Fang's Bites

Quotage from Sunday NFL Countdown

Again, bad job by CBS, Fox and NFL Network for not sending over quotage from their pregame shows today. I waited late to see if anything came through and only ESPN sent over quotage today. So they get this post all to themselves. I hope quotage will be readily available for Conference Championship Sunday.

“SUNDAY NFL COUNTOWN” NEWS AND NOTES

ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown’s” Chris Berman, Mike Ditka, Keyshawn Johnson, Cris Carter and Tom Jackson, were joined by Vikings Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen to review yesterday’s and preview today’s NFL Divisional Playoff games. Some excerpts:

Key quotes of the day:

· “Cris (Carter), don’t you dare ever mention Jake’s (Delhomme) name in the same line with (Joe) Montana and (Bart) Starr” – Johnson on the performance of the Carolina quarterback vs. Arizona

· “This is a 10-6 football without Chris Johnson and that’s what they looked like yesterday. It’s not a No. 1 seed without that explosive player in that offense.” – Carter on Tennessee’s loss to Baltimore

· “Cheez Whiz, off of cheese steaks. When it gets in there, it takes forever to get out” – Philadelphia head coach Andy Reid on the most annoying thing about growing playoff beards

Knowing blitzes are coming, which quarterback will handle pass rush better: McNabb or Manning?

Keyshawn Johnson: “In this football game, it will be Donovan McNabb. Donovan has played against this team before. You’re looking at a quarterback in Eli Manning, without Plaxico Burress, who will rely on the running game. He’s not a mobile quarterback. That can create some problems and he’s prone to make more mistakes than Donovan … They have three guys in that secondary, the Eagles, I don’t know that the New York Giants have three capable receivers to match up with them.”

Tom Jackson: “Donovan McNabb is healthy, and when he’s healthy, he’s close to superman. You look at his ability to extend plays along with Brian Westbrook and his ability to bring a big play. And that’s the thing you want from your quarterback this time of the year.”

Cris Carter: “One thing you guys have failed to mention is the running back of the Giants, Brandon Jacobs, and he’s going to help Eli out. It’s not a matter of which quarterback is better. The Eagles blitz 40% of the time. So Eli is used to this, but being assisted by that running game … I believe Eli handles the situation better.”

Mike Ditka: “McNabb must be doing something right. Last 66 attempts, the Giants have not sacked him. What I see him doing, I see him buying time, I see him making good decisions … This guy is really playing his best football right now.”

Can big Ben (Roethlisberger) continue to absorb big hits?

Tom Jackson: “Big Ben is a big tough kid. He’s used to getting sacked 40-plus times a year. When it comes time to play, he’s always playing. You’ve heard Ed (Werder) talk about Philip Rivers and statistics. Well, statistically right now, Ben Roethlisberger is about the worst quarterback left in this playoffs – getting sacked more than anybody else, throwing more interceptions than anybody else, quarterback completion percentage, a little bit worse than (Ravens) Joe Flacco. But his strength is winning games at the end. He really knows how to do that. And that’s the main thing I want from my quarterback. I want him to be able to win games. I’m not worried necessarily about whether he can take the beating, I’m worried about the fact that statistically he has a problem on the field right now.”

Cris Carter: “People think football is a contact sport. But on the offensive side of the ball, sometimes, it is ‘avoid the contact.’ It is hard to continue playing football that way. One excuse for Ben: Why does he hold it? Because, his best receiver Hines Ward is not the fastest and not the best route runner, but it takes him a little more time sometimes on that muddy field to get open. So, I understand why he’s holding it.”

Keyshawn Johnson: “Ben holds on the football because he likes the drama. He likes the attention that he gets. He’s a great football player, he’s a solid football player, like you said Tom, he’s a tough guy, but he’s a bit of a drama queen. I like that about him. He gives the crowd thumbs up, a little bit of a wink, goes off the field, comes back, boom! Touchdown, late game heroics and the whole time, we’re sitting in our room watching the game saying ‘he’s hurting, something is wrong with Ben.’ Next thing you know, he’s back in the game, he’s fine for the next week, he loves that attention.”

Mike Ditka: “He’s going to last four quarters. Can he last four years? I don’t know playing the way he is … It is who he is. It is Big Ben, he’s the leader of this football team.”

Tom Jackson: “The reason that he does that, he is not great at his second and third read. He’s better at extending plays with his legs. His college coach told me that he’s the guy who extends plays and makes plays by getting out of the pocket.”

Vikings Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen

On being satisfied with the Vikings’ performance: “Our very first step was to win the division. We were able to do that. Me personally, it took a little while getting used to adjusting to new stadium, new bunch of teammates. The biggest adjustment was learning how to play with two beasts in the defensive tackles inside. I was just trying to stay out of the way for the first few weeks. Then we got on the same page and things took off.

“Overall, successful season. We would love to still be playing. I thought we played well enough, except for one play, to win that Philadelphia game.”

On Philip Rivers: “He has the tendency to hold the ball just a little bit too long to make those big plays down the field. I really like the way he plays the ball. His ‘moxie,’ if you will – just don’t ask me to spell that guys. But again, sometimes that works against him because he tries to make that big play down the field and you can get to him as a pass rusher.”

