“He’s the best receiver on the planet.” – Harrison on Falcons WR Julio Jones
“Wins can’t hide all the problems.” – Dungy on the Colts
“It doesn’t make any sense. They’ve got the best offensive line in football. Run the ball.” – Harrison on the Dallas Cowboys
STAMFORD, Conn. – September 27, 2015 – Following are highlights from Football Night in America, which aired prior to tonight’s Sunday Night Football matchup between the Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions. Bob Costas opened the show live from inside Ford Field in Detroit, Mich., and 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, the most-watched studio show in sports, from NBC Sports Group’s Studio 1 in Stamford, Conn. He was joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy; two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison; and NFL Insiders Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com and Peter King. Paul Burmeister reported from CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Wash., on the Bears-Seahawks game.
Dungy interviewed Lions head coach Jim Caldwell.
Following are highlights from Football Night in America:
ON COWBOYS
Dungy: “They have to run the ball. They only ran five times in the second half.”
Harrison: “It doesn’t make any sense. They’ve got the best offensive line in football. Run the ball.”
ON FALCONS
Harrison on Julio Jones: “He’s the best receiver on the planet.”
ON STEELERS
Ward on what Roethlisberger injury means to Steelers: “It affects everybody, especially a guy like Antonio Brown. Ben and Antonio had a tremendous rapport with each other…(When) you put Michael Vick in that mix, I think they lose that (chemistry) on the outside with Michael Vick and Antonio Brown.”
Costas on Michael Vick: “He’s not the mercurial and dynamic player he once was…”
Dungy on Michael Vick replacing Ben Roethlisberger: “They can’t think that they’ve got the same offense and be throwing 15 balls to Antonio Brown. Rely on that run game.”
Harrison: “If Ben is down for an extended period of time, they cannot win this division.”
ON BENGALS
Dungy: “They’ve got a little bit of a cushion and they look like the most complete team in the AFC North.”
ON EAGLES
Dungy on if the Eagles saved their season today: “They did…It was a big, big win.”
Harrison on the Eagles being the team to beat in the NFC East: “The talent is there. The chemistry is starting to come.”
ON GIANTS
Dungy on the Giants being the team to beat in the NFC East: “The Giants have the best quarterback in the division now.”
ON JETS
Harrison on Brandon Marshall’s comments about being overlooked: “Why are you even talking about that? You have an opportunity to go 3-0, your team is 2-0 at that point. You don’t see Julio Jones running around talking about, ‘I’m the best receiver in the league.’ … let your play take care of everything. You don’t have to say anything, and it’s not just about stats, it’s about the team.”
Patrick: “Is he a Top 10 receiver?”
Harrison: “Number 10.” (laughter)
ON LIONS
Harrison in response to Jim Caldwell’s comments that “you want guys that are going to have some poise” regarding the Lions’ sideline reaction last week to the late hit on Matthew Stafford: “Well, that’s not for the coach to say. I understand what he is getting at, but amongst the players, it’s about attitude. You look at the offensive line; Matthew Stafford he’s been getting his butt kicked. On the defensive side of the ball, they were one of the top defenses in the league last year and now they’re one of the worst defenses in the league. So I am trying to find out where’s their identity on both sides of the ball because it’s not working. They need to have an attitude. If that was Tom Brady and he got pushed on the sideline, I would have gone up and done whatever I had to do. I didn’t care if it cost me $25,000 or $50,000, but you protect your quarterback because it’s about a culture, it’s about an attitude.”
Dungy: “Jim Caldwell has brought a culture…trying to develop poise and consistency...he wanted Stafford protected better in the pocket. He said (to me during our interview), ‘Forget about the sideline fights, protect him in the pocket and we’ll be alright.’”
Dungy: “No one knows Peyton Manning more as a football player than Jim Caldwell. And Peyton knows that so it’s going to be dicey tonight.”
ON BRONCOS
Ward on Broncos moving to more shotgun formations for Manning: “With the offensive line struggling like they are, he needs to have more time by being in shotgun.”
Dungy on Manning: “He is struggling for one reason and that is the deep ball.”
ON COLTS
Dungy: “Wins can’t hide all the problems. Coach Chuck Pagano has to know he still has some major problems. That defense gave up over 400 yards today and offensively there’s just too much pressure on Andrew Luck…That forces him into a lot of bad decisions.”
ON VIKINGS
Patrick on Chad Greenway’s interception for a touchdown in which his teammates surrounded him on the return: “All of a sudden you start to look and you go, ‘How many Vikings are on the field?’ There’s like 19 of them. It’s 91 yards. You’ve got a convoy!”
ON BROWNS
Dungy: “Josh McCown gives them the best chance to win. Their coaches believe that. He played well today. He wasn’t the reason they lost. Johnny Manziel…he completed eight passes last week. So let’s not get too excited.”
Patrick: “I thought Cleveland was supposed to be a defensive team.”
Dungy: “It didn’t look like it today.”
ON CHARGERS
Patrick: “They did not look good at all.”
Harrison on the defense: “They’re missing tackles. They looked horrible today. This team should be 0-3.”
ON BEARS
Patrick: “The Seahawks hosting the artist formerly known as the Chicago Bears.”
ON DOLPHINS
Harrison on Ndamukong Suh’s lack of production: “When I watch tape, it’s not because of lack of effort. He’s getting double teamed, he’s getting triple teamed.”
ON SEAHAWKS
Paul Burmeister chats with Russell Wilson about the importance of having Kam Chancellor back in the locker room and whether Wilson needs to have more patience with the offense…
http://www.nbcsports.com/video/russell-wilson-wants-offense-stay-course
JIM CALDWELL WITH TONY DUNGY
http://www.nbcsports.com/video/jim-caldwell-its-new-era-detroit-football
Note: Caldwell spent 10-seasons working with Dungy in Indianapolis as the Colts’ quarterbacks coach and assistant head coach, before ultimately being assigned as head coach following Dungy’s retirement.
Caldwell on why this year’s team should not be considered “the same old Lions”: “It’s a new era, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Sometimes you go through the ebb and flow of the season. Sometime you start slow. When you start slow in this league, you will usually end up with an L and not a W. We have to get accustomed to making sure that we start fast and make certain we finish.”
Caldwell on the similarities between Lions QB Matthew Stafford and Broncos QB Peyton Manning, when he was younger: “I absolutely do see it. There are a lot of similarities. He’s a strong-arm guy. They both love to play the game with enthusiasm and toughness. He can throw the ball all day long, but really needs to refine some things. That was one of the reasons I thought it was so important to get Jim Bob Cooter here. Jim Bob obviously worked with Peyton and I in Indianapolis. He’s teaching the exact same rhythm of throws, exact same drills and technique that we worked on through those years. I think you will start to see some of those things begin pay off.”
Caldwell on coaching against Manning for the first time, after working with him in Indianapolis for 10-years: “One of the things that we know about him is that he’s the most diligent worker there is… and understands what makes his unit go. People keep saying that the Broncos’ offense is struggling and Peyton is struggling, but all I know is that he keeps winning. It’s our job to stop him.”
“The other thing that we need to eliminate is the run on the other side as well. We need to create a one-dimensional atmosphere for them. I think you’ll start to see things balance out if we can do that. Peyton can get pretty hot, and if the running game is going for him, then you really have a problem because he’s going to play-action you to death.”
Caldwell on his communication with Manning this week, who he regularly shares texts with during the season: “It has been dead silent, but that’s the way he operates (laughing). He’s focused in on what he’s doing. That is exactly what I expect.”
–FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA–