Lovie Smith Year Quotations

Last year we had quite a few sacks ... I think 66 or so. This year we gave up 31. Quite a bit of an improvement on that side.

Carolina wanted it more than we did. Twenty-one points, normally through the course of the year that would have been enough for us. Defensively going in, we talked about not giving up the big play. We were not able to do that.

Once you get in company with Walter Payton that's saying quite a bit. (It was) an outstanding year by Thomas and our offensive line to get that for him. I think we established that through the course of the regular season we are a good running football team and can run the football on just about anybody we play.

That's what we would like to think. I do think our core players are in place. They're established, and they're young. I don't think this is our best squad that we'll have. I think next year will be a better squad than we had this year. There's no reason why we shouldn't be able to make a stand for a long time.

There was nothing wrong with the system. The system we had last year is working in St. Louis and Kansas City. It just wasn't a good fit for us. Once you know it ... you've got to change it.