Let’s give you the quotage for NBC’s Football Night in America for this week.
“Don’t even fool with Peyton…He’s trying to play mind games. Don’t listen to him.” – Football Night’s Rodney Harrison
FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA NOTES & QUOTES; WEEK 2
“Don’t even fool with Peyton…He’s trying to play mind games. Don’t listen to him.” – Football Night’s Rodney Harrison“I thought he played the quarterback position better these two games than he ever did in Atlanta.” – Football Night’s Tony Dungy on Eagles QB Mike VickNEW YORK – September 19, 2010 – Following are highlights from NBC Sports’ “Football Night in America.” Bob Costas hosted the show live from Lucas Oil Stadium and was joined on site for commentary by Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth. Co-host Dan Patrick, analysts Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison, and reporter Peter King covered the news of the NFL’s second week live from NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios. Alex Flanagan reported from the New Meadowlands Stadium on the Patriots-Jets game.ON MANNING BOWL IIEli Manning to SNF sideline reporter Andrea Kremer just before kickoff: “I feel a little more experienced. We have some new guys on the team. (I’m) a lot more comfortable with what we’re doing. It’s my seventh year in this offense now. It’s been a great week. It’s been less stressful than the first time when you had five months of press (leading up to) this game instead of one week. It’s been a little bit more enjoyable for Peyton and I.”Eli to Kremer regarding his family: “I think they enjoy it. My parents are obviously very proud of Peyton and I. I think it’s been less stressful on them this week than the first time. My brother Cooper decided to stay at home and watch it at home. My wife is somewhere in the crowd. It’s been a lot easier on them and they should just enjoy the game.”Harrison, who competed against both brothers as a 15-year NFL safety, comparing Peyton and Eli: “Eli is simple. Eli’s a guy who comes to the line of scrimmage and has two plays, one run and one pass. He picks the play, he hikes the ball and he looks over the defense. Whereas Peyton, he comes to the line of scrimmage, he’s got these hand signals and he’s got these dummy calls and facial expressions and moving all over the place. Finally, you look at each other in meetings and say ‘you know what, don’t even fool with Peyton. Pay attention with what you have to do. He’s trying to play mind games. Don’t listen to him.’”Dungy, who coached the Colts in the first Manning Bowl in 2006, on Giants backup QB Jim Sorgi knowing the Colts’ signals: “The old backup quarterback of the Colts, Jim Sorgi, is with the Giants. So Peyton knows they know a lot of the code words. They know a lot of the hand signals. It might not be the same tonight.”Dungy: “Perfect cities for them. Eli, New York is not going to bother him. Tom Coughlin, rough, tough by-the-book coach is not going to bother him. Peyton wants to be in control of everything and there’s way too many newspapers here in New York. He couldn’t read all of the newspapers to be in control.”Collinsworth: “They’re so not alike. Peyton is sort of the smartest kid in the class and he can’t wait to raise his hand and answer every question. He runs practice essentially. There’s no coaches that talk out there. He dictates everything that goes on. And, Eli we both know him, too. He kind of sits back and you ask him a question and he goes ‘well, you know, we’ll try to do the best we can.’ He’s so soft spoken and humble but when you watch him play now he’s a guy who has really taken this team over. He’s every bit as much in control as Peyton is with the Colts.”ON EAGLESDungy on Mike Vick: “These last two games, he’s been outstanding. He’s thrown the ball from the pocket well. He’s managed the game. He’s run when he needed to. I thought he played the quarterback position better these two games than he ever did in Atlanta.”King, who spoke to Vick postgame: “I asked him, ‘Do you deserve the starting job?’ And he said, ‘I don’t think so. This is Kevin Kolb’s team.’”Costas: “How about when Donovan McNabb comes to Philly in a few weeks? You think the talk shows will be wild leading up to that?”Collinsworth: “I think until Mike Vick proves otherwise, he’s going to be the starter.”ON JETSMark Sanchez to Flanagan: “I’m so thrilled about our passion and energy. We cleaned up a lot of the little mistakes, the mental errors from last week.”LaDainian Tomlinson to Flanagan: “It feels good to be healthy and being me. For the last couple of years, I’ve been battling injuries. It’s been tough but I’m back now. The recession is over. (smiling)”Dungy: “They played to win. They let Mark Sanchez go and win the football game.”Harrison: “I had the Jets going 0-2 and they came out and proved me wrong.”Patrick: “They’re allowing Mark Sanchez to throw.”ON PATRIOTSHarrison: “Mark Sanchez looked like he was the Hall of Fame quarterback. But I don’t think the Patriots have to panic right now.”ON STEELERSDungy: “My big winner is the Pittsburgh defense. They played outstanding football holding Chris Johnson under 40 yards. They got seven takeaways. Mike Tomlin told them ‘we can win games on our own’ and they did that today.”Michaels: “Bubby Brister could win in Pittsburgh these days. It doesn’t matter who plays quarterback.”ON COWBOYSHarrison: “I only panic when the coach panics and Wade Phillips is obviously panicking. But it’s not the fact that they are starting 0-2. It’s the way in which they are losing these football games. You look at missed field goals, penalties, turnovers, they’re inability to run the ball, a lot of mistakes that you don’t get from a team that’s picked to go to the Super Bowl.”King, who spoke to Jerry Jones postgame about cutting his kicker: “He said after game, ‘absolutely not.’ He’s sticking with David Buehler. But I just really wonder how long can you stick with a kicker who is so inconsistent.”ON TEXANSHarrison: “Very impressed by the Houston Texans right now…The old Texans would not have come back…Overcoming a 17-point deficit in the third quarter while playing on the road in overtime. You’ve got to give them props.”Dungy: “This is a great sign for Houston…I would not want to play them.”ON RAVENSHarrison on roughing the passer call: “If that’s a penalty, then it’s going to be a fine. And if that’s the case, I should have probably got fined close to a million dollars because that’s a legitimate hit and I’ve done a lot worse in my career than that…That was not (a good call).”ON VIKINGSDungy on Favre’s struggles: “Not having Sydney Rice was his biggest problem. He was his go-to guy all of last year. They’ve gotten in the red zone in these last two games looking for that big play and it hasn’t come. He’s thrown interceptions trying to go to other guys. He really misses Rice.”Collinsworth: “The Vikings at 0-2. They need help.”ON BENGALSPatrick describing two fans dressed as Batman and Robin: “These guys answer to Commissioner Gordon, not Commissioner Goodell.”ON PACKERSPatrick on Aaron Rodgers poor Lambeau leap: “It should be called a Lame-beau leap.”
And that concludes the quotage for the Sunday NFL studio shows.
