing WR Nate Burleson: "Whoever it was we need to get going and (Brandon) Pettigrew is a good player. He made some plays for us today. Kris Durham made a couple big plays at the end, probably no bigger than recovering the last onside kick. He took a big shot for it too. We talk a lot about player safety and he's lying prone on the ground and is getting himself up and takes a helmet right to the back and we don't get any call there. It's a little hypocritical to talk about player safety when we allow that to not get called. Kris toughed it out and he had to hold on to that ball and he did. He did a nice job today"
On CB Chris Houston's injury: "Chris went out with a leg. He wasn't able to return. We had a lot of different injuries, but we had some guys step up and have to play. We didn't do a good enough job finishing the game. We got the win and that's the only thing we worry about. We fumbled the ball in four-minute and gave up a couple of plays in there that we shouldn't have given up."
On DT Ndamukong Suh and DT Nick Fairley keeping their composure when they felt that they were being held: "They just kept on coming. They can't worry about officiating the game. They just need to keep on coming. We let the quarterback escape a couple of times and we paid the price for it. We let him escape a couple of times and we ended up making plays on defense. Those guys are resilient and they know that their job is to go and get to the quarterback. The game had become one-dimensional. It's tough to rush the passer. It takes a lot of energy in two-minute and stuff like that to rush the passer. The offensive line, a lot of times, just had to take three steps backwards. Pass rushes are tough to do and I thought they did a good job of competing throughout the day."
On P Sam Martin and the special teams unit containing Bears KR/PR Devin Hester: "He (Hester) can certainly break open games and we have seen him do it before. We couldn't let him do that in this game. I thought that our guys did a good job at number one, controlling where he was going with the kick direction and hang time. Also, our coverage units were very good. We're much-improved in our coverage units. We have been trying to get our return game going. We need to keep working at it. Guys have been working really hard to correct some mistakes and get better at some things. We did get a long return today and I thought that was good to see from them."
On QB Matthew Stafford's performance: "I've said so much about Matt that I've ran out of good things to say. He's our leader. We're never out of a game when he's in the game. He's going to lead this franchise to great things."
On having a more versatile offense and giving Stafford a ‘Plan B' when Johnson is out: "I wouldn't say we haven't had ‘Plan B's'. There's a difference between having a ‘Plan B' and being able to execute a ‘Plan B.' I think we have done a good job. When Reggie Bush was done, other guys stepped up and made plays. Nate Burleson has been done and other guys have stepped up to make plays. When teams have tried to scheme Calvin (Johnson) out of the game, we have been able to step up and make plays. We are 3-1. That's the only thing we worry about. Honestly, we're not keeping tabs of who is getting the ball and who is getting touches and who has everything else. All we are trying to do is score more points than our opponent and win the game. We have done it three times and we have lost one. We are through the first quarter of the season and we have put ourselves in good positions right now."