To our final piece of quotage of Week 9 and that’s Football Night in America which covered a plethora of topics tonight. And this will top off our Sunday.
NOTES & QUOTES FROM NBC’S “FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA” – WEEK 9
“There is nothing like this the entire year. So exciting.” – Cris Collinsworth on Ravens-Steelers rivalry
“There was a genuine dislike for the Ravens in the Steelers organization.” – Hines Ward
“He didn’t care about everyone else’s feelings about Mark Sanchez.” – Tony Dungy on Chip Kelly
“This defense is playing fabulous.” – Rodney Harrison on the DolphinsSTAMFORD, Conn. – November 2, 2014 – Following are highlights from NBC’s Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports. Bob Costas opened the show live from inside the Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pa. Costas was joined on site by Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth, sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, and NBC NFL analyst Hines Ward.
Dan Patrick co-hosted Football Night from NBC Sports Group’s Studio 1. He was joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy; two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com, and NFL Insider Peter King. Kathryn Tappen reported from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on the Broncos-Patriots game.
Following are highlights from Football Night in America:
ON BRONCOS-PATRIOTS
Patrick on Patriots finish: “Extreme gamesmanship there towards the end. It looked like (Bill) Belichick wanted 50 points.”
Dungy: “He’s trying to put up points, John Fox is calling time outs, they’re throwing the ball at the end of the game. I’m not sure what all that was about.”
Harrison: “He preaches they play 60 minutes.”
Harrison: “This is a big win for the Patriots, not just to build confidence but…this is a win for home-field advantage. You don’t want to have to go to Denver in January.”
Click here for Tappen’s interview with Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski: http://www.nbcsports.com/football/nfl/today-nfl-gronk-helps-patriots-top-broncos
ON SEAHAWKS
Harrison: “Seattle’s special teams have been really bad this year.”
ON 49ERS
Harrison: “Frank Gore had 14 rushes today. It’s not enough.”
Dungy: “The San Francisco 49ers are in trouble. I don’t know what’s wrong with them. They fall to 4-4, they’re three games behind Arizona, and they’re not playing good football.”
ON EAGLES
Dungy on Mark Sanchez: “I have to credit Chip Kelly. Chip played against Mark Sanchez in the Pac 12. He knew what he could do, and he didn’t care about everyone else’s feelings about Mark Sanchez. He did some things that Mark could do, and Sanchez played well today.”
Harrison on the Eagles being his winner of the day: “Winning on the road, winning with a backup quarterback. They’re now in first place.”
ON CHIEFS
Dungy: “They used the formula they were using last year: solid offense and special teams to get the lead, then they’re turning some great pass rushers loose.”
ON DOLPHINS
Harrison: “This defense is playing fabulous.”
ON REDSKINS
Patrick on RGIII not running for a potential first down: “Do you think we’ll ever get back to that RGIII or is that guy gone that would have run for the first down?”
Dungy: “Two knee surgeries, he may be gone.”
ON VIKINGS
Dungy on Teddy Bridgewater: “Have to give him credit. We all focused on RGIII, but Bridgewater brought them back time after time. He really showed a lot of poise, and I think the Vikings have a keeper.”
ON AFC NORTH
Costas: “Every team in the division is over .500. The loser tonight will still be over .500, but will be in the basement in the division.”
Collinsworth: “It would not surprise me to see any of these teams win the division.”
ON RAVENS-STEELERS
Collinsworth on rivalry and cold weather: “There is nothing like this the entire year. So exciting, and we got a little hitting weather out here tonight.”
Ward: “This was one of those games you circled. No one in the building was allowed to wear purple. James Harrison, he pulled Mike Wallace’s (Air) Jordans off because they had purple and threw them in the cold tub…There was a genuine dislike for the Ravens in the Steelers organization.”
Ward on where the intensity of the rivalry started: “I really think it starts back with Tony Siragusa. When he said, ‘When you see a Steeler fan in the stands, beat the crap out of him,’ that just resonated with all the players and that began the rivalry.”
Dungy on Steelers retiring Joe Greene’s number: “I played with him. We had nine guys, Hall of Famers, on that team. He was unquestionably the leader; the best leader I’ve ever been around…He was Chuck Noll’s first draft choice and he changed the whole tenor of the organization.”
ON ADRIAN PETERSON
Florio: “Adrian Peterson can’t play until his pending felony child abuse charges are resolved, and they could be resolved fairly soon. There is a hearing on Tuesday, and I’m told that the lawyers are working on a potential plea bargain that would reduce the charges from a felony to a misdemeanor…And the question would be what punishment, if any, would the NFL impose on Adrian Peterson over and above the time he has already missed?”
ON RAY RICE INVESTIGATION
Tafoya: “The investigation by former FBI Chief Robert Mueller into the NFL’s handling of the Ray Rice case is ongoing. I spoke with Steelers’ President Art Rooney II, who along with Giants’ owner John Mara is overseeing the investigation, and he told me those three men are meeting several times a month, either via conference call or face-to-face. While there is still no timeline for completion of the investigation, he hopes it will be finished by year’s end.
“Meanwhile, Rice’s appeal of his indefinite suspension will begin Wednesday in New York where his legal team is expected to argue that he was punished twice for the same incident. They will also seek immediate reinstatement, as well as back pay for the games that they believe Rice could have played. Testifying at that hearing will be Ray and Janay Rice, Roger Goodell, Ravens’ President Dick Cass and GM Ozzie Newsome, along with four other people who were present for Rice’s disciplinary hearing before the Commissioner back in June.”
We’ll be back on Monday. See you then.
