“He’s going to have to throw the ball a lot better, but he makes plays to win games.” – Dungy on Broncos QB Tim Tebow
“The Bears have to pay this guy and keep him happy because he is their best player on offense.” – Harrison on Bears RB Matt Forte
“They are playing for first place in their division, a home game, and you give up 41 points? They quit.” – Harrison on Titans
NEW YORK – October 23, 2011 – Following are highlights from Football Night in America. Bob Costas hosted the show live from the Mercedes Benz Superdome, in New Orleans, La., 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 seventh week live from Studio 8G at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios in New York. Alex Flanagan reported from O.com Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on the Chiefs-Raiders game.
EMBED NBC SPORTS VIDEO: Highlights from Football Night and other NBC Sports programming are available to be embedded at NBCSports.com. Click the following links for:
Bob Costas interviews Saints head coach Sean Payton:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/45008510#45008510
Dan, Tony and Rodney break down Texans-Titans:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/45009403#45009403
Peter King talks about Jets WR getting emotional after three-touchdown performance:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/45009364#45009364
ON BRONCOS
Collinsworth: “I think the debate is only going to get louder now for those people that say Tim Tebow can’t play. They’ll point to the statistics of that game as proof. For those people that say Tim Tebow is a winner, they will point to the last five minutes of that game when he came from behind to win it. So, the confusing situation gets more confusing as we go.”
King on his conversation with Tebow following the game: “As if the story wasn’t great enough already, they have to make that two-point conversion to send the game into overtime. Tebow told me that he audibled out of a run left to the run right, and he makes it! And then they end up winning that game, and the Tebow magic show has begun.”
Dungy: “In crunch time he was great. He’s going to have to throw the ball a lot better, but he makes plays to win games.”
ON BEARS RB MATT FORTE’S CONTRACT SITUATION
Harrison: “Matt shows a lot of patience. He has great vision. When he is in the open field he has the speed to finish plays. The Bears have to pay this guy and keep him happy because he is their best player on offense.”
Patrick: “He seems to be negotiating his new contract every time he handles the ball.”
Dungy: “That’s the way to do it. Don’t complain; just do the job on the field. He’s going to force these guys to pay him.”
Harrison: “Each week he’s making more money.”
ON LIONS
Dungy: “They lost some of that early energy they had. They have also lost their running back. And with no running game, Matthew Stafford hasn’t been the same.”
Harrison: “All the guys are just going to have to step up their game.”
ON JETS
Collinsworth: “Just a huge game for the Jets. You’ve got to say Darrelle Revis is now making a bit of a case to be defensive player-of-the-year. Once again, making the huge interception, and setting up the gateway.”
Michaels: “And how about Plaxico Burress? A lot of people in New York are wondering when Sanchez and Burress would get together. That’s been answered after today because Burress caught three touchdowns passes.”
King: “Plaxico Burress, had his coming out party with the Jets today: three touchdowns. He told me after the game that he was so emotional afterwards that he broke down and cried. And he said to me, ‘Listen, of all those days I was there in that prison, these are the kind of days I dreamed about.’”
ON CHARGERS
Dungy on two-minute drill at the end of the game: “Very disorganized. You expect more from Philip Rivers and that veteran offense.”
Michaels: “San Diego had a perfect opportunity to, not run away with the West right now, but take a big step. They normally don’t start very well. It kind of reminded me of that Jets-San Diego playoff game a couple years ago, especially at the end of the game. You could see the frustration on Philip Rivers’ face. He couldn’t get the play call in in time, wasted a lot of time, and again, the Chargers blew a big opportunity in New York.”
ON TITANS
Rodney: “They quit. Look at the tape, Dan, they quit. They are playing for first place in their division, a home game, and you give up 41 points? They quit.”
Dan: “Do you agree, Tony?”
Tony: “They looked bad, yes.”
Patrick: “Tennessee put a stamp on this and mailed it in.”
ON BUCCANEERS
Florio: “In Tampa, LeGarrette Blount already out with a knee injury, his back up, Ernest Graham, ruptured an achilles tendon. Maybe it’s time to bring out Ronde Barber’s twin brother.”
