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**Q: Coach, what a win?BB:**
Thanks. That was awesome. A couple things on the game, I thought that our football team really played hard and, of course, the Colts are an outstanding team. It came again pretty much down to the last possession.
We knew we had our hands full with them. They kept coming back and we thought we might have had a couple chances to put it away, but they are very determined and they fought very hard, I give Tony a lot of credit for the job that they did this year; they have an outstanding team.
You know, defensively, I think I am very fortunate, we are very fortunate that we have a lot of experienced defensive players.
We put in a few things this week that were kind of new and that were maybe a little bit untested, but I think the players really responded well to them, they communicated well, obviously, the crowd noise, as we talked about before, was hard on the Colts offense, but it was great on our defense. I thought they did a great job of that, and our veteran guys really stepped up and did a heck of a job.
I also thought that one of the most valuable players in the game for us didn't play, and that was Damon Huard. I thought the look he gave us in the scout team in for our defense was fabulous. But in the end we were able to make enough plays to come out on top, my hat is off to our football players and they played a great game and played against a great team.
Q: Can you talk about how Ty Law played?BB:
It was all right. He had some great plays, a couple fantastic interceptions that really showed his great hand/eye coordination and ball skills. I thought defensively that we played a pretty good game defensively, and that was the key, but Ty came up with those big plays and nothing more important than turning the ball over.
Q: On the very first possession, could you explain the genesis of that. How much discretion did Brady have?BB:
Well, we had a couple options on the play, but basically, when he saw one that looked good, he gave us the opportunity to get it, and that's what he did. Really, it comes down to what Tom, after he looks over the defense, what looks best to him, it's hard to pick from the sideline, what the best thing to do, and he saw it.
Q: What options does he have?BB:
I don't want to get into all the details on the play. We put it in his hands and he made a good decision.
Q: Did you force the turnover battle?BB:
They made a huge difference. Defensively we were able to make some stops and that was key, turnovers were big, punts were big, got a key play on special teams there in the punt formation where they weren't able to handle the ball, so all those things added to it.
Q: How much pressure did you put on Manning, especially Jarvis Green?BB:
Our defensive line played well. Again, it's a combination of coverage and rushing. You can't have one without the other against the Indianapolis Colts.
You can blitz them and they don't even block them, and if they don't have the receivers covered, they get rid of the ball, so you got to cover the receivers, and at the same time you got to make progress toward the quarterback, but it all fits together, so those rushes are the result of the coverage, and some of the coverage plays were a result of the rush. It has to be a team defense.
Q: You said you put in a couple new wrinkles on defense, some that were unwrinkled, can you elaborate?BB:
Not really, I will just say we played them early in the year, they obviously did a good job against it, they moved the ball, we tried to give them a couple different looks, and I think the players really did a good job this week in practice of taking the different looks, trying to disguise them, really working hard at it. Some guys did some different things than what we normally do, but they were able to be comfortable in the game and execute it fairly well.
The only point I was trying to make is I don't think we would have ever gone that route without some of the vet players that we have defensively, and I don't think it was a big deal.
Q: Peyton audibles a lot. (Inaudible)?BB:
Everybody makes a big deal about the audibles. To me it's not that big a thing, Whether a guy calls a play at the line of scrimmage or calls it in the hallway. We got to play what we want to play, and we can't worry about trying to listen to him or trying to listen to him or trying to figure him out, or whatever it is. He is way too good for that. We just got to play what we play and hope we can play it well.
Q: Were you surprised to see him picked off four times today, so unlike him?BB:
You got two good teams playing out there and both teams made their share of good plays. When you get to this point in the season, you got good teams, good players and they make the plays.
Q: (Inaudible) were you nervous about rushing five against him or were you confident you could get pressure with the three and four?BB:
We set up the game plan we thought would be the best to stop the Colts. That's the only way I can put it. We weren't nervous about anything. We know the Colts are a great football team and we did what we thought was best against them. That was the game plan.
