Q: What do you think about this week? Obviously it's a great opportunity for you guys to get it going here.
TB: Yeah, it really is. This is December now, and we're in position, you know, 7-5, and four games left, not a lot of rest around here. I think everyone's geared up and really ready to make this push.
Q: How much fun is this?
TB: It's the reason why we play football, to try and play in games like this, where there's a lot on the line, there's a lot at stake. We've proven we can rise to the occasion, so it's one of those games where we've got to [rise to the occasion]. They're coming off a big win, and they're in a position where we need to beat them.
Q: Tom, you've won four out of five, but do you feel the team is really regressing to the point where four out of five, other than just in the standings means a lot with how this team is getting better?
TB: I don't understand that.
Q: In other words, does the play on the field really resemble the numbers?
TB: It's tough to win games, I think you win games, whether it be pretty or ugly. We got up on both Minnesota and Detroit pretty fast. In some respects the game plan changes a little bit, and we probably didn't finish them off the way we would have liked, but I think we're happy to come out with the win. We were in a long stretch, five games in 25 days, you guys all know, four of them on the road, and we won four out of five. So we put ourselves in the position that we're in now, right where coach expected us to be, right in the thick of things.
Q: Do you feel this team can take it up even further over the next four games?
TB: Yeah, I think we're expecting that.
Q: (Re: Rematch with Drew [Bledsoe])
TB: Is that who we're playing this week? I think you watch him play and his play speaks for itself. He's playing good ball and he's leading that team well. We got a good piece of him last time, and I think we were all pleased with that outcome, we're going to go out and try to repeat it. We're expecting their best game, and they're a divisional opponent, we know them well, we only played them four weeks ago. We really have some separation right now, and I think it's going to come down to execution for us.
Q: Does it come to every play and every mistake is so critical, do you guys realize how every play is so critical down the stretch?
TB: Yeah, I think we do, but at the same time we do realize that there will be mistakes and whatever those mistakes are, you've got to overcome them. You go into these game thinking that you'd love to be perfect, but the fact is that every play doesn't always work, and sometimes you make bad plays, you make bad reads, you make bad throws, and I think the important thing is to overcome those. Just to come out of this ahead, as long as you win more battles than you lose, and you win them at the critical times, then you come out ahead.
Q: Beside the similarities in records, are you playing as well as you did last year?
TB: I don't think it matters, I don't think it matters how we played last year. The teams were different, some teams played better, some teams didn't, I think we've played pretty well this year. We've played well in spurts in all the games, so we're looking for consistency. It's tough to compare, there's too many different people, there's too many different factors, so we're playing, we're 7-5. I think that's about the only similarity.
Q: Basically all the talk means nothing, anything can happen?
TB: It comes down to playing well on Sunday's. When you throw out the records, the bad feelings, or good feelings, or it's an NFC opponent, or AFC, or division opponent. You just figure we have to go out and take care of ourselves. If I make a bad throw it doesn't matter who's guarding him, I mean it could be nobody, and I missed him. You've got to just worry about executing your own plays.
Q: We just took a tour of Drew's [Bledsoe] house, it's on the market for $9 million, do you ever see yourself living in a place like that?
TB: I'd just be happy to get the guesthouse or something like that. It's a nice house.
Q: Have you been there?
TB: Yeah.
Q: What do you think of it?
TB: It's pretty nice. It's got a little movie theatre in there, I've spent a lot of time in there, it's pretty sweet.
Q: So you'll stick to one or two bedrooms for a while?
TB: Yeah. Maybe down the road, we'll see.
Q: What are you expecting from the fans on Sunday, there's going to be mixed emotions, they're either going to be for Drew, or going to be for the team.
TB: Well, we're playing at home, so I'd think they'd be rooting for the home team. We've been booed before we left the first quarter before, so, I think they want to see something good, they want to have something to cheer about, so we're going to go out and give them something to cheer about. We're not going to go out and … we're going to go out and play as well as we can. Hopefully it'll be enough for them, if it's not, hopefully we can do it next week.
Q: How much does the weather effect what you can do offensively? Does it change your game plan offensively?
TB: I don't think so. It depends. I'm watching the Miami game last week, and they had a tough game, and I think some of their calls were probably affected by the wind conditions. When the wind's blowing hard, you focus more on moving the sticks and hopefully you get some big plays in there. It can to a degree, I think wind's probably the toughest factor, rain, for me, is not that bad, snow is not that bad, wind's tough for all quarterbacks, and kickers. We're the only ones that care about the wind, no one else cares.
Q: In the cold weather is it harder for you to get a feel for the ball if you're going to throw it downfield?
TB: No, I think you just throw it downfield, whether the wind gusts or not, you throw it and kind of judge the wind, and based on whether, or how much the wind blows it … I was out there at practice yesterday and there were some throws that I made and said, 'that's going to be good,' and it just misses the guy. Sometimes you just don't play the wind enough, it's tough to anticipate when it's really gusty.
Q: If you take the wind out, does the actual cold, as far as feeling, getting the feel for the ball, is that different in the real cold weather?
TB: I think the ball's harder, sometimes a little more slick, I think everyone wants to play down in Miami or San Diego, in a dome, I mean those guys got it pretty good.
TB: Is that it? Thanks guys, I've got to get running.