King: “You mean Tiki-time in Tampa?”
Florio: “If it’s Tebow-time. Tiki-time.”
ON DOLPHINS
Peter King on Dolphins replacing head coach Tony Sparano: “Their owner Stephen Ross, I believe, is going to look at Bill Cowher after the season. He’s been out of the game a long time. I talked to a source very close to Bill Cowher and he told me money will have nothing to do with Bill Cowher’s decision. It will only be about what place gives him the best chance to win.”
Florio: “Unless Dolphin’s owner Stephen Ross calls an audible, Tony Sparano will remain the head coach, at least for the near term. But, 0-6 this year, 1-12 at home since December 2009, it’s just a matter of time.”
ON FALCONS
Collinsworth: “This is a football team starting to play as we thought they might this year.”
ON COLTS
Dungy: “I would’ve gone with Curtis Painter (to start the season) and of course hindsight is always 20/20, but that was always our philosophy, ‘Next man up.’ That’s what I would’ve done.”
Harrison: “I have been on a 1-15 team and I knew within that locker room we had guys quit. When I look at the Indianapolis Colts, I look at the team and no one has quit.”
ON REDSKINS
Harrison: “They are an average team, your Redskins (points to Tony Dungy). Offensively, they are turning the ball over too much. Defensively, that’s supposed to be one of the strengths of this team, they can’t stop the run.”
ON RAIDERS:
Patrick: “Six picks, 14 penalties. The Raiders were manhandled today, how does that happen?”
Dungy: “Very, very disappointing. They had a chance to move into a first place tie and just played terrible football with all the mistakes. They just didn’t look like a good team today.”
ALEX FLANAGAN INTERVIEW WITH NEW RAIDERS QB CARSON PALMER:
Palmer: “It’s been a wild week. It’s been absolutely crazy and then today it got even crazier. I’m just disappointed in my performance and our team’s performance. We have a lot of work to do.”
Flanagan: “Three picks, one of those though a deflection. What do you attribute them to?”
Palmer: “I just have a lot of work to do. I know about 10 percent of the offense, and I haven’t had hardly any reps at all this week. I have to get a lot of reps, have to get in the playbook, and get comfortable.”
Flanagan: “Carson, you’ve never come into a game off the bench like you did today. What was going through your mind? Were you nervous?”
Palmer: “No, I didn’t know I was playing until ten minutes before I went on the field and started throwing footballs. I didn’t have time to be nervous. I’m just trying to get prepared and trying to think through it.”
ON CARDINALS
Patrick: “LaRod Stephens-Howling (Cardinals RB). Sounds like someone out of a Stephen King movie.”
ON VIKINGS QB CHRISTIAN PONDER
Patrick: “He seems like he wasn’t lost. He felt like it was his team.”
Harrison: “The thing that really impressed me was that Green Bay came out and they challenged this guy. They blitzed him up the middle, they blitzed him on the edge, and he stood in the pocket, and he made some plays. But the biggest thing that impressed me was he got outside the pocket and he really showed that he is a terrific athlete.”
# # #
INTERVIEWS: Following are highlights from Costas’ interview with Saints head coach Sean Payton and Dungy’s interview with Colts WR Reggie Wayne and TE Dallas Clark.
Click here to see a photo of the Costas-Payton interview: http://twitpic.com/74pzlx
SEAN PAYTON WITH BOB COSTAS
PAYTON ON HIS INJURY: “You do gain an appreciation for the players in our league who routinely go through injuries and rehab and the process and get back out on the field. I don’t know that the training room is any place to have fun, and clearly the training room now has changed because the principal is in there 24/7. It’s kind of like your parents showing up at prom.”
COSTAS: “Lets talk about how it’s going to work on Sunday night. You’re upstairs. How much input can you have as the game is playing out?”
PAYTON: “I think a lot. The only thing that is changing for our team is instead of me pushing a button and giving Drew Brees a play, it will go through (offensive coordinator) Pete Carmichael and it might be as simple as, ‘green light, slot right, 35 bob alert kill 52 tight and right.’
