NOTES & QUOTES FROM FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA – WEEK 1
Via press release:
STAMFORD, Conn. – September 13, 2015 – Following are highlights from Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports, which aired prior to tonight’s Sunday Night Football matchup between the New York Giants at the Dallas Cowboys. Bob Costas opened the show live from inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and was joined on site by SundayNight Football analyst Cris Collinsworth, sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, and NBC NFL analyst Hines Ward.
Dan Patrick co-hosted Football Night from NBC Sports Group’s Studio 1. He was joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy; two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison; and NFL Insiders Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com, and Peter King. Kathryn Tappen reported from Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., on the Ravens-Broncos game.
Costas interviewed Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo, while New York Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. and QB Eli Manningrelived Beckham Jr.’s iconic one-handed catch from last year’s Giants-Cowboys Week 12 Sunday Night Football matchup.
Following are highlights from Football Night in America:
ON COLTS
Harrison on his concerns with the Colts after their Week 1 loss to the Bills: “You can’t let one game define you. I still think this team is capable of winning at least 11 games. But the problem is, defensively when you’re not very good, your offensive mentality is that we have to outscore everyone. And sometimes you have off days offensively.”
Patrick: “That’s why Monday is ‘Overreaction Monday,’ because everyone starts to panic even after Week 1.”
Harrison: “Their defense is soft.”
Dungy: “I’m not sure Indy has the answers for their line problems.”
King on Colts’ coaching situation: “After the game, owner Jim Irsay of the Colts addressed reports that Ryan Grigson, the general manager of the Colts, and Chuck Pagano, his head coach, are not getting along, and this could be the last year for Pagano. I do not think that that is the root of the problem – the GM-coach rift. I think it stems from the fact that the owner of this team does not believe, after seeing the Indianapolis Colts get just trod upon and beaten badly three times by the New England Patriots the last couple of years – he’s not sure he wants to sign this coach for a long-term contract.”
ON BILLS
Dungy on Rex Ryan’s Buffalo Bills defense: “He talked all summer about how good this defense was going to be. He made a believer out of me today. I was impressed with them.”
ON SEAHAWKS
Ward on game’s final play (fourth-and-one in OT): “I’m all for giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch, but why do it from the shotgun formation?”
Collinsworth on the onside kick that was kicked into the air, not into the ground, to begin OT: “I was more surprised at that tactic than the fact that they ran the football (on the game’s final play).”
Harrison on Kam Chancellor’s absence: “I thought it meant a lot of confusion and that’s the one thing that we noticed when we were watching this game…a bunch of confusion.”
Dungy: “A lot of points today, a lot of people running wide open. They need to get Chancellor back.”
ON PACKERS
Dungy: “Their run defense was not sound, and Seattle’s going to be looking for that next week.”
ON BRONCOS
Dungy on Peyton Manning’s play today: “What you saw were those misses on the deep balls, and that’s what was happening at the end of last year. And then people start sitting on the short passes. Until he completes some of those deep passes, this is what people are going to do. This was Baltimore’s plan today, jump those short routes.”
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ON PANTHERS
Harrison on Cam Newton’s post-game frustration: “He should be frustrated. They don’t have any weapons and he understands that.”
Dungy: “Rely on the defense.”
Harrison: “All I’m saying is you have to stay healthy, and you have to run the football. He doesn’t have any weapons. They are going to face a lot better teams than the Jacksonville Jaguars.”
ON CARDINALS
Patrick: “Completely different team when Carson Palmer’s out there. We saw that in the playoffs last year.”
ON CHARGERS:
Dungy: “I’m lovin’ some Keenan Allen today.”
ON JETS
Dungy: “What I liked, I saw some poise from the Jets today.”
ON ROOKIE QB MATCHUP
Harrison on Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston: “He will be a good quarterback. I really believe that. They drafted him No. 1 overall, but how do you draft a guy No. 1 overall and you don’t solidify a good offensive line around him? They’re playing with two rookies. He didn’t look good. He has to avoid the foolish interceptions and mistakes…He’s got some weapons on the outside, but they have to protect him.”
Dungy on Titans QB Marcus Mariota: “Jameis is going to be a good player, but I’m really happy for Marcus Mariota. I saw this young man play for four years. People were talking about all of the things he couldn’t do. He can throw the ball quickly, he gets set quick, and he is deadly accurate. He only had three incomplete passes today. I saw him do this his whole career at Oregon. He’s going to be a great player in the National Football League.”
ON GIANTS
Ward on if Odell Beckham, Jr. will continue the success from his rookie season: “I don’t think so, just because this year he will have a huge target on his chest. Defenses will try to get up in him and be physical with him on the line of scrimmage…we are going to see a lot of double coverage this evening.”
ON COWBOYS
Harrison on Tony Romo’s perspective after last season: “He really seems like he has the right perspective. It’s just a sense of maturity and understanding that it’s not all about wins and losses; it’s about family. And he seems at peace with himself.”
MISC.
Costas to Patrick, who was wearing glasses tonight: “Since we’re in Texas, Rick Perry asked me to tell you that he really likes your glasses.”
TONY ROMO WITH BOB COSTAS
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Romo on moving on from last season’s playoff loss to Green Bay: “It’s very difficult if you’re a competitor and an athlete. You try and get over it as quick as you can, but it takes time. The whole season comes down to a few plays, and you want to make sure that the next time you’re in that (situation), your team is able to make that.”
Romo on controversial non-catch by WR Dez Bryant in playoff game vs. Green Bay: “It’s obviously a rule, and by the letter of the law they came up with that decision. It is what it is. But now it’s like, ‘Man, that’s ages ago.’ We have a different football team now than we did then, so I’m excited about we’ve got coming.”
Romo on playing late into his career: “If you’re doing what I think you need to do to be successful, I think you think that every year could be your last from 25 (years old) on. This is the National Football League. You’re guaranteed nothing. It’s special to be a part of this league, and it’s special for me to be a part of this team…but as far as the window, I feel like every year it feels (like it could be the last).”
Romo on his health: “Going into the season, this is probably the best (I’ve felt) in three or four years, which is a positive. I joke sometimes with the younger guys on the team that I’m the only guy getting younger. That’s my claim to fame, I guess, but that just means I was really old at 32.”
Romo on his maturation and becoming a husband and father: “You really grow to understand that there’s happiness in your life. I relate it to the feeling of happiness here and there, and there are spurts of it. And then there are these things called ‘joy.’ They’re a lot more long-sustaining, and you try not to take that for granted. The happiness comes from just the day-to-day stuff, but those go away – the ‘joys’ stay.”
ODELL BECKHAM JR. AND ELI MANNING RELIVE “THE CATCH”
Beckham Jr.: “Little did I know that my life would change forever after that play…I practice one-handed catches all the time…I wasn’t surprised that I caught it. I was more surprised by what was going on around it.”
Manning: “I figure you’ve got to throw two pretty bad balls to be part of two great catches in NFL history, so I don’t know if it’s something to be truly proud of, but I thought it was pretty spectacular.”
