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**Q: Willie, talk to us a little bit about the game plan. It seemed like there was a lot of not a lot of blitzes. You sent maybe four times once or twice the whole game?WM:**
Our game plan was basically just to, defensively, was to bloody their nose up a little bit, just every play, make contact with the receivers, the tight ends, the backs, whoever, and make them earn every yard they get because we knew if we got into the finesse game, that they were a better team than we were at playing the finesse game, and if we let the receivers get into the zone and just run, it would probably be another 38 point game.
Q: Willie, you have seen Ty Law make a lot of great plays as you guys have been together. Can you comment on him making three interceptions on this stage today?WM:
He did great. We got a little pressure, Manning had happy feet, threw the ball up a couple times, had great reads, practiced hard on a lot of things that happened today all week, he read the coaches well, and that's just Ty Law, he makes plays, he is a big time player and he deserved it. He played well today.
Q: Willie, the last time Peyton Manning had a bad game you seemed to be in his fate quite a bit. Today you were in Peyton Manning's face quite a bit. Do you think this guy is going to have nightmares about Willie McGinest?WM:
Our defense did a good job all day, Jarvis Green got some pressure, Phifer and myself, some other guys. And that's the key. You can't let a quarterback like Peyton Manning just sit in the pocket and be comfortable and not expect him to score points or hit the receivers down field.
Our game plan was to jam those guys, put pressure on them, get in his face, hit him, get to him and make him feel as uncomfortable as possible and throw the ball when he didn't want to or get hit, and we did a pretty good job at it. I am still upset that we gave up 14 points. Our goal was to give them a goose egg, and instead they got 14, so we could have played a little bit better. We gave up one series where they just drove the ball down field and we had to regroup, but everything he has been doing, that was irrelevant to us. We knew that our defense and the way we play is totally different than other teams, and we just kept our mouth shut all week and we knew what we had to do, we knew we were facing a good team, they are still a really good team, but we wasn't really going to go out there and play like that and just let them have their way with us.
Q: Willie, did you guys try to emphasize some of the inside rushes today and try to pressure the inside of the pocket?WM:
Definitely. He is not a really mobile quarterback, and we knew to get him off the mark and to get him kind of out of what he does, we would have to put pressure directly up the middle and not let him just sit in our pocket. He is deadly when we let him sit in the pocket, and like I said, the front four linemen do a great job at compressing that pocket and making them really uncomfortable all day.
Q: Can you talk specifically about Jarvis Green? With all the names in this defense (Inaudible)?WM:
Jarvis played well and it's time it was a great time for him to step up, and they were worried about other guys or what other guys were doing, it opened the gates for him and he played really well. The game plan for him wasn't really complicated, and he stuck to it and he kept fighting hard, and he produced, and we are going to need that in the next game, and I am glad he's the guy who showed up.
You got to give credit, also, to the defensive backs who were jamming and not letting receivers get right into our zone, and when they did that, it allowed time for us to get pressure from the quarterback.
Q: Willie, is this defense capable of playing a perfect game?WM:
We haven't done it yet. We have shut out some teams, and we have had some good games at home where we didn't give up any points, but I don't think that we have had the perfect game yet. Hopefully we are saving it for the Superbowl.
Q: But you are capable of playing, everybody feels youWM:
Nobody is perfect, we are going to have some mistakes. I don't think we are going to ever play a perfect, perfect game, but it's just how you bounce back from adversity, and if you can eliminate the big plays and if you can not let offenses just do what they want to do, hey, we didn't give up any points, if we give up less in points than what they do, we are doing a good job. Our best defense is our offense.
Q: Willie, in the locker room today a lot of players made reference about keeping your mouth shut and doing your job. Tom Brady addressed Marcus Pollard's comment Friday quite forcefully. Was there more than one incident that got you guys thinking about disrespect?WM:
We are a humble group, and I think we don't have a lot of guys out there because we don't talk as much, and the Marcus Pollard comment, we felt disrespected by it, and the way the media kind of portrayed this game and what Manning it was just the Peyton Manning show, and he was just going to come in here and throw up 40 points, or he was on fire, all that was great, but you still got to play the game, and for him to say "Mail us our rings if we keep playing the way we do," I think a lot of guys on this team took it really personal, and that's the kind of character we have on our team, as well as our defense.
We knew that there weren't just going to come in here and take anything from us. If they were going to beat us, they were going to have to earn it. We weren't going to give them anything, and we didn't care about how many touchdowns they scored prior to our game, or how many yards they threw for, all that was pretty irrelevant to us. We had a game plan in mind, kept our mouths shut and let our play do the talking on the field.
