How good is it to be done with the losing streak?
COACH KELLY: Anytime you win, it's awesome. I thought our crowd was fantastic today. They probably deserved it as much as anybody. They were into it the entire game. It was an awesome feeling. There was a lot of energy in that stadium and we needed every ounce of it. So it was awesome.
How nerve‑wracking was that final drive?
COACH KELLY: I think there's a little bit of a sense of calm. I think Billy Davis does a great job with his coaches. What's the down and distance, what do we got to do, what's the next call, let's continue to play. As long as they don't score, that's the ultimate goal right there. You can't be reactionary and say, what happened here, what happened here. We talk about it all the time, Just play the next snap, play the next snap. We got great pressure on them on the last play, forced them to throw it up, Boykin made a play. We'll take it.
A lot of yards after catch. How important is that for an offense?
COACH KELLY: It just depends on how they're playing you. They played us off a little bit, were going to let us throw the ball underneath. If they're going to do that, we need to convert in those situations. I thought that was a big part of what we were doing in the first half. They gave us some room to kind of get running. If we get running, then we got to run for the first down instead of throw for the first down. That was big. Cooper had a good one, DeSean running around. Ertz had a nice run in there. It was a big part of it. We had a couple screens. Obviously the one to Brent Celek was outstanding. Watching him stick his foot in the ground, then getting north and south was awesome. I think they all contributed. But I think the run after the catch is big if they are going to play off you.
What did you think of the offense the second half?
COACH KELLY: Yeah, we had that first drive, I thought we did an outstanding job. It was a 13‑play deal for a touchdown. Just really couldn't get it going after that. They did a nice job forcing us into a couple things. Couldn't convert on a fourth down. But I will give them credit, I think they made some plays. They got off a block. Sometimes we had some looks, one‑on‑one looks, looked like we were going to gain more than we did. It's a tough game. Fortunately we get out of here with a victory. I thought they did a good job from about the middle of the third quarter on defending us.
How encouraging is it to see guys like Najee Goode and Bennie Logan and some of the young guys?
COACH KELLY: It's big. When you only have 46 guys up on game day, and how physical a game this is, you're depth is going to get tested. When guys like Najee and Roc and all the guys that stepped up and played because we had some starters down, it's comforting I think as a coach to know you got some guys you can plug in. Mychal Kendricks is an outstanding player. With Mychal being out, to have Najee and have the production he had, to see what Bennie and those guys are doing up front, it's encouraging. We're going to get tested a little bit more. To play 11 straight weeks like we did, now the bye is coming up. We got to head into December and see what happens here.
What have you learned about your team going into your bye week?
COACH KELLY: I've learned that they compete and I learned that they stick together as a group. I learned that they really care about each other. I think they hold each other accountable. They show up to practice every single day wanting to get better. It makes our job as coaches that much easier. It's a great group to be around. Really excited about going to work every day when you get a chance to work with guys like that.
Was there a time when you were worried about that at all especially after the last home game?
COACH KELLY: I wasn't worried, but I knew that was going to be a big test for us. We knew what we had to do. We had to stick together as group. The only people that really had confidence in us was us, and rightly so because we weren't playing very well. I think together we've gotten better as a group. We're growing. We're new to them, they're new to us. As we can continue to learn what they can do and put them in position to make plays, get out of the way and watch them go play. I think it's interesting to watch these guys on a weekly basis continue to get better and better. It's encouraging as we head into the bye week.
Did you think you were going to run Foles as much as you did?
COACH KELLY: I knew what they were going to take away. Nick is a good decision maker. If he can get what he can, then get down, not take a big hit, obviously that's what we'll do. He needed to do that to help us out in those situations.
There are five games left in the season, how important is it to have DeSean and LeSean at 1,000 yards each?
COACH KELLY: Yeah, I guess I don't look at it as individuals. I look at it as a team. What are we doing as a team running, what are we doing as a team throwing. We ran the ball well some weeks and threw the ball well some weeks. I think you're going to get tested. You got to be able to do both. I think Nick was close to 300 today. We're getting a lot of production. But the biggest thing I think we're doing offensively is we're not turning the ball over. We're not putting ourselves in bad situations. We're continuing to win that turnover battle. When you're plus in the turnover battle, if our defense can continue to create them like they are, we can continue to be smart and not spit the ball out on our side, whether it be from a fumble or an interception, then you got a shot.
What was clicking in the first three quarters on defense?
COACH KELLY: I thought mostly during the whole day, I would argue it was clicking most of the time. We didn't convert on that fourth‑and‑one. Give Griffin credit. He scrambles around, all of a sudden we lost the back, he gets him down the sideline for the big one. It was bang‑bang. I think we did a really good job in coverage for the most part during the day. At the end you're off a little bit because you don't want to give one up over the top. I think we generated pressure. Extremely hard guy to get pressure on because he's so nifty in the pocket. Maybe if it was some of the other guys we played, we would have had more sacks. I think we really generated some pressure against them, forced them to maybe not set his feet as he wanted to throw the ball. They had an outstanding rushing attack. By and large, I think we did a good job of defending the run.
