FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, January 10th, 2015
NOTES & QUOTES FROM DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF EDITION OF NBC’S “FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA”
“He has the confidence to walk into this stadium against this football team and come up with a win – and he knows it.” – Cris Collinsworth on Joe Flacco
“He is going to be on fire today.” – Tony Dungy on Tom Brady
“Don’t get fooled by all of the trash talking. This is a very smart football player.” – Rodney Harrison on Terrell Suggs
“Darrelle Revis is the best cornerback that I have ever played against.” – Hines Ward
NBC to Broadcast Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, Feb. 1; Coverage Begins at Noon ET
STAMFORD, Conn. – January 10, 2015 – Following are highlights from the AFC Divisional Playoff edition of NBC’s Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports. Bob Costas opened the show live from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., to preview Ravens-Patriots. Costas was joined on site by Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth, sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, two-time Super Bowl winner Hines Ward, and NBC Sports Group’s Josh Elliott.
Dan Patrick co-hosted Football Night on-site at Gillette Stadium. He was joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison, a two-time Super Bowl-winner with the Patriots, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk on NBCSN and NBCSports.com, and NFL Insider Peter King.
In addition, Elliott spoke with Ravens QB Joe Flacco, Costas interviewed Ravens LB Terrell Suggs, and Harrison had a conversation with Patriots WR Julian Edelman.
NBC will broadcast Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, Feb. 1 from Glendale, Ariz. Coverage kicks off at Noon ET.
Following are highlights from Football Night in America:
ON RAVENS
Collinsworth on Joe Flacco: “Let’s face it – he’s been red hot. He has five straight playoff wins, and he’s sort of become the Eli Manning of the AFC. Here’s a guy that may not put up the greatest statistics, may not have the most touchdown passes in the regular season, doesn’t always look great, but he gets in the playoffs and he somehow flips this switch, and he looks tremendous. He has the confidence to walk into this stadium against this football team and come up with a win – and he knows it.”
Ward on Joe Flacco: “He’s a good quarterback, but teams don’t fear Joe Flacco like you would [fear] an Aaron Rodgers or a Peyton Manning. Teams are usually more concerned with the Baltimore defense. You look at what he’s done in the postseason, and he doesn’t turn the football over, but I think he benefits from having a running game and a strong defense. I know Coach Harbaugh said he’s the best quarterback in the league. Today he has an opportunity to prove that…he has to play perfect tonight.”
Harrison on Terrell Suggs: “Don’t get fooled by all of the trash talking. This is a very smart football player. Tom Brady talked about it. He’s the one guy that can ruin the game for the offense.”
ON PATRIOTS
Harrison on Harbaugh’s comments that Joe Flacco is best QB in the NFL: “If I was in this locker room, I’d get about 30 copies of that newspaper, and put it in Tom Brady’s locker. It would absolutely upset him.”
Dungy on Tom Brady: “I’ve coached against him a lot. This guy is so competitive. Forget John Harbaugh saying that his quarterback is better than Brady. Tom didn’t play well in the playoff game they lost. He is going to be on fire today.”
Collinsworth on Rob Gronkowski: “You have to remember where he was a year ago at this time. He just blew out his knee, all of the rehab and his elbow…a lot of people questioned if he’d ever come back to be the player he once was. I think the answer has been a resounding ‘yes.’”
Ward on the best way to beat Darrelle Revis: “I’d try to set the tone to get at him early. I want the referees watching us the entire game because I want to see what I can get away with, and I’m trying to see if I can force a penalty, and for them to call a penalty on Revis. I try to beat him up mentally and physically and guess what — it didn’t work… Darrelle Revis is the best corner back that I have ever played against.”
Dungy on Harrison suggesting Patriots change their strategy: “I have to give Rodney some credit. He was up here doing a piece on Darrelle Revis, and said they weren’t using (Revis) right, that they had to let him shadow the best receiver and play bump and run. They started doing that and the defense started playing great since.”
Dungy on Julian Edelman: “He really is [one of the best players on this team]. When Wes Welker left, everyone asked who was going to replace Welker. Well, he does two things better than Welker — breaks tackles and catches deep balls…and returns punts.”
Harrison on Jonas Gray being deactivated today: “It changes the game plan. I think they want to run to the ball with LeGarrette Blount, but they also want to spread them out with Shane Vereen.”
Dungy on whether he coached differently against Bill Belichick: “You didn’t coach differently, but you had to be ready for so many different things. You could never go into the game thinking, ‘This is what they’re going to do.’ He always had a surprise for you.”
ON WEATHER IN NEW ENGLAND
Harrison: “It’s not about the cold. It’s about the wind conditions, especially at the open side of the field. I think Tom Brady has an advantage over Joe Flacco, because (the Ravens) like to run the ball and take play action shots down the field. Tom Brady and that quick passing game shouldn’t be affected by it.”
