FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, October 21st, 2012

“FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA” NOTES & QUOTES – WEEK 7

“Eli is the best quarterback in the NFL.” – Rodney Harrison on Eli Manning “They took over the game in the first half and didn’t let them breathe.” – Tony Dungy on the Texans defense “I’m worried about their ability to close games. They’re letting teams hang around. You have to finish teams off when you’ve got an opportunity.” –Harrison on the Patriots

NEW YORK – October 21, 2012 – Following are highlights for Football Night in America. Bob Costas opened the show live from inside Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the Bengals are hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers. Costas was joined on-site by Sunday Night Football commentators Al Michaels (play-by-play) and Cris Collinsworth (analyst), and Hines Ward, the former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver, Super Bowl MVP and newest addition to NBC Sports’ NFL team.

Dan Patrick co-hosted the program from Studio 8G at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios and was joined by Football Night in America analysts Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison, and NFL insiders Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. Alex Flanagan reported from Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., on the Jets-Patriots game.

Following are highlights from Football Night in America:

ON TEXANS

Dungy on Houston’s defensive performance today: “I think it was the passion. They were embarrassed against Green Bay. The front seven got after it today. They made life very uncomfortable for Joe Flacco. They took over the game in the first half and didn’t let them breathe.”

ON RAVENS

Harrison: “The Baltimore Ravens, they are in trouble. All those injuries on defense to their main players. I don’t know if they are going to be good enough to be able to overcome those injuries.”


ON PACKERS

Dungy on Rodgers: “The thing I love is, when they were struggling a couple of weeks ago, Aaron Rodgers said, ‘I have to play better.’ He didn’t point the finger at anybody else, and he has done that the last two weeks. He has been on fire with all of his receivers… This is what I love about Rodgers. Moving left, throwing the ball 50 yards on the money. This is why I think he is great.”

ON GIANTS

Dungy: “The New York Giants used another fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Eli Manning and opportunistic defense to take control of the NFC East.”

Harrison on Eli Manning: “Eli is the best quarterback in the NFL.”

Dungy: “Better than (Aaron) Rodgers?”

Harrison: “Rodgers, Brady. Better than all of them.”

ON PATRIOTS

Dungy on game’s final play: “A lot of problems covering (by defensive backs) during the game but when they needed a big play, they got it.”

Harrison: “I’m worried about their ability to close games. They’re letting teams hang around. You have to finish teams off when you’ve got an opportunity.”

ON JETS

Dungy: “They’ll be disappointed when they watch this tape because they had opportunities to win the game.”

ON Browns

King: “Bad loss for the Cleveland Browns in Indianapolis and a bad loss for the coaching future of Pat Shurmur with new owner Jimmy Haslam looking on in his first game as owner. There’s been a lot of speculation about what Shurmur has to do to keep his job. I believe he has to be .500. That’s a long shot obviously, but an even longer shot would be to think that Nick Saban might consider going to a place where he doesn’t know people in the front office and where there’s no guaranteed quarterback of the future. I think it’s much more likely they would look hard at an offensive mind, maybe a guy like Chip Kelly from Oregon.”

For a video of King’s comments: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/49497335#49497335

ON SAINTS

Patrick: “They played a little bit of defense today.”

Dungy: “Not much. They gave up 420 yards to Josh Freeman. I promise you, Peyton Manning has this DVR’d. He is watching that game right now.”

ON TITANS

Harrison on Chris Johnson’s performance: “This was against Buffalo’s defense. Unfortunately for him, you can’t play them every week…He has this type of talent, but he has to make up his mind if he’s going to do it on a weekly basis.”

ON VIKINGS

Patrick on Adrian Peterson’s post-game comments about his knee getting stronger: “That’s scary news, if you’re a defense.”

ON CARDINALS

Patrick: “John Skelton did not look like a starting quarterback.”

Harrison: “No, he didn’t…He looked very timid today and borderline scared.”

ON PANTHERS

Patrick on Cam Newton’s post-game comments that he will be creating a suggestion box for how to improve the team: “You got something for Cam’s suggestion box, Tony?”

Dungy: “Yes, get those running backs more involved.”