What is more significant being over .500 or the win at home?
COACH KELLY: I don't look at it globally. I look at it this week. To win this week was huge. Whatever the outcome that gives us, being over .500 and winning at home, it's about winning on a weekly basis. I think our fans deserved it, the way they've kind of hung in there with us. It was awesome to get this win at home. I think that part was a little bit more special than the fact that that puts us up one over .500.
LeSean was able to come back the second half, did it seem pretty bad when he got hurt at first?
COACH KELLY: You guys are going to ask me a million questions. I never ask. They just say if he's up, he's down. When I came in at halftime, they said he was good.
Two‑point conversion, DeMeco had to burn a timeout, did you guys have enough guys on the field?
COACH KELLY: No, we didn't. That's why we called a timeout. We can communicate with them. We were trying to get that communicated.
Connor Barwin had a big sack in the first half. What has he given you?
COACH KELLY: I think he's a very underrated football player. He's extremely intelligent. He does a great job. He's obviously played in a 3‑4 scheme before. He's got a really good understanding. I think he's helped everybody in the transition. I know Billy Davis really leans on him a lot. I think between Connor on the outside and DeMeco on the inside, I think you have two outstanding leaders. He comes to work every day. One of the hardest working guys out on the practice field in terms of training and his approach to it. He's been a really big addition to us. I'm real excited we got him.
One drive when Nick Foles kept flexing his arm over and over. Something going on there?
COACH KELLY: He was trying to get the crowd going, fired up [Laughing]. I don't know. When he came off, we asked him if he was okay. I know Billy Lazor talked to him. He said he was fine. He did finish the game. I noticed the same thing you noticed. But we didn't really get anything else besides that.
What is the players' schedule going to be this week?
COACH KELLY: We are in Monday and Tuesday, then they're off. They'll be off Wednesday till next week. It is an interesting time to get a bye, 11 games in. I think they need to kind of get themselves recharged, rejuvenated, then come back here. We're back at home again, which is exciting for us. We'll see what December has for us.
What is the message you give to the players going into the bye?
COACH KELLY: We haven't talked about that. I'll have a meeting with them Tuesday before they take off Sal. It's kind of what we talk about all the time is that to be a good football team you can't flinch. I don't think these guys did. Obviously the Redskins are extremely talented and they've got some weapons on the offensive side of the ball. To play as well as we played defensively for the entire game, to watch them finish it off that way was really encouraging. In this game, you know, crap is going to hit the fan. It's just how you react to it. I think our guys did a great job from that standpoint.
Is Boykin fresher from not playing as many snaps?
COACH KELLY: I don't know. I just know he's productive. He's doing a really good job. I think to have someone like him that can play in that slot for us I think is really important because if you watch them, they tried to keep getting the guys into the slot, get those matchups. When you have someone in there that is really a starter for you, is as talented as Brandon, I think it's a big plus. It's probably an underappreciated position being a slot corner and how integral that is to being a successful football team.
Nick Foles, what you saw in college, how he is today, were you surprised he kept getting up?
COACH KELLY: No. I mean, I told you that. I mean, we knocked the tar out of him when we played them. We knocked the snot out of him when we played him. I know you studied a lot of Oregon tape. Watch the tape when he completed a 13‑yard pass against us left‑handed. We chinned him. He was going down. Switches the ball to his left hand and then still throws it for a completion, then gets up and makes another play against us. I've admired him. Love the fact that I get to coach him and don't coach against him. But he is a tough kid.
Donnie Jones had a monster punt. How big was that?
COACH KELLY: It was huge, to make them go that far, to get us out of that situation that we were in. That's what I kind of think contributed. We were moving in the first half. Got a chance to jump out to a really good lead. I thought our defense played really good all game. For our special teams to contribute like that. That's what it takes. To win in a division, you have to play well in all three phases. I thought that punt was huge for us.
Looking how the way this defense came back, what does that say?
COACH KELLY: Yeah, I think we all stress it into them, and they understand it. Really, how are you going to react when things don't go exactly the way you planned. I think in this league a lot of times when you plan really doesn't happen. I think it's part of your mindset. We talk about our mindset all the time. That's what I think I'm most proud of today, is how they reacted when it didn't go our way, when they faced a little bit of adversity, to kind of dig down deep and make a play when we had to make a play. That was a big sign for this team. Hopefully we can build upon that.
Are you seeing week‑to‑week progress? Are you where you expected to be?
COACH KELLY: I don't know where I expected it to be. I have seen us improve. You know, I've seen our defense steadily improve as the season went along. I saw our offense play well early. Then I saw us take a huge step back for two games, against the Cowboys and the Giants and then I started to see us get back on stride a little bit. It's all for not if we don't continue to build from here. They understand, that too. There's still a lot of football to be left. I know it's a cliché, but it's true. We got five games in December. We put ourselves in a situation where those five games in December are meaningful. We'll do the same thing we do all the time. I said it again in the locker room. We're going to pick our heads up on December 29th to figure out where we are.
