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Game Vs. Cardinals: Head Coach Chip Kelly

Q. You didn't find much work for RB DeMarco Murray tonight, especially when you had fourth and one down near the goal line towards the end of the first half.

COACH KELLY: Yeah. No, we had Ryan [RB Ryan Mathews] in there who is a 230 pound back. We thought we were going to get it on fourth and one, the ball got bounced outside to the DB's and that's kind of the game. We don't get it there. You look back at that, kind of in hindsight, but I thought in terms of making the call that we were going to get -- it was fourth and one and we think we can pound it up in there, we got two tight ends in the game, brought a receiver over to handle the DB and then pound it up in there and see if we can get the first down.

Q. How much of an asterisk do you give the defense because they're playing a couple men down, just a lot of different combinations?

COACH KELLY: Unfortunately, there are no asterisks. Everybody's hurt at this point in time during the season and we got to make do.

The biggest disappointment was we just didn't tackle well. And that's really where I look at it defensively, we didn't tackle well, and offensively we turned the ball over. Those are the two things. But every game counts and there are no asterisks that you can say, 'Hey, we had some guys hurt.' Everybody has guys hurt at this time of year.

Q. Three turnovers did hurt you. It was a one-score game and you turned it over three times and they scored on every turnover too.

COACH KELLY: Yeah, and we were moving the ball, too. The first one was a play-action pass. It just looks like we got beat around the left side. Sam [QB Sam Bradford] was stepping up in the pocket, but just didn't have time.

On Ryan's [RB Ryan Mathews], we had a run that we kind of creased them and we're moving it again in positive yardage. I thought we moved the ball. But against this team, I think they have had one turnover in the last three games themselves. They had one penalty today, they had no turnovers. So against a really good team like that, especially a really good offensive team like that, you can't turn the football over like we did and expect to come out on top.

Q. What happened on the Cardinals first touchdown when Cardinals RB David Johnson ran, it looked like defensive coordinator Bill Davis had a sub-package that got in there late in nickel. Was that the right call there?

COACH KELLY: I would have to look at the film.

Q. On the fourth-and-one play when Cardinals Head Coach Bruce Arians called a timeout; did you change the look between what was there before and in the play you ran?

COACH KELLY: Yeah. We went in motion and we brought a guy across and we started off in a doubles formation and we motioned to a trips formation. So the original look we were in was doubles when we came out of the timeout.

Q. How did QB Sam Bradford play and what happened on the pick six?

COACH KELLY: I thought Sam played well. Again, I think we have got to catch the ball better for him. I thought he threw the ball well tonight. He got hit, but he stayed in there and delivered the ball. I think he got flushed, from my standpoint, on the interception, got flushed and then just threw it behind -- after he chipped out he was running to the flats, it looked like he got the ball behind him.

Q. Even though there are no asterisks, how big of a concern going forward would it be not having your starting cornerbacks?

COACH KELLY: You got to go with who is available. You don't get to call a timeout and say, 'Hey, give us a couple more days to get ready here.' But at this point in time during the year, we have been fortunate we have been healthy, but at the corner spot we lost Nolan [CB Nolan Carroll] on Thanksgiving. So now we were -- and then you lose one and three, basically, so now you're down to number four and number five. But that's what we got to do and that's just part of the game at this point in time during the season.

Q. As a follow-up to the first question, what was the plan with Murray tonight?

COACH KELLY: The plan was we were going to rotate the running backs. We didn't run the ball as much as we wanted to run the ball, but we rotated those three guys, we only played three tonight.

Q. Did he know that he wasn't playing at a certain point? He only had a knit cap on in the fourth quarter.

COACH KELLY: I didn't see him in the fourth quarter, so that's a question for him.

Q. Did you only expect him to get like two carries?

COACH KELLY: I expected us to run the ball better, so, obviously, the more carries you have, the more you can distribute that. So, again, and you get behind and it turns into a little bit more of a throwing game. So, that's what kind of happens in those games.

Q. You mentioned tackling. What was the problem there?

COACH KELLY: I would have to look at all the film, but I know we did not tackle well. I know he's [RB David Johnson] a big back, but we did not do a good job tackling him tonight. In the games where we haven't been successful defensively, it has come down to that; we didn't tackle well against Tampa Bay. I thought in the last two weeks, we have tackled well on the defensive side of the ball. But today, just looking at it, until you really look at the film and dissect what the issues are, I just know flat out we didn't tackle well.

Q. Do you think there is a big gulf between where your team is and where Cardinals Head Coach Bruce Arians' team is right now overall?

COACH KELLY: Well, there was tonight.

Q. Is the big picture something you talk to the team about now that you have two games left and you need to win those two to get to the post-season?

COACH KELLY: It is more of if we win that one. So it doesn't matter about two, it matters about one. So if we don't take care of business on Saturday, then there's nothing to really -- there's not a second game to even talk about, so.

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