Let’s now complete the Sunday NFL pregame quotage with NBC’s Football Night in America. Check it out.
“FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA” NOTES & QUOTES – WEEK 8
“I’ve been a Sanchez supporter and have said that you need to stay with your quarterback, but it’s time to make the change.” – Tony Dungy on the Jets
“Tebow will give you leadership. He will give you passion. It’s contagious throughout that locker room. I look at how unselfish this young man is. He’s playing on special teams. He’s playing running back. He’s playing tight-end. You have to give him a chance. Nothing else is working. As a coach, that is your duty.” – Rodney Harrison on the Jets
“They have no identity. This offense has no identity. They don’t know if they want to be a big play offense that passes the ball down the field or if they want to be a running offense.” – Rodney Harrison on the Chargers
“Football is always a chess game, but you are up against a chess master when you play Peyton Manning.” – Bob CostasNEW YORK – October 28, 2012 – Following are highlights for Football Night in America. Bob Costas opened the show live from inside Sports Authority Field in Denver, Colo. where the Broncos are hosting the New Orleans Saints. Costas was joined on-site by Sunday Night Football commentators Al Michaels (play-by-play) and Cris Collinsworth (analyst), and Hines Ward, the former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver, Super Bowl MVP and newest addition to NBC Sports’ NFL team.
Dan Patrick co-hosted the program from Studio 8G at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios and was joined by Football Night in America analysts Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison, and NFL insiders Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. Alex Flanagan reported from Cowboys Stadium in Dallas on the Giants-Cowboys game.
Following are highlights from Football Night in America:
ON SAINTS
Collinsworth on how much “Bountygate” affected the team’s performance this season: “You do have to say a little of it was self-imposed because they didn’t get the contract done with Drew Brees. You have to wonder, with all those people and all the controversy, if he (Brees) had just been in the building. We know this guy is a dynamic leader of that football team. They didn’t get the job done and that hurt them.
“Greg Williams, the former defensive coordinator, is sort of hyperbole run amuck. It sounds horrible and I agree that he should have been punished. The issue is, were the players trying to hurt somebody? That’s the threshold as far as I’m concerned, and there really hasn’t been any evidence of that. I think that’s where this hearing is going to be interesting.”
Costas: “The league is convinced it has a very strong case.”ON PEYTON MANNING
Ward on playing against Manning: “It’s very frustrating. It seems like he thrives in situations to try and bring his team back. Having Peyton Manning on the field is always a threat, because he always has the chance to bring his team back and win the ballgame.”
Ward: “Tennessee recruited me at the same time they were recruiting Peyton Manning. They said that if I signed with Tennessee, they would stop recruiting Peyton Manning.”
Collinsworth: “What?”
Ward: “It’s true. I don’t know if they lied to me or what.”
Collinsworth: “Let me just tell you, yes, they lied to you. That is exactly what happened. That has to go down as one of the biggest lies in recruiting history.”Dungy on Manning: “It’s not what he does in the clutch. It’s the preparation for the clutch. And knowing what’s going on. That’s where he really stands out.”
Costas: “Football is always a chess game, but you are up against a chess master when you play Peyton Manning.”
ON JETS
Dungy: “I’ve been a Sanchez supporter and have said that you need to stay with your quarterback, but it’s time to make the change.”
Harrison: “Tebow will give you leadership. He will give you passion. It’s contagious throughout that locker room. I look at how unselfish this young man is. He’s playing on special teams. He’s playing running back. He’s playing tight-end. You have to give him a chance. Nothing else is working. As a coach, that is your duty.”Dungy on the Jets making Tebow their starting QB: “This is absolutely the right time to do it. If you are going to make the change, you have to change the offense totally and do the things Tim can do well.”
ON GIANTS
Alex Flanagan reporting from Cowboys stadium in Dallas: “The Giants are scrambling as fast as they can out of Cowboys Stadium. They cut some interviews short. They are trying to get home in time before their plane is cancelled by Hurricane Sandy.”
ON COWBOYS
Patrick on Tony Romo: “How do you throw the last play out of bounds?”
Dungy: “Everybody is going to be talking about the last part of the game and the time management.”
Rodney: “Once it becomes third-down-and-one, you have to run the ball. They are giving you the run. You have to get the first down.”Dungy on Tony Romo’s pass to Dez Bryant with seconds left in the game: “You know Dez Bryant is going to get the ball. How did they let him run free?”
Harrison on Jason Garrett: “I can see if it happened once in a while, but it is happening every single week. The turnovers, the time management and the penalties. We see it each and every week. This is not a well prepared team.” *(Comments made during halftime of the Saints-Broncos game)
ON EAGLES
Mike Florio on Vick: “The Mike Vick era in Philadelphia could be ending. After today’s loss Vick told reporters that coach Andy Reed is considering making a change to rookie Nick Foles. And Vick actually said he would support it. But I’m told that privately Vick is upset. Vick doesn’t believe that it’s his fault that the team lost today. Vick didn’t make any mistakes and he thinks it was more of a defensive collapse.”
Video clip of Florio on Vick: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/49591244#49591244
Dungy: “They are in desperate times in Philadelphia, but I don’t know that changing quarterbacks helps this offense.”
Harrison: “You have to give them a spark. You have to change and try something different. You also have to figure out what your future is with Michael Vick. Play the young rookie now. Let him come in. See if he can play. If not, then you go back to Vick.”
Dungy: “I don’t think Andy Reid is worried about the future. How can we win some games? How can we get back in this race? Unless they can protect better, I don’t know if going to Foles is going to help.”Dungy: I think you have to stay with him (Vick). There is a lot of desperation in Philadelphia right now, but Andy Reid is coaching for his job. He has to make the playoffs to keep his job. Michael Vick gives him a better chance than a rookie quarterback who has never played. *(Comments made during halftime of the Saints-Broncos game.)
ON STEELERS AND EAGLES
Dungy: “My headline is football in Pennsylvania. In Western PA, we are getting good football from the Steelers. They look like they are going to make a run in the AFC North. In the Eastern side of the state, bad football from the Eagles. They change defensive coordinators, but they are now worse on defense.”
ON STEELERS
Dungy on Ben Roethlisberger: “All the talk was about RG III, but Ben Roethlisberger controlled the game.”
ON CHARGERS
Harrison: “I look at Ryan Mathews. He was brought in to replace LaDainian Tomlinson, but he has been a huge disappointment. You look at the injuries and the fumbles. He has not been consistent.”
Harrison: “They have no identity. This offense has no identity. They don’t know if they want to be a big play offense that passes the ball down the field or if they want to be a running offense.”
Dungy: “You have to be able to score on a game-winning drive against Cleveland.”ON DOLPHINS
Harrison: “The Dolphins are 4-3. They are playing good football and if the playoffs started today, they would be in.”
ON LIONS
Dungy: “They have a chance now with a two-game winning streak. They are still not playing great offense, but they did just enough to hang in there.
ON FALCONS
Dungy on Matt Ryan: “He was unbelievable in the first half. He used all of his weapons. He was on fire and was the most valuable performer today.”
ON CHIEFS
Patrick: “Kansas City is a dead man walking here.”
ON NFL TRADE DEADLINE
King: “If anybody is going to go, I believe it will be one of two guys. Either Dwayne Bowe, the receiver for Kansas City, or Steven Jackson the running back for the St. Louis Rams. But do not call either one of those teams unless you are going to offer at least a third round pick for one of those guys.”
Video clip King on trade deadline: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/49591322#49591322
And that concludes the posts for the day.
