(opening comments)
“Obviously you guys know this is a big game so, there is no tomorrow. I think
defensively the big thing for us is obviously, if you know the history of the
Chiefs and their running back, I think he had the most carries in NFL history.
They are going to ride the horse that got them there, so we have to step up and
make some plays. I think we are doing a lot better this week in preparing for
that, if they decide to go with that game plan. We have some guys back. Bob
(Sanders) is back and some guys are getting more familiar with the positions
that they are playing. I think we should be good.”
(on the difference between regular season and playoffs)
“Oh yes, it’s still football, but it’s just that climax, that top level,
the energy in the building. Every small mistake gets amplified, so you can’t
have too many mistakes out there. Things that you used to, get away with maybe
during the regular season, you can’t get away with now. A turnover here, a
turnover there can cost you the game now. We’re not playing teams that are
4-12 and going to self-destruct. Most of these teams that are in the playoffs,
they don’t do that. They capitalize on other people’s mistakes. It’s very
important for us to go out there and play well.”
(on people saying other teams can run on the Colts)
“At the end of the day, statistically, which has happened this year, teams
have run on us. It’s all about us fixing those problems. I mean, if I was on
the other team and I watched the games, I would say the same thing, ‘Oh yeah,
we can run on the Colts.’ It’s up to us to step up to the plate, it’s up
to us to go out there and answer all those critics out there and just play how
we know how to play.”
(on one week being enough time to make a dramatic change in the defense)
“Oh, yes. If you remember the week before the Cincinnati game, I think it was
Jacksonville maybe, we gave up who knows how many yards. I don’t even know how
much. Then the next week we played very well. It’s not something where we have
to come up with some new, elaborate game plan. I think for the most part, if we
just do what we do and have guys in position to make plays we’ll be fine.”
(on stopping big plays from Larry Johnson)
“You want to prevent that big play, but you want to also get the ball back to
the offense. Like I said, the main thing is just winning the game, whatever it
takes. If it’s making a big play or making somebody fumble, if it’s a couple
of three-and-outs, whatever it is, it’s about getting to that next week. We’re
going to do whatever we have to do in our game plan to get there.”
(on flying under the radar)
“I could care less to be honest with you. At the end of the day, you still
have to go out there on Sunday, I guess Saturday now, and go out there and play
ball. If we have all the publicity so be it. If we go in there under the radar
knowing everyone wants to say, ‘Oh the Colts are going to lose,’ you know,
we still have to go out there and perform and play and prove something to
ourselves and go out there and play the way we know we can play.”
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| Dwight Freeney bears down on the Bengals' Carson Palmer (Andy Lyons/Getty Images) |
(on the importance of getting an early lead)
“I think it’s very important. Obviously we’re a team that plays a lot
better when there is a lead, when the offense is scoring a lot of points, which
any team would be. I think it’s very important that we get the offense the
ball back so they can go out there and do what they do, and hopefully they can
get a big lead if they have the ball first or if they can score…At the end of
the day, football is football. If they don’t, you still have to do it. If we
have to cause some turnovers and we have to be the ones scoring the points, so
be it.”
(on the last meeting with the Chiefs)
“That wasn’t a great game defensively, I remember that. I remember big
Willie Roaf out there and that whole group. They were moving the ball back and
forth. It was like an offensive game, almost like the defense was nonexistent,
and we definitely don’t want that. We’re going to work hard to prevent that
type of game and give it back to, for me, shutting them out, hopefully, and
having our offense get the opportunity to score.”
(on how do the Colts generate turnovers when teams don’t throw the ball)
“You just have to gang tackle, a lot of having guys be able to hit the running
back at different angles…more than one guy. It is definitely hard to get
turnovers when you are playing some good backs and they are holding onto the
ball. It may have to be a little bit of a slip on their end. They may have the
ball exposed and also on our end, more like gang tackle, have two or three guys
hitting the guy at the same time hopefully we can jar one loose.”
(on team sack production)
“If you look at the statistics, it’s all about pass attempts and the
percentage of sacks per pass attempt and how many times you hit the quarterback
per pass attempt. It’s not about the end number. If you look at the end
number, then obviously, yes. If you have a team that gets a 1,000 pass attempts
per year, obviously you will probably have 50 sacks or something like that, but
if you have a team that gets 500, 600, I mean half of that, you are going to see
half that number. That’s just what it is and it’s just been that type of
year. At the end of the day, we are in the playoffs and hopefully they will
start throwing the ball a little bit more and we will get some turnovers and we
can make some big plays. If not, so be it. We just have to win however it comes.”
(on the difference in running styles of Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson)
“Obviously Priest has been doing it for years and his type of style. He can
blaze you around the corner and you think you got him and all of a sudden, he
makes three or four guys miss and then he’s running down the sideline. Larry
is more like an Eddie George type runner, when Eddie George was in his prime. He
is a down-hill slasher, he can make a guy miss and he can also run away from
you. He’s going to be a tough back to stop, but I think that’s the major
difference.”
(on Trent Green)
“Trent Green is a Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback and he’s a veteran guy. He’s
smart, he doesn’t like a lot of mistakes and he doesn’t like to be sacked. I
think this a very good quarterback to have in that type of scheme. He’s not
going to make too many mistakes and he has a reliable receiver in (Tony)
Gonzalez to go to, somebody that is tall who can make those tough catches when
Trent is in trouble. I think Trent is a good quarterback for this team.”