Cardinals Head Coach Bruce Arians
Opening remarks:
"Very excited obviously about the way our football team played, especially the second half. To come here against a first-place team and play as dominantly as we did in the second half was fun to watch. To run the football the way we ran it, to get the turnovers defensively and then get the short fields. Other than clinching the [NFC] West, really isn't our goal. There's not a lot of whooping and hollering in the locker room right now because that's not the final one. It's just the beginning."
On how it feels to wear that NFC West Champions hat:
"It's nice. I've got a closet full of them, but this is a nice one. I want one that says a whole lot more than this on it."
On RB David Johnson's overpowering performance during the game:
"He's a very mature young guy. We don't consider him a rookie anymore. Very talented, young man. We knew that he was going to have a breakout game. I thought he and [WR] John Brown were going to have great games. John just couldn't catch it. He had his opportunities to have a blowout game and I think he was just trying a little too hard. But [RB] David [Johnson], we felt we could get him the ball. He's such a good receiver also. His third down conversions were good also."
On whether he knows what is going on with S Tyrann Mathieu:
"No. I have no idea."
On what kind of statement it makes to clinch the division with a strong win tonight:
"Like I said, I thought it was a really good statement to come here, especially in this stadium against a really [good] quality and well-coached team and to have that type of ball game speaks loudly of the character in our room because we had a really great week of practice. And I think it's just going to get better. Each guy that steps up will do the same type of job."
On when he first knew that Johnson could lead the team in the playoffs:
"When we drafted him. We knew what we were getting, he just missed all of training camp with that hamstring. And then we got [RB] Chris [Johnson] and we didn't need [Johnson]. So it was a great run for Chris, but David kept showing signs that this was what he was capable of."
On still playing hard to earn a first-round playoff bye:
"Yeah I don't think there's any doubt that when we play the Packers next week our focus is to get that bye and knowing that there's a good chance we're either going to play the Vikings, the Packers or the Seahawks again shortly. So we need to make those kind of statements just like tonight."
On how much of a comfort it is to have coaches like RB Coach Stump Mitchell preparing players such as Johnson:
"They do a great job. The entire coaching staff does the running game and [offensive coordinator Harold] Good[win]y had a great one tonight. And Stump. [Assistant offensive line coach] Larry Zierlein also. [Tight ends coach] Rick Christophel. They all get together and collaborate on the running game and they had a great one tonight."
On what stood out to him during the game tonight:
"Certainly the tempo defensively and getting on the board and then the turnovers started flowing. I was not real happy about the touchdown pass. And there were a couple times offensively we just let [QB] Carson [Palmer] get hit, but other than that, the first eight minutes of the third quarter, we talked a lot about it in the locker room, of setting the tempo to get what we wanted."
On the play of S D.J. Swearinger:
"DJ played – from what I saw on the field – physical and fast. And that's what we like about him."