ON WINNING ON THE ROAD
Ward: “There’s no greater feeling than going on the road and winning the game in an opponent’s stadium, and watching the fans leave early and wave ‘bye-bye’ and giving them the ‘shhhhh.’ It’s the greatest feeling in the world. That is the day that I miss the most as a football player.”
ON COACHING VACANCIES
King: “Six coaching vacancies in the NFL, and both Denver coordinators in serious contention for Bay Area jobs. The offensive coordinator Adam Gase is a candidate for the head coaching job in San Francisco, and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio is the leading candidate for the head coaching job in Oakland. Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is the leader of the pack for the New York Jets. In Atlanta, the ex-Jets head coach Rex Ryan is a favorite of owner Arthur Blank. Blank will be making that decision. Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will be a candidate for several jobs at the end of this season. I believe he will take none of them, and will definitely return to the Patriots in 2015.”
Dungy: “I know fans out there are getting anxious. Be patient – relax. The owners are doing a great job being thorough and getting the right guys.”
Below are excerpts from Elliott’s interview with Flacco, Costas’ interview with Suggs, and Harrison’s interview with Edelman.
JOE FLACCO WITH JOSH ELLIOTT
On his reaction to coach John Harbaugh’s praise of him after the Ravens’ Wild Card win last week: “It’s awesome to hear that from John, obviously, your guy. It shows how much our relationship has grown. We’ve been here from the very beginning. I think he does a great job of being the guy that’s up front and leading us, and it’s definitely cool when you hear it from him.”
On what makes his team so effective on the road in January: “I think we have a core group of guys that have been in a lot of big games. Not only playoff games, but games down the stretch, games late in the season that you have to win. To add on to that, we have played in a lot of playoff games, and a lot of them have been on the road. We have the ability to go in any place, and if we play the way we should, then it’s going to be a game that comes down to the wire, and anything can happen.”
On whether anything changes for him during a playoff game where everything is on the line: “It’s tough to answer that. I’m always a guy that says no. People always want to say how the playoff games get faster, and more intense, and this, and that – I kind of disagree with them. Just look at the facts. We’ve played 17 football games, and you’re just not as healthy as you were Week 1. You’re not physically capable of, probably, playing quite as fast. Next week is nothing right now. We have to go out there and decide what it’s going to be. There’s definitely something about that that sits with us, and I think allows us to go out there and play in a free way, at least for myself.”
TERRELL SUGGS WITH BOB COSTAS
On how he refers to Tom Brady: “The quarterback of the New England Patriots? He’s number 12.”
Costas: “And his name?”
Suggs: “The quarterback of the New England Patriots – pretty good though.”
On Tom Brady’s recent praise of him: “That tells me he’s got every intention of lighting it up. He’ll probably want to throw for like 400 yards, maybe six touchdowns. I think that’s how he feels. But, as far as those compliments, I think as he was saying them he was thinking he’d rather be doing dental work. Probably getting a root canal or his wisdom teeth pulled. But, whatever, it’s all politics, man.”
On whether he can have fun when this much is on the line: “Yes, tons, especially if you get the job done. It’s not going to be too much fun if your side of the scoreboard isn’t as high as theirs.”
On whether the secret to beating the Patriots is putting pressure on Tom Brady: “Yeah, but what better team to have for the job?”
On his seemingly subdued manor in comparison to past interviews: “I’ve got a lot on my mind. You don’t win this game the day of the game; you win it in your preparation the week of. I’m just trying to make sure I did everything not to fall short.”
On what is in the front of his mind: “12, definitely, 12. But we’ll see though, we’ll have at it.”
JULIAN EDELMAN WITH RODNEY HARRISON
On whether it irritates him that the media has said the Ravens aren’t the team you want to play: “No, around here we try to ignore the noise, and yeah, the Ravens are a good team. They come in and they play us well at home, and they’ve got a win under their belt, and we know they’re going to be the Baltimore Ravens, hard-nosed, tough football team. We like our team too.”
On whether the trash talk from the Ravens is motivation: “It’s motivating that they came in here and beat us to go to the Super Bowl. That was in the past, and that’s a different year and this is a different team.”
On Tom Brady saying he is competitive in practice: “You hear all the stories of Rodney Harrison in practice, and how competitive he was, you have to go up and try to live up to that. But, just little stuff, one-on-ones, take pride in trying to get better every day. I’m not good enough not to be able to practice well. There are some guys that can go out there and just lay it out there, and go ball in Sunday. That’s not me. I like to see it, and it makes it like déjà vu in the games.”
On being overlooked because of his size: “I hope they do, because then it gives me the advantage. Everyone’s got a story, everyone’s got something they have to deal with. As long as I can keep my mind in the game, I feel like I have a competitive advantage on those guys that are thinking about my size.”
–FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA–
