We complete the Sunday NFL pregame quotage for Week 4 in the League Where They Play for Pay. This is NBC’s Football Night in America with Dan Patrick, Rodney Harrison and Tony Dungy with insiders Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk and some Bob Costas, Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth thrown in. A lot of issues discussed. Let’s go through them.
The press release is listed below.
“FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA” NOTES & QUOTES – WEEK 4
“They are a top-two team in the NFC.” – Rodney Harrison on the Lions
“That’s the wrong call.” – Tony Dungy on Victor Cruz play in Giants-Cardinals game
“I can’t remember a player from week to week that we change our opinion on more.” – Dan Patrick on Cowboys QB Tony Romo
“Andy Reid must blame himself because he specifically handpicked all these guys.” – Harrison on the EaglesNEW YORK – October 2, 2011 – Following are highlights from Football Night in America. Bob Costas hosted the show live from the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore 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 fourth week live from Studio 8G at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios in New York. Alex Flanagan reported from O.com Coliseum in Oakland on the Patriots-Raiders game.
ON VICTOR CRUZ CALL IN GIANTS-CARDINALS:
Patrick: “Peter King got a hold of Carl Johnson, the head of NFL Officials, and he said that Cruz gave himself up. Is that the correct interpretation of the rulebook?”Dungy: “That’s what they interpret it, but I don’t believe that. I think it was a fabrication by the league office because you give yourself up. We coach this situation, but you do it sliding feet first or you do it by staying on the ground…Feet first or you definitely say you’re not trying to gain yardage. You can’t go down and just leave the ball and get up – we’ve seen people get up and score. As a defender, you’re taught to finish the play…I think that’s the wrong call.”
Dungy: “It’s controversial to me already because as a coach I do not believe that is right. You teach your players, your defenders, that if he goes feet first, you let him go. If he stays on the ground, you let him go. If he gets up, you keep playing.”
ON EAGLES AND STEELERS
Dungy: “The two teams from Pennsylvania, the Eagles and the Steelers, are both in trouble and it’s for the same reason. They have a lot of star players, a lot of skill position guys, but their offensive lines can’t protect the passer, and their defensive lines can’t stop the run.”ON STEELERS
Collinsworth: “It was interesting to watch the Steelers today. What has been the cornerstone of that franchise forever is their ability to overwhelm people at times on both their offensive and defensive lines. And yet there were times in this game where they got overwhelmed on both and lost the game.”Harrison: “If they don’t control the line of scrimmage, they can’t dial up their blitzes and their linebackers struggle to cover. They can’t play the type of game they are used to playing when they don’t control that line of scrimmage.”
Dungy: “Mike Tomlin is talking about getting this fixed tomorrow, but, unfortunately, the way the rules are now with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, you can’t practice in pads as much as you used to be able to. He is not going to be able to work on those fundamentals he was talking about.”
Harrison: “It definitely affects physical teams, especially when you are trying to stop the run. When you are in practice and you are trying to get your fix, you need to go up in there and you need to have pads on in order to get those fixes.”
Dungy: “They went to the Super Bowl last year. They do not look like playoff team this year. Their quarterback is getting hit more than anyone in the league and they can’t stop the run.”
ON EAGLES
Collinsworth: “Absolutely amazing…They still have been unable to solve the issues of trying to stop the run. Frank Gore just completely took them apart in the second half.”Dungy: “They spent a lot of money on skill position players. They got a ton of talent outside, but in the trenches they are getting manhandled. They’re not running the football well, especially in short yardage. They’re not defending the run, they’re not protecting Michael Vick.”
Harrison: “Andy Reid must blame himself because he specifically handpicked all these guys. He handpicked Michael Vick. He sent Kevin Kolb to Arizona…You can’t build a team from the outside in. You have to build a team from the inside out starting with your offensive and defensive lines.”
ON COWBOYS
Patrick on Tony Romo: “I can’t remember a player from week to week that we change our opinion on more. Last week we were praising him, now we bury him. You have three picks and they were pretty inexcusable.”Dungy: “(In the first half) he was brilliant, but in the second half he was trying to make plays that were not there.”
Harrison: “If you are leading, you need to come out and continue to try to establish the run and run the ball and take the pressure off of Tony Romo. Sometimes I look at the film and it just seems like he tries to do too much because they abandon the run all the time.”
ON LIONS AND PACKERS
Costas: “There are two 4-0 teams now in the NFL. They are the Lions and the Packers. Thanksgiving is all of the sudden meaningful again in terms of football.”Patrick on Lions: “They are winning games that they are not playing extremely well in. They came back with the game against Dallas.”
Harrison on Lions: “I think they are a top-two team in the NFC, behind Green Bay. They have multiple weapons and they believe when they’re behind.”
ON VIKINGS
King: “After the game, Leslie Frazier, the Vikings coach, basically said, ‘We’re not thinking about making a quarterback change right now.’”Dungy: “If I were there and we’re 0-4, we’re not in the playoff hunt, you’ve got Christian Ponder who you drafted with the 12th pick, I think you have to look at him. I would be contemplating it if I were Leslie Frazier. I’d make the move and play Christian Ponder.”
ON TITANS
Patrick: “I think Matt Hasselbeck likes it there in Tennessee.”ON TEXANS
Michaels: “The Texans are back as one of the hot teams to watch right now.”ON STANFORD QB ANDREW LUCK (Expected to be a high NFL Draft pick)
King on Luck’s athletic reception on Saturday: “I talked to a team today that is considering taking a quarterback high in the draft next year and said this just distances Andrew Luck even further from the pack. So, he’s no doubt the No. 1 pick.”Florio: “I have no doubt that when we get to December there will be allegations from the media and fans that teams are intentionally losing to get in line to get Andrew Luck.”
ON PRELIMINARY PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME LIST
King: “The preliminary class of 104 candidates was released this week. I’m one of the 44 voters on the list and the thing that interested me is that there are no slam dunks this year; no Deion Sanders, no Jerry Rice. I think it’s going to be a good year for the borderline guys: Curtis Martin, Dermontti Dawson, Andre Reed. They could get good news next February.”
And there you have it.
