Mike Hilton on bengals' Defense after loss to Chiefs
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00:00 >> Miscommunication, somebody doing the wrong job.
00:04 It's just stuff that we know we can fix.
00:06 We just never fixed it and we weren't able to rebound from it.
00:10 >> Does that kind of make it even more frustrating that you know kind of why you
00:14 couldn't get it done and just still just wasn't able to do that?
00:15 >> Yeah, for sure.
00:17 Obviously, we brought in some new guys, but there's still no excuse.
00:22 Guys like me and Chito, we definitely have to take the room under our arm and
00:25 make sure those young guys are locked in and
00:27 know what they have to do in certain situations.
00:30 Just wasn't our year this year, man.
00:33 >> How do you explain this season in a nutshell from a defensive standpoint?
00:38 >> Frustrating.
00:40 We're a talented defense.
00:42 We take the ball away, but when we give up so many explosive plays,
00:46 I'm taking the ball away don't mean a damn thing.
00:48 So yeah.
00:49 >> Is that kind of the, I mean, being so tough is it to be a defense that's really
00:53 turnover dependent?
00:54 It seems that's something that y'all been a blast a couple years,
00:57 got them in good spots.
00:58 But when they haven't been there, it's tough for y'all.
00:59 How tough is it to play as a defense and kind of be reliant on those turnovers?
01:02 >> It's not tough at all.
01:03 I mean, obviously, turnovers gonna come when they come.
01:05 But as a defense, your job is to keep points off the board or three points at
01:08 most.
01:09 We take the ball away, we limit guys to field goals.
01:15 But those explosives just always hit at the wrong time and
01:19 just kind of set us back.
01:20 >> You figure you hold them to six field goals?
01:24 You get a pretty good shot to win.
01:26 >> Yeah, we had a shot to win, we just didn't close out.
01:28 Obviously, like I said, our explosive plays and
01:32 especially when we had them backed up inside their own 15, 20 yard line.
01:35 That's a chance for field position and
01:37 we let them flip the field on one play and then kind of just domino from there.
01:40 >> I know you still have one game to play, but given how the season's unfolded and
01:45 really just how close you guys still could have been to making the playoffs,
01:48 do you feel like you guys will enter next season with a greater sense of
01:52 urgency in terms of looking back on how the start affected
01:57 potentially your ability to make the postseason?
01:59 >> Yeah, for sure.
01:59 Obviously, since training camp, some things just didn't go our way throughout
02:04 the season, so we had some big injuries that kind of killed us.
02:07 But everybody's hurt at this point in the year, but it's frustrating, but
02:13 I trust these guys.
02:15 I expect these guys to bounce back just starting next week.
02:18 We still got something on the line.
02:19 We still compare our pride is on the line in the battle of Ohio.
02:23 We don't wanna lose to those guys.
02:24 And we gotta come out focused ready for next weekend,
02:27 let the offseason take care of itself.
02:28 >> What does it make it more frustrating that it happened,
02:31 the playoff season ends here again?
02:32 >> No, man, it's just, that's a good team over there.
02:35 They played well.
02:36 We didn't make plays when we needed to.
02:38 It doesn't matter who we lost to.
02:41 It's just we lost in general and we didn't play our best.
02:44 >> What kind of impact do you think this season will have on the young guys in
02:46 the secondary as they kind of move forward with their careers?
02:48 >> Number of growing pains, man.
02:50 Obviously, we got a lot of young guys back there getting a lot of experience.
02:53 So it'll be good for us next year, but this year has just been
02:58 a learning experience, a learning curve, and
03:00 I expect those guys to be even better next year.
03:02 >> We saw things boil over a little bit.