Is there anything you can put your finger on why the offense seems to do pretty well at certain stages and then at some point in the second half it seems to kind of stall?
"Well, I think in this game the third quarter was an entirely different quarter than anybody's played all year long with the amount of rain we had on both sides of the ball. It turned into a little bit of a rain game both ways. Then when the skies opened up a little bit we were behind and we have to throw it every down. We're not good enough to throw it every down."
Chip Kelly Evaluates 49ers after Week 11
Why does QB Colin Kaepernick seem to struggle in the second half?
"Well, I think sometimes we're down and then all of a sudden it becomes a rush game and a lot of coverage, different variations. I think when we can keep people off balance with our run and our play action we're a lot better. And, if the game is tied, close it turns into that type of game, but when you get down like we did all of a sudden it turns into a throw every down game and we're not built for that right now."
What was your impression of New England Patriots QB Tom Brady and how he was able to escape some of those--?
"That's why he's a Hall of Fame quarterback. He's not the fastest quarterback out there, but I would argue that he's as good as anybody when it comes to being able to move within the pocket. That's what you saw. Again, he did today. You look at the play he made to [New England Patriots WR Malcolm] Mitchell where he avoided the rush. He's probably a tenth of a second later [LB] Ahmad [Brooks] makes a play, but that's when you're playing against a great one like him. Those are the plays he's going to make. He had to scramble, kept himself alive, and then threw the ball almost falling down to [New England Patriots WR Danny] Amendola for a touchdown. People that have watched him for his career have come to expect that from him and that's unfortunate for us today, but that's just the type of quarterback he is. His ability to keep plays alive, he's as good as anybody and I think people get misconception that he's not Mike Vick, keeps plays alive scrambling and all those other things. He's not like that but his ability in the pocket is as good as anybody's that's ever played the game."
Did you notice anything in particular with just how much time, especially early on, that it appeared he had to throw?
"Well there are times that I thought we did a really good job of knocking him off his spot in there, but his ability to move and keep things alive in the pocket is really what makes him such a good quarterback."
You guys matched a franchise record for nine consecutive losses. What do you do to keep the players enthused and into it?
"Well, that's our job. I don't think we're going to take our ball and go home. That's what everybody is here to do and that's what our deal is. I think they practice well. They're engaged. They want to win. They're not excited about where we are at right now in terms of where we're at loss-wise, but we've got to go back to work. That's the only thing that you can do in this situation."
When you say you're not a "throw every down" type team right now, what do you mean?
"That's just not what we're built for. [WR] Torrey [Smith] wasn't in today. We don't have a go-to wide receiver that's going to elicit double coverage and then all of a sudden you're going to get single matchups across the ball and then we can line up in empty sets all day long and throw the ball all over the lot. That's just not the way we're built right now."
Is this becoming a lost season in any way? 1-9.
"I don't think 1-9 is a winning season."
I mean, are you gaining things out of this? Is the team moving ahead in any form?
"I think I've seen our players develop individually. You go along you see players as the season goes along that they've gotten better during the course of the year. I think you're starting to see that. I think in some situations they had to. We were forced in a lot of situations from an injury standpoint when you lose the linebackers we lost to have to have [LB] Nick Bellore out there getting the reps that Nick is getting, but I see Nick improving. I think Nick's played better today than he did four weeks ago. So, those are the positive things that you're building on or watching guys develop and continue to grow as players in terms of where they're at. So, I see that."
The offense had kind of a tough time the first three drives. That fourth drive you got things moving. What adjustments did you make?
"We didn't really make any adjustments. We kind of knew what they were going to do coming in and it was kind of a matchup type defense in terms of who was getting on who and then we had to try to exploit that. We felt like we had to run the ball today. We really were trying to keep them off the field if we could and I think we did that with a couple of our drives and ate up some time off the clock. I think the best thing you can do with Tom is to keep him off the field, so I think we kind of extended some drives there and I think that benefited us. Try to keep it within a one score game. The differences I think we had that long drive, not sure if it was 15-14 plays, but we came away with three. You can't match them seven for three and stay in the ball game with them. That was unfortunate. We got down in the red zone there and get knocked back on first down and second down. Those are things we can't do against good football teams."
When Torrey's not out there, who becomes a guy that can--?
"I thought [TE] Vance [McDonald] had a couple matchups that we liked. I think his ability at the tight end spot is really what we tried to kind of exploit a little bit there and I think you saw him a couple times. We hit him in the red zone for a touchdown. We had him on a deep crossing route late. We just missed him, but I think Vance kind of falls into that role a little bit for us."
I know you were busy coaching football today, but did you have any interaction with former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo? Did he come and talk to the team?
"I talked to Mr. D just a little bit. No, he did not talk to the team, but I talked to him."
What'd he say?
"He's just happy to be back. He was pulling for us today. We were hoping he was going to be our good luck charm today and unfortunately I think we let him down."
Did it affect the team that there were Patriots fans in attendance? They seemed to be really loud.
"We just play. I don't think anybody listens to … once you get on the field you just listen to the referees and the whistles and things like that. But, it wasn't too loud or anything that affected our play on the field."
Kaepernick was under a lot of pressure, especially early in the game. Did you see any miscommunication on the line or was it guys--?
"No, I think there's just some individual, as the game (went on), they settled down a little bit, but a couple times individual matchups early in that first couple of drives there were guys just getting beat in one-on-ones. Once we got that settled down and straightened out I think we ended up moving the ball halfway decent."
I know you don't want to go week-to-week with making an announcement after every game. Is Colin Kaepernick your starting quarterback for the duration here?
"Yeah, unless, we're always evaluating every week, but I don't think Colin played poor today."
Did you have any thoughts on the Patriots? Did they look like the same old Patriots as good as they always are?
"Yeah, as long as they have number 12 and that coach over there, I think they're going to be pretty good."
* Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers
