Highlights

TODD HALEY: “Merry Christmas, happy holidays to everybody. Disappointing loss, but I thought that the team really fought back off a disappointing game last week. Had a lot of distractions this week but came on the road against a team that is obviously now a playoff team. We had every intention of keeping them from that and thought we had a very good chance to do that until the final drive.

“I thought our defense played well as we corrected some of the technique errors that got us in trouble the last two weeks. We’ve got some players that are battling through injuries that came out and played their hearts out. Up until that final drive I thought we were in a very good position to win the game. Even after we got the (ensuing) kickoff I thought we looked like we had a chance to take it down the field on them but unfortunately we turned it over for the second time which ultimately cost us.

“Lot of positives offensively. Again, I thought Jamaal Charles was right around 100 [yards]. This has been a very good run defense – third in the league and been very difficult to run the football against. I was encouraged with some of the run game and encouraged by some of the pass game. Again, the two turnovers cost us because we were able to move the football a little bit.

“Defensively, I already said that I thought these guys pulled together and played their hearts out. We just needed to get a stop on that final drive and have a chance to take the game.

“Special teams I thought were real good in some areas but the [failed] snap is something we just can’t have and it ultimately cost us three points. Overall, I thought the team played their hearts out but there are no moral victories here. Again, however, this was important for us to come out here and compete against a good team.”

Q: What was the snapper’s problem today? Was it injury-wise?

HALEY: “I think the wind was blowing a little bit out there. He made a poor snap and I thought the defense did a great job of keeping it to three points from the position it was put in. I don’t know if he had a problem. He’s been a pretty reliable snapper this year, but there was quite a bit of wind blowing across there. I thought he bounced back.”

Q: Why was Cincinnati able to get it done on that winning 98 yard drive?

HALEY: “There was the penalty call which was an incomplete pass and it obviously hurt us. Third down conversions hurt us. We had them pinned deep on the first two plays and they hit the shovel pass. It looked like it was well executed. We didn’t get it stopped. The first two third-down conversions early and then the penalty gave them a little momentum and they got their pass game going a little bit. But again, I thought overall the defense showed a lot of tenacity against a very good playoff team.”

Q: Up until that point was that about as good a defensive performance as you could have asked for?

HALEY: “Again, I think this team was one filled with weapons and they clearly can run the football. We gave up the one big run [32 yards] to start the second half. But other than that run I thought our guys did well against a very good run team and a very good throwing team with one of the better quarterbacks in the league and arguably one of the best receivers. We challenged Brandon Flowers who has been battling through some injury and I thought the guy showed some heart playing against one of the better players in the league all day.”

Q: Was it good to see some progress today? It may be baby steps…

HALEY: “It is baby steps and it’s clearly not where we want to be but I do think – and I know it’s hard with the results – but offensively I think this quarterback is continuing to make strides. He would like to have those two [interceptions] back. He’s very difficult on himself. But these guys are kind of finding their identity. We went in there against a pretty good defense. Now, we didn’t have 400 yards of offense but these were difficult conditions against a very good defense we were able to keep them on their heels a little bit and make enough progress to stay out of the three-and-outs. I think the guys were encouraged and they understand we have to execute. We have to execute in what we’re supposed to do which means catching the ball and running the routes the right way. But I think in these games if you can stay out of three-and-outs and move the football – and we didn’t have a bunch of minus plays today – those are the things you have to do to be a pretty good team all the time. I thought we showed some of that and if you do some of those things you’ll generally be in games offensively.

“Now, defensively we have to play the way we played. We’ll be in games and have chances to win and the more we’re in those situations the more we’ll come out on top and get this thing to where we feel pretty good about it.”

Q: The tweaks you have to make…

HALEY: “I don’t think we had a lot of penalties but the one was just a killer. Big run by Jamaal – a big run – found a hole, great stiff arm. He’s running down the sideline thinking potentially a touchdown before he got pushed out. There were critical calls. Now, overall, I think we’ve done a decent job on penalties considering the way we started in the first four games being at the bottom. We’ve worked our way up into the top… I think those are good signs and the guys are playing with some discipline and keeping control when they need to. We’d like to have no penalties, but the two on offense with the false start and the hold were critical and really hurt.”

Q: This game seemed to be dictated going in on which back had the better game. They were both about even. Did that set the tempo on how these offenses were going?

HALEY: “I guess you could say that. We knew they were a running team first. They were going to show run and they were going to run. It’s what has given them success and put them in a position to win their division like they did. We knew it would be a great challenge for us.

“We knew our running game was coming on and it would be a good test to see where we stood. I would have loved to have more. I wished we would not have had the penalty and we had about 150 yards rushing. But I thought there were some positives.”

Q: Where does Jamaal Charles stand after this game and a few of the previous games?

HALEY: “I think the guy is trying to make a case to try to be talked about when you talk about good backs in the league.”