Blaine Gabbert talks loss to Cowboys, moving on to Cardinals

You got off to a really hot start in the first quarter. How did it just cool off after that?

"Yeah. We started fast like we wanted to all week. Got the run game going. Got some passes in there. Jumped up to 14-0 and just stalled there a little bit. We got to watch the film to really see the reasons why. But, when we have momentum like that, when we're clicking on all cylinders, we can't have errors on our side of the ball that prevent us from executing up and down the football field."

What happened on the deep ball to WR Torrey Smith? It looked like he was running--.

"Yeah. That's on me. I go to throw him to the middle of the field. I got to throw him to the hash and I just cut it a little too earlier and just missed him wide."

Blaine Gabbert Recaps Dallas, Looks Ahead to TNF 

Was there pressure in your face at that moment?

"No, not that I remember. I haven't watched the film and saw what really happened. But, that's a throw I've got to throw to the middle of the field and let him go get and make a play on the ball."

Did you talk to him afterwards? He looked frustrated you--.

"Yeah. We were both frustrated. I mean, that was a huge play in the game. Every game in the league comes down to one or two plays that change the outcome and that definitely had an impact on it and that's on me. I got to throw that ball to the middle of the field and let him go get it."

Trying to put too much air under it, you think?

"No. That's the route and like I said, I just got to throw the ball to the middle of the field, especially with the free safety cheating to the left hash and let Torrey go make a play."

You hadn't targeted him up to that point. Was there a concerted effort saying, 'No matter what, we're going to him right now,' or was it the--?

"No. We were just executing our offense. Our reads had been there all day. We were just going through our progressions and on that play, that's where the read dictated the ball to go. I made a poor throw and that's it."

You kept the ball a lot on those zone-reads. Was that just reading the linebacker or did you feel going into this game, maybe that was--?

"It was the way they were playing it. It was their defensive scheme for the day. They were trying to gap exchange and play the linebacker over the top with the end crash and you just got to pull it, keep it tight and get as many yards as you can."

This is your guys' third straight loss now. I mean, compared to last year at this point, where is this team?

"We've got a competitive group of guys and the guys in that locker room fought to the end and that's why that locker room is so great. Nobody's giving up. Nobody's pointing fingers. We're all in this together and like I've always said, the beautiful thing about the NFL is you got a game the next week and we just happen to have one on Thursday night. So, we're going to watch this film as quickly as possible and start our preparation on Arizona."

Can you take me through the fourth down play? Obviously, the route was short of the first down marker.

"Yeah. We called a play. They were in man coverage and you know, we just got flushed and tried to make a play. Let our guys win and see if we could get the fourth down and we came up a yard short. That's the way it goes. We're three feet short and that's a tough pill to swallow. We were driving there pretty good there on that last drive of the game and they just rallied to the ball."

You called timeout right before. Was it a formation issue?

"Yeah. We were just in a different personnel group. We were just trying to get a line on the formation. The clock was running down. So, we had to use a timeout."

* Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers