We now conclude the Sunday NFL pregame quotage with NBC’s Football Night in America. Lots of good stuff here.
I’ve added one video for you.
FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA NOTES & QUOTES- WEEK 3
“If we can just get these games changed to 30 minutes, I’m picking the Vikings to go to the Super Bowl.” – Football Night’s Tony Dungy
“Any time you go out and pass the ball 40 or 50 times, you’re bound to make mistakes.” – Football Night’s Rodney Harrison on the Patriots
“Everyone in Buffalo is going crazy right now.” – SNF’s Al MichaelsNEW YORK – September 25, 2011 – Following are highlights from Football Night in America. Bob Costas hosted the show live from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., and was joined on site for commentary by Sunday Night Football commentators Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth. Co-host Dan Patrick and commentators Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison, Peter King and Mike Florio covered the news of the NFL’s third week live from Studio 8G at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios in New York. Alex Flanagan reported from Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill., on the Packers-Bears game.
COSTAS, COLLINSWORTH & MICHAELS WRAP UP THE AFTERNOON GAMES:
ON BUFFALO:
Michaels: “In the opener at Kansas City, they killed them, and I remember they said, ‘Well, maybe Kansas City is not that good.’ Then, last week, they were behind by three touchdowns against Oakland and they pulled off a miracle win. Today, they’re down 21-0 and then they do it again. So everyone in Buffalo is going crazy right now.”
Dungy: “I like the way they’re playing. They’re playing with confidence; they’re playing with attitude. These guys now know that they can score a lot of points. They can come back from deficits; they can get good quarterback play. These guys believe.”
ON EAGLES:
Patrick: “After the game, Michael Vick would use his non-broken hand to point fingers at officials.”
Harrison: “The offensive line has to do a better job of protecting Vick. Regardless of what he comes out and says, until they make people pay for blitzing them they’re going to see it week in and week out”
ON PACKERS:
Patrick on Jermichael Finley: “They list him as a tight end. That’s in name only.”
Harrison on Finley: “He creates mismatches. He’s a guy that you isolate on corners, on safeties, and on linebackers out wide because he’s a big physical guy, and those guys just create those matchup problems.”
Dungy: “And he’s fast. You have to give Mike McCarthy a lot of credit because they come up with creative ways to get him in those mismatches.”
ON VIKINGS:
Collinsworth: “The formula for beating the Vikings is getting way behind early in the games. This is unbelievable what is happening: 20-0, 17-0, 17-7 are the leads they’ve had in the first three weeks. And at the end of this thing, Donovan McNabb has a chance to hit a wide open receiver in regulation, in the end zone, and he simply throws this line drive that overshoots him by three or four yards. They are not making plays when they have to; it is amazing that the Vikings are 0-3.”
Dungy: “If we can just get these games changed to 30 minutes, I’m picking the Vikings to go to the Super Bowl, but we can’t. They’ve got to play 60 and they haven’t done it yet.”
ON LIONS:
Harrison: “You’ve got to give Detroit credit. They are down 20 points in the first half, on the road, divisional game and they played well. In the past, they would not have won these types of games.”
ON PATRIOTS:
Harrison: “I’ve never been a fan of a one dimensional team. I think it puts too much pressure on Tom Brady. Any time you go out and pass the ball 40 or 50 times, you’re bound to make mistakes.”
ON GIANTS:
Collinsworth: “Eli was unbelievable today. There are times that Eli comes out and plays in games and you go, ‘There it is. There is the Manning mystique.’”
ON SAINTS:
Collinsworth: “Jimmy Graham is, to me, the best receiving tight end in football right now.”
ON RAVENS:
King: “The Baltimore Ravens players played with heavy hearts in St. Louis today. Orlando “Zeus” Brown, former tackle, died of undisclosed causes on Friday and they were very, very close to them. Before the game today, John Harbaugh said to his team, ‘Go out and play just like Zeus, Orlando Brown, would have, relentless.’ They were up 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. They were the hottest team today and they feel it was because of Orlando Brown.”
ON BENGALS:
Patrick on QB Andy Dalton (a redhead): “If you put tiger stripes on that hair, it would look just like a helmet.”
ON PANTHERS:
Patrick on Jaguars-Panthers playing in a driving rain storm: “Cam Newton – weatherman.”
ON BUCS:
Dungy: “Tampa took Michael Turner out of the game, held him to 20 yards and put it all on Matt Ryan. That defensive line really got after them.”
Harrison: “Made them one dimensional.”
ON COLTS:
Dungy on Manning: “The best assistant coach they could have. I think he will be calling a lot of plays tonight.”
ON BENGALS RB CEDRIC BENSON’S SUSPENSION:
Florio: “The NFL and the NFLPA at the end of the lockout had to figure out what to do with players who were arrested. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director Dee Smith agreed that first time offenders who were arrested during the lockout would not be disciplined by the league. Eight repeat offenders, however, they agreed, would potentially be disciplined. One of those repeat offenders, Cedric Benson, Bengals running back, was suspended three games. He’s taking legal action against the NFLPA. The NFLPA is backing off a little bit. Who knows how it’s going to turn out but some players are not happy.”
King: “I hear that the Executive Board of the Players Association, 10 players, want to have a conference call this week to hear from De Smith. Why did you set these eight players apart?”
ON THEIR HEADLINES OF THE DAY:
Harrison: “It pains me to say this, the Buffalo Bills beat my New England Patriots. Everyone felt like this was a game for Buffalo to come out and prove they’re a legitimate team. They’re now in first place in the AFC East.”
Dungy on Eagles: “I think we considered them as a championship team in the off-season. They’re in trouble now that their quarterbacks are hurt. Vince Young may or may not be able to play and their defense can’t tackle.”
There you have it.