COSTAS: “That’s very simple.”
REGGIE WAYNE AND DALLAS CLARK WITH TONY DUNGY
DUNGY: “I never thought I would coach a game without Peyton (Manning) being the quarterback. Did you ever think you would play a game without Peyton Manning being your quarterback?”
WAYNE: “Not at all. This is definitely a unique year for everybody. Kind of caught everybody by surprise a little bit.”
DUNGY (to Wayne): “You were pretty vocal that you thought Curtis Painter would give you guys the best opportunity. Why?”
WAYNE: “I’m a loyal guy. I feel like everybody in that locker room, we’re brothers. Nothing against Kerry Collins, we’ve got the same agent; I’ve heard a lot of good things about him. I just felt like we’ve had years with Curtis, and that was kind of our motto since I’ve been here, ‘Next guy up.’ We went away from that a little bit and that kind of touched me.”
CLARK: “He (Wayne) was just actually man enough to say out loud what we were all thinking. We are able to do more adjustments on the run. Instead of using this much with Kerry we can use that much with Curtis.”
DUNGY: “When you guys came in as young receivers Peyton was pretty tough on you, and you were expected to catch up to the offense. How have you guys been with Curtis?”
CLARK: “I see him as a delicate flower. I just know he’s got a lot of stuff on his plate.”
DUNGY: “You haven’t been as tough on him as Peyton was on you?”
CLARK: “Lord no! I don’t know if that’s possible.”
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–NBC Sports Group–
Dan Patrick, Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison Discuss the AFC West and Ndamukong Suh at halftime
COSTAS ON TIM TEBOW
Back at halftime in New Orleans where the topic for the next 90 seconds or so is, surprise, Tim Tebow. In a culture that demands winners and losers, instant analysis, star or bust, little room for “wait and see,” Tebow seems to always be a topic of conversation. Today, especially so.
Because after about 55 dreadful and unproductive minutes against a woeful Dolphin team, Tebow was clutch on a couple of last ditch drives, with an onside kick in the middle, that somehow brought the Broncos back from a 15-0 deficit to forge a 15-15 tie on a signature Tebow play — a quarterback draw for a two-point conversion with 17 seconds left, a play Tebow audibled into.
Now, as it happened, Tebow had little to do with the sequence of plays that won it for Denver in overtime, but to his devoted supporters, that matters little at the moment. You see there’s something about Tebow that, for many, trumps any objective assessment. He was a truly outstanding college player, but so too were Terry Baker, John Huarte, Gary Beban, Ty Detmer, Eric Crouch, Jason White, and the list goes on. Heisman winning quarterbacks all, none of whom did much in the NFL.
But truth be told, even that group includes few with Tebow’s appealing intangibles: his heart, his size, his athleticism, his playmaking knack, at least in certain circumstances. He is a distinctive and compelling player. Easy to root for.
But does that mean — today’s outcome not withstanding — he’s any closer to being a solid NFL quarterback than Christian Ponder, who started today for the Vikings in a loss to the Packers? Or Tebow’s opponent today in Miami, Matt Moore? Or the guy we’re watching get shellacked tonight, Curtis Painter?
The truthful answer is — not really. At least not yet. Which leaves us with that phrase that seems to have no place anymore — even though sometimes, it’s about the only one that makes sense.
And that is, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Dan Patrick, Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison at halftime
ON LIONS
Harrison on Lions DT Ndamukong Suh trash talking and taunting Matt Ryan while he was down: “I don’t think he’s a dirty player, but I’ve talked to guys around the league, and they say he is a dirty player. The bad thing about that is it takes away from how good of a player you are. You don’t want that reputation, he’s too good of a player, and plus it hurts your team.”
ON THE AFC WEST
Patrick: “What do you make of the AFC West?”
Dungy: “Well, I’m not sure. San Diego, they were playing a game great and then just gave the game away in the fourth quarter. And Oakland has a chance to take first place in the division, they throw six interceptions, and get 14 penalties. I’m not sure who there is to like in this AFC West.”
Patrick: “Kansas City is playing well now.”
–NBC Sports Group–
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