You have your ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown quotes for this week.
ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown Notes and Quotes: Week 11
ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown host Chris Berman and analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson and Keyshawn Johnson previewed today’s NFL action. Some excerpts:On Brett Favre and the Vikings quarterback situation…Jackson: “You’re reminded of how great Brett Favre has been for the National Football League, but this year has been anything but in almost every single way both professional and personal.”Johnson: “If you make the decision to bench Brett Favre now in the middle of the game, I think that’s a bad decision. You should just do it at the start of the game. Let Tarvaris Jackson take over because, at some point in time, you have to see what he has at quarterback.”Ditka: “You play the game to win. If the other guy gives you a better chance to win, play him.”On Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning…Carter: “He is the heartbeat of this football team. I like his leadership. … I like that he’s challenging his teammates to be great because Tom Brady knows that better than any other quarterback in the league.”Jackson: “Peyton Manning is the heartbeat, the lungs, the kidney. He is everything to the Indianapolis Colts.”Ditka: “Both of these guys do more with less than any team in football.”On the Cowboys first week under interim coach Jason Garrett…Jackson: “That attention to detail that he forced upon them, accountability, I think showed up in the form of their play last week. If you back off of them at all, I think you get the same team you got the first eight weeks of the season.”Carter: “Even though they might be a veteran team, you have to keep a tight rein on them. You can’t let them have the slack they’ve had in Dallas before.”On how to contain Michael Vick…Ditka: “You cannot all-out rush this guy. You’ve got to keep in your zone. … Nobody in football has ever done this, what he can do to a defense. Keep under control, keep your lanes, you might have a chance if you cover somebody downfield.”On the Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss to the Patriots last week…Jackson: “It’s a bump in the road for 30 teams in the league. It’s cause for concern when they play against New England. … Brady, Belichick: 6-1 against the Steelers, so it’s not by accident. This is something they have to be concerned with if they get to the playoffs and meet each other.”Berman: “They were the last team to have a stinker. … Every of the real good teams has had a stinker.”On the Jets’ winning so many close games this season…Johnson: “This football team, they win football games like Rex Ryan won with the Ravens defense – tough games, tight.”Ditka: “There’s no style points in football. You win any way you can.”Jackson: “When you win games like this, then you are better prepared when you face adversity down the stretch.”Jets center Nick Mangold during Countdown’s “Broadway Mark” feature about teammate Mark Sanchez’s affinity for the theater…“He’s like a little kid. You can keep him entertained with bright colors, loud music, people moving around, and he’ll be set for hours.”Following the Sanchez feature…Berman: “Nothing like live theater, musical, drama, especially on Broadway.”Ditka: “We’ve had it all year in Minnesota.”Berman: “Yes, we have had live theater. That’s for sure, coach.”From Sunday Headlines…Insider Adam Schefter: “In an effort to determine whether or not and the type of messages that Brett Favre sent Jenn Sterger, the NFL is conducting high-tech forensic work to trace the electronic pathways of any messages that Favre may or may not have sent. … Essentially, the NFL now has gone CSI.”Senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen (on Bill Parcells): “Don’t expect him to resurface with any new team in 2011.”
Fox’s quotage is next.
