The Washington Football Team will try to extend its win streak to four in a row with a Week 13 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders. Here are some of the top quotes from the week, presented by GEICO.
Ron Rivera on creating turnovers with Raiders Derek Carr:
"Well, probably the biggest thing as you're asking is we've got to get pressure on the quarterback. We can't allow a guy like that to stand back. He's got a good arm and he sees the field very well. That's the one thing you see. He does see the field very well. So you've got to keep him under pressure so that he doesn't see the field as well as he liked to. And again, you got to be physical with the receivers. They've got a good group of receivers that are playmakers. The big thing we have to do is we've got to do is, again, get after the quarterback more so than anything else."
Travelle Wharton on why John Matsko is so highly sought after:
"Details, details, details. It's not just blocking this man or just seeing the concept of what they're trying to do. That way you have a better understanding, okay, he can't do this, or he can do this because their defense does this. He has a great memory. He's detailed-oriented in everything you do. He's not going to let you set whether your feet are parallel or in an angle, he's going to let you know where you keep your hands. As an older player, when he got to Carolina, when I was there, he would get on me every day about my hands. It's little things I've been doing for 10 years, but he'll nitpick on your hands. How your hands supposed to be? What's your body doing? And as a player, you love that because he doesn't let you slip off of it. He's going to be detailed on everybody's techniques. It's going to be a certain way, and he's going to hold you accountable to it. I think that accountability is huge for everybody, because now you hear him on the middle of the field. You know, his voice is in your head of man. I got to keep my hands up or something that happened, you can, auto-correct better also. I did this and you look at the picture, I need to do this better."
Jack Del Rio on the Raiders receiving corps:
"Yeah, they've got a good group. [Raiders WR] DeSean [Jackson] adds some speed over the top that they lost with [former Raiders WR Henry] Ruggs. DeSean has been a good player for a long time in this league. You look at [Raiders TE Darren] Waller or you look at [Raiders WR Hunter] Renfrow, they've got some weapons. They've got two very capable backs, they've got a big offensive line, they've got a really good quarterback, and the tight ends are really good players. Waller is special. So, we've got our challenges in front of us. We're looking forward to going out there and competing and getting this offense slowed down."
Scott Turner on the offensive line play:
"They're happier when we run the ball a lot more. No, I mean, the offensive line, they want to run the ball. That's just the nature of the position. You wouldn't want it any other way. It's not easier because running the ball is hard and blocking guys front is hard. There's a lot less pressure on them when you're running the ball and the defensive line is having to play both instead of just having to drop back in past pro. And there's a lot of talented rushers in this league. I think that's what can kind of take a little bit of pressure off of them when you are running the ball successfully because, again, the defense, they gotta play the run. If you're running the ball and you're getting four, five, six-yard gains, then they got to put an extra emphasis in stopping the run, which gives you more time to throw the ball, gets more reaction from play action pass on the second level. It just all ties in together that way."
Ron Rivera on the team gaining momentum:
"Confidence. It's when you're confident in what you're doing and how you do it. You tend to do it fast. You tend to play fast. You tend to react rather than think. And sometimes that's a very, very good thing. You want to be able to play fast and that's probably, I think the other word that I could use would be confidence as opposed to just momentum. Sometimes because of the momentum, because of the confidence of playing fast, it covers up a lot of mistakes as well. And that's one of the benefits to us being successful right now. Hopefully we can sustain it and continue."
Taylor Heinicke on if he feels as if he is playing his best football right now:
"Yeah, I do feel like I'm playing probably some of my best football I've ever played, and I think that's, you know, a credit to the coaches and just really working hard and keeping the ball in our possession. I think that's the biggest thing, you know. We'd like to take shots down field, we'd like to get those big chunk plays, but if they're getting out of their checking the ball down is just as good. As long as we keep getting first downs and scoring points, that's all that matters. And yeah, the confidence now and how we feel now before our bye week is a total 180. We still have confidence during that four-game skid that we could be great. But it was just going out there and executing and to come back after the bye against Tampa and going against them and building on that last three weeks has been huge for us."
Ron Rivera on what has caused him to commit to the run game the last couple of weeks:
"Well, I think again, going back and looking at what we did a couple of weeks before we went on to the bye and then the stuff, we looked at during the bye just felt that there were some things that we could do, and we felt we could do well. One of them was running the ball. We felt that running with ball would help our play action game even more so it really makes for an effective one-two punch, as far as the offense is concerned. I also think Antonio's growth and development has really started to come through. I think, [Running backs] Coach Jordan and [Assistant Running Backs] Coach King are doing an excellent job with the young man and with that group as a whole. I like what [RB] Jaret Patterson's doing. He just, hadn't got a lot of opportunities. And as I said earlier, you know, J.D. McKissic is a big part of what we do. And he's a young man that is showing that when he gets a chance to touch the ball, he could make something happen."
Scott Turner on Offensive Line Coach John Matsko:
"I mean, he's the guy. He puts the run game together with some of our other assistant coaches as like the preliminary run game and then we'll meet on it, we'll adjust it. I'll have conversations with him about which ones he likes the most. We rank them. And then ultimately, I call the plays but I lean on him a lot. He's a great coach. He's been doing this for a long time. Me and him have worked together a lot, so I trust him. He's the guy. He's the guy that gets it going. He coaches those guys and puts a lot of pressure on them and holds them accountable. His high standards are very high, as all of ours are. Coach Matsko is a great coach and does an outstanding job with all of our stuff -- especially the run game."
Jack Del Rio on the defense improving on third down:
"It's been improved. It needs to continue to be and it continues to be a point of emphasis. Something that is really the key and the best way to stop a really good running team is to get off the field on third down. The best way to stop an offense from generating a lot of points and a lot of yards is to get off the field on third down. So, we've been better over the last month or so. We'll continue to emphasize that we need to continue to win our battles and be able to get ourselves over there, enjoying some Gatorade and give our offense the ball back."
Travelle Wharton on Scott Turner sticking with the run game:
"Scott's a great OC. He's done a great job of just putting the game plans together. Calling the runs, having a vision and he's been on rhythm. It's been remarkable to see him. I sit right behind him in the box and you see it. His realism, his focus, you can see them putting it together a great, great mind for how to attack people. And that's been building, that's been building very well for us and we put it together. We go out there and the guys go out and perform. It is intense. You see it and you read it. You know, you're excited. He's on real demand and when he's rolling, he's rolling. So it's very exciting and it's on us, every position to do their part, to make that place assessment."