Q: Do you have to remind them to be physical at this point of the season or are they just like that normally, your secondary in particular?BB:
Well, I think that was, you know, a big emphasis point in the game for us, to make it a physical game in terms of jam the receivers and tackling. The Colts have a lot of explosive players that can take short plays and turn them into long runs and big plays, so being physical and tackle all the way across the board, back ends, receivers, for us to do that collectively as a team, that was important.
Q: (Inaudible)?BB:
You know, I thought the offensive line, we did a solid job offensively. The frustrating thing was we just didn't get enough points. We were down there several times, ended up having to settle for field goals and didn't convert on a couple short yardage plays on third and shorts, so we would have liked to finish some of those plays a little better, but again I think, you got to give credit to the Colts, their defense was better than our offense, but they fought us hard, we moved the ball, we just didn't get enough points out of it.
Q: Damien Woody, can you give us comments on how you thought he did.BB:
I couldn't give you any comments specifically, but I thought the offensive line held up okay. I am sure some plays were better than others. Like I said, we didn't take advantage of some of our opportunities, and we will have to look specifically and see what broke down, but overall, it looked like a pretty solid performance.
Q: The first two series of games you guys go down and score yards and came back, Rodney makes a big interception in the end zone. How big a play was that?BB:
I think it was important. It kept him from making the game real close at that point. It could have been a tie game or a four point game. That was big turnover because it saved us points, so it was a huge play.
Q: Coach, two Superbowls in three years. Do you think the rest of the country fully appreciated how good this team is?BB:
I don't really know what the rest of the country thinks. I really don't know.
Q: There was a great deal of discussion prior to the game about the inclement weather possibly benefiting the team. Do you think that was the case?BB:
I think the weather was the same for both teams. I don't think it was that big of a deal. I think both teams were well prepared for the game and had a lot of experienced players on both sides of the ball, and I think everybody handled it pretty well.
Q: Did you consider punting at the fourth and one early in the game? Did you consider it, or were you going for it all the way?BB:
No, we made the decision to not do it there, so I don't think you can waver back and forth on those calls. Once you decide what to do, you got to go ahead and do it. It was an option, yes, but we decided not to go that route.
Q: Bill, (inaudible) You moved Vrabel inside at times. Generally, did you think you had an edge in putting yourself up front?BB:
We just felt that was our best match up. That was our best nickel defense. Colts have as good an offense as there is in the league. We didn't feel like we were going in there better than everybody, we were just trying to pick the best match ups and the best systems that we could play against them, but in the end, it came down to players making some big plays.
Q: Bill, it looked like play action was surprisingly ineffective for them. They had some success on the field with stretch runs. Did you tell the guys just stay back and if he gets 10 yards, not that you are trying to give up ten yards, but better than throwing down the field for third?BB:
They have hurt us some on big plays on play action in the past, they hurt everybody, and we put a lot of emphasis on trying to read them in the secondary and I thought we did a fairly good job of that, but they made it tough because they make the running plays and the play action is the same, so it's hard to differentiate. Give credit to the players, they did a good job of recognizing that.
Q: How comforting is it to have a guy like Ty Law out there when Harrison (Inaudible)? How much confidence do you have?BB:
We have a lot of confidence in Ty. Ty has had a terrific year. Our secondaries played real well. Tyrone Poole has done a great job on the other side. Some of the safeties have made some big plays, too, Asante, but Ty and Rodney, no question, are the most veteran players on our team, Tyrone Poole, as well, so those guys really are the rocks of the secondary, and Wilson and Samuel are certainly good players, but they don't have as much experience as the other three guys. But Ty has been here a long time, has made a lot of good plays for us, and he made them today.
Q: How were the fans today?BB:
Fans were awesome. We have had great support all year, whether it was snowing, whether it was freezing cold, whether it was holiday time, or whatever, they have been there. They have really been great today. There was a lot of noise, and certainly with the Colts trying to run stuff along the line of scrimmage, it was certainly difficult to hear. I couldn't hear a guy standing two feet away from me on the side, so I am sure it was hard out there on the field