ON STEELERS

Ward on Roethlisberger/Arians relationship: “Sometimes when you get so close, partiality sets in and you don’t know if Bruce Arians is doing what’s best for the Steelers or if he’s doing what’s best for Ben Roethlisberger. I think that set in and they had to part ways because when you go out there and you can’t decide what’s best for the team and you’re doing what’s best for the players. That can be a problem.”

ON RECENT APPOINTMENT OF FORMER COMMISSIONER PAUL TAGLIABUE IN SAINTS BOUNTY CASE

Florio: “I’m told the National Football League’s Players Association is considering a challenge to Tagliabue based on the fact that he works for the law firm that represents the NFL in the bounty cases. No final decision has been made on that attack.”

Below are excerpts from Costas’ interviews with Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and Bengals QB Andy Dalton.

MIKE TOMLIN WITH BOB COSTAS

On high expectations: “I embrace that. I want to spoil our fans. I want them to have that sense of expectation. I don’t see anything negative about that. We have to deliver. I embrace that. I think our guys embrace that. I think it’s something that comes with being a Pittsburgh Steeler.”

On it still being a young season: “I don’t think you have to remind any of us in this business that; obviously, there’s a lot of talk radio and commentary and things of that nature and they’ve got to fill air time. We’re in Week 6 for us…Those shows got to run. They got to talk about something. We understand that. What we need to start doing is winning games on a consistent basis and it will take care of itself.”

On reigning in Ben Roethlisberger: “I think we’re doing a nice job, even in the midst of running the ball as poorly as we are, because we’re minimizing negative plays. And if you minimize the negative plays, that means your quarterback is upright. That’s one of the goals that we had here for this season, along with winning more games than we have to this point.”

On Roethlisberger having the instinct to make a play: “I hope that never leaves him. We just want to tighten up some things around him to make sure that we’re keeping him as safe as we possibly can.”

Costas: “You made a transition this year from Bruce Arians to Todd Haley. Ben Roethlisberger told me before the first game against Denver, ‘Every coach, at some point, their temper starts to come out. But when it comes to that time, we’ll be able to deal with it and move on.’ Has that time come yet?”

Tomlin: “I don’t know. I’m usually pretty busy when they get a little down time. I’ve always got guys on the grass, as we say in this business. I’m not worried about those interactions. If it hadn’t happened already, I’m sure at some point it will and it won’t be catastrophic. I’m sure we’ll all move on.”

On Steeler nation at away games: “I no longer think they travel. I just think they’re there. I just think they’re everywhere (laughs). I refuse to believe Steeler nation travels. I just think we have fans all over the world and it’s something that’s special when we touch down in different locations and get an opportunity to entertain them.”

For complete interview: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/49497335#49496762

ANDY DALTON WITH BOB COSTAS

On his arm strength: “Everything that’s been questioned about me has been in my arm strength. I don’t think it’s holding me back. I don’t think it’s holding this team back…”

On what QBs he looks up to: “Being able to do everything, I think Aaron Rodgers is one of those guys. He’s not just beating you throwing the ball, he’s beating you with his feet as well. And, Drew Brees, there’s not a better guy with footwork and things like that. These are guys I definitely watch.”

On his favorite nickname: “The one that’s stuck is Red Rifle. At first, I wasn’t too sure about it, but now they’ve made shirts, they’ve done a lot of stuff. I guess I’ve learned to accept it.”

On his favorite red-headed athlete: “I think Shaun White. He is one of the best ones. His hair — growing it out long. You can’t beat that.”

On if he’s ever grown his hair out: “I did in high school a little bit. Look at my Rivals picture going into college. It’s pretty bright there.”

On Cincinnati fans now that the Reds are out of the MLB Playoffs: “Cincinnati is very proud of their sports teams and it’s unfortunate for the Reds to go out the way they did. Hopefully all of those fans will come over and start supporting us. There’s a lot of excitement around town. It seems like everywhere you go everybody’s saying, ‘Hey, you’ve got to beat the Steelers. You’ve got to beat the Steelers.’ You know, it is Sunday night. It is a primetime game. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

For complete interview: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/49495819#49495819