Biggest reason for the Titans loss vs. the Ravens

Keyshawn Johnson: “When Chris Johnson went out, you cannot get to the second wave of defenders, which is the secondary – the corners and safety of the Baltimore Ravens are poor tacklers. If you get there, they miss tackles, then they can score touchdowns. That did not happen. It changed the entire scope of the football team.”

Cris Carter: “When Chris Johnson got hurt, this team reverted back to last year’s team without a scrambling quarterback … This is a 10-6 football without Chris Johnson and that’s what they looked like yesterday. It’s not a No. 1 seed without that explosive player in that offense.”

Tom Jackson: “Those fumbles are not happenstance. The physicality that Ray Lewis and that front seven bring, the reason they get the turnover is because they hit harder than the other football team. You look at the hit on (Alge) Crumpler, you look at the hit on LenDale White, that ball is coming out. And they are depending on it coming out two or three times a football game, you tell (Joe) Flacco, ‘protect the football, we’ll take you to Tampa Bay.’”

Mike Ditka: “You’ve got to give Baltimore all the credit, and you’ve got to feel a little sorry for Tennessee. But don’t say Tennessee is not a good football team. They are a heck of a football team.”

Chris Berman: “They just put it out there {on-screen graphic}, here’s Miami plus-17, Ravens win the turnover 5-1, here’s Tennessee plus-14, Ravens win the turnover 3-0. One is an accident, eight is what?”

Lasting impression of Cardinals win vs. the Panthers

Cris Carter: “I thought I was watching the NCAA Tournament and I had UNLV as the number one seed, or whatever the seed was, going against a team like Princeton, at team that is going to slow it down. The Arizona team that is not going to run the ball ended up adopting the Princeton style, slowing them down. I was amazed to see how they adopted the physicality all of a sudden.”

Tom Jackson: “And Boom (Berman) used the work thumping, and that’s what it was. What coach (Ken) Whisenhunt has done is made them physically tougher than their opponents on both sides of the football. The 43 carries for 145 yards vs. the 15 carries for Carolina. They dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage. I think it has a lot to do with taking them back to training camp. At the end of the year, we are going to get back in pads, we’re going to work hard to be a different football team when we get to the playoffs. They are right now.”

Keyshawn Johnson: “{Turning to Carter} Cris, don’t you dare ever mention Jake’s (Delhomme) name in the same line with (Joe) Montana and (Bart) Starr … I think when you look at the game plan put together by offensive coordinator Todd Haley, a mix of run and pass, getting the football to (Larry) Fitzgerald was extremely important. Being able to adjust on-the-fly – that long ball that he (Fitzgerald) went up to get, they actually put that play in on the plane coming from Arizona watching the film of the New Orleans Saints against the Carolina Panthers and realizing we can hit something here against this team. Making those types of adjustments, I think that speaks a lot to what Whisenhunt and their offensive staff are capable of doing.’

Mike Ditka: “This football team, if they play the way they played the last two weeks, and this is Ken Whisenhunt’s stamp on them, they play that way, this team can go all the way.”

Chris Berman: “They are geniuses. Two months, very ‘Parcellian,’ into a code of silence. No one is really going to know we can run the ball, no one is really going to know we have a good line, no one is going to know we have an opportunistic defense: ‘Shhh!, shhh!, we won’t show you until January.’ Look where they are, and they could host the championship game.”

Can the Eagles be this season’s team of destiny?

Cris Carter: “The good news is, there’s no New England sitting out there as the unbeatable team. If they do make it through, that’s the good news. The bad news is, I’m a forgiving person, I can’t forget about that tie with Cincinnati. You think a team is going to tie the Cincinnati Bengals and go on to make NFL history, I just can’t forget that.”

Tom Jackson: “I’m going to make the argument that it is how you are playing at the end of the season … I know that the Giants will be committed to running the ball and stopping the run. They have no choice. I still don’t know that the Eagles are going to be committed to running the football. That’s the way to get yourself sent home. If we’re looking for a team of destiny, last year’s Giants, I think it will be the Baltimore ravens.”

Keyshawn Johnson: “They have an opportunity to be that team. If they win this football game today, they are going to go to the Super Bowl.”

Mike Ditka: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. They are playing good now. It doesn’t matter what they did against anyone. All they are preaching right now is one thing, three games and we get the Lombardi Trophy.”

Will the Giants miss Plaxico Burress?

Cris Carter: “Whatever the numbers say, they don’t matter – 6’5”-230, it can’t be replaced. I don’t care what they want to do. And just say, for instance, if the Giants were a good running team, would they want a 5’-11” guy, 180 (lbs) blocking you or do you want a 6’5”? Forget about the past, would you want a big dude blocking you? Men, it’s a big dude’s game.”

Keyshawn Jackson: “Yes, they are going to miss him. You’re going to miss the double-teaming, you’re going to miss him taking people out of the box, and the threat down in the red zone with that size and strength. But it is a moot point. As you said, he’s gone. And I just add this as a caveat – He cannot win in this situation. If they win the Super Bowl, he’s Jeremy Schokey. And if in fact they don’t win the Super Bowl, then ‘the drama that you put us through helped us not get what we came out to achieve.”

Mike Ditka: “I give up. I said they won’t miss him. Okay, they’ll miss him. I say this honestly, I think everything they are preaching in that locker room right now – ‘if we think we’re going to miss him, we can’t win this football game.’ We are going to go out there, we’re going to play with what we’ve got.”

That’s it.