“Coach Belichick always talks about situational football, and he wasn’t very smart at that point. They decided to continue to pass the ball and I think part of it was his ego.” – Rodney Harrison on the Patriots letting the Bills back in the game
“There is a lot of miscommunication right now. It’s not talent. It’s being on the same page.” – Tony Dungy on the Eagles offense
“Nobody on this team is deterred or in any way giving up.” – Cowboys Owner/President/GM Jerry Jones to Paul Burmeister on Tony Romo’s injury
“He’s one of the leaders on their team, and right now he’s being a little bit selfish.” – Hines Ward on Seahawks S Kam Chancellor
STAMFORD, Conn. – September 20, 2015 – Following are highlights from Football Night in America, which aired prior to tonight’s Sunday Night Football matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers. Bob Costas opened the show live from inside Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., 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 Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa., on the Cowboys-Eagles game.
Costas interviewed Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, and Football Night aired a feature that looked back at last year’s NFC Championship Game between the Packers and Seahawks.
Following are highlights from Football Night in America:
ON PATRIOTS
Dungy on the pre-game hype: “New England was just business as usual.”
Harrison on Bills getting back into the game: “Coach Belichick always talks about situational football, and he wasn’t very smart at that point. They decided to continue to pass the ball and I think part of it was his ego. They really wanted to blow Buffalo out and make a point and a statement to Rex Ryan, but it wasn’t very smart.”
Harrison: “Give a lot of credit to the (Patriots) offensive line. Buffalo paid a lot of money for those guys on the defensive line and they did a great job.”
ON COWBOYS
Owner/President/GM Jerry Jones to Burmeister: “First of all, I’ve been there before, unfortunately. This is the life we’ve chosen and we’ve had to sit there and have Tony lying on that ground before and then had some consequences that we had to deal with. Now, certainly this is a big loss. But make no mistake about it, he is coming back. Obviously, no one will know how many weeks it’s going to take for him to get back, but he is determined. We know what a competitor he is, so there’s no doubt in my mind that if we can hold things together, and we’ve got a lot of help coming and everybody understands that on this team. Nobody on this team is deterred or in any way giving up in any way.”
http://www.nbcsports.com/video/jerry-jones-romo-will-be-back
TE Jason Witten to Paul Burmeister: “I’d love to say it was business, but there’s no question that there’s emotion there. To see the way he’s worked and how he’s put himself in the position to play at the level he’s played, it’s just remarkable. I think it motivates all of us as teammates. That’s what great leaders do. They do that by the way they work, prepare, and the way they play. So it’s disappointing, it’s tough, but it’s part of the game. We’ll regroup and we’ll bounce back.”
Dungy: “I’m concerned for the Cowboys…They don’t have that big back (like DeMarco Murray last year), they don’t have Dez Bryant, they don’t have Romo. This is going to be a difficult stretch.”
Harrison: “I think it’s different. I think it’s going to galvanize them. It’s going to excite them to prove everyone wrong. The defense is playing much better with Sean Lee. I think they’re going to be ok.”
Harrison: “Sean Lee is an impact player. I think he is one of the best linebackers in the game and he’s now healthy.”
ON EAGLES
Dungy on the offense: “There is a lot of miscommunication right now. It’s not talent. It’s being on the same page.”
Harrison: “It’s not an easy offense to pick up. It’s going to take time.”
Harrison: “I still believe in the Philadelphia Eagles. They play in an extremely weak division. I still like this offense. I still think it’s a lot of moving parts. It’s going to take time for them to come together. My big concern is not necessarily the front seven defensively, but Byron Maxwell. They paid him a lot of money to come, and the last couple weeks, he’s gotten toasted.”
Dungy: “I agree with you. I believe in Philadelphia...they have talent. This offense will come together. They’ll start playing better.”
ON SEAHAWKS
Harrison on the Seahawks: “It’s time for Seattle to stop talking about Kam Chancellor like he’s going to appear on a magic carpet and save this team. Whoever is playing strong safety, they’re going to have to step up and make plays or every single week the (opposing) quarterback’s going to test those guys.”
Ward on Kam Chancellor holding out: “He’s one of the leaders on their team, and right now he’s being a little bit selfish. Every player in the league wants to make more money, but for Kam Chancellor, he has three years left on his deal. That’s not happening. And he’s making pretty good money…if Seattle starts 0-2, you’re going to have division in that locker room, and that can be bad because there are other guys that are playing tonight - guys like Michael Bennett - where they’re in similar situations.”
King on Kam Chancellor’s hold out: “Paul Allen, I’m told, fully supports exactly the hard line the team is taking.”
Harrison: “First, you have to stop talking about Kam Chancellor. He’s not going to appear… Everyone keeps talking about how great of a leader he is. If he’s such a great leader, sometimes as a leader you have to sacrifice certain things. And I’m not going to even sit here and say that you’re sacrificing. You’re making $4.5 million. You have three years left on your contract. You cannot pass up that money. That’s $200 and some thousand a week. Where I come from, that’s still a lot of money.”
Dungy: “And I was out in Seattle for a week before the Super Bowl that we did last year. Kam Chancellor is the leader of that defense, no question about it. But right now, he’s thinking more about getting paid himself than he is about his team getting into the Super Bowl. He needs to get back and help his team.”
ON PACKERS
Costas on the warm weather: “You think of Lambeau and you think of freezing temperatures, and we’ll be back here on Thanksgiving night, but it’s nice for a change to be here when it’s 70 degrees and beautiful.”
ON STEELERS
Patrick: “The Steelers had nine days to prepare for the Niners. It certainly looked that way.”
ON RAMS
Harrison on the Rams’ ups and downs: “I have to blame the coach (Jeff Fisher)...Because it’s his job emotionally to get this team up. This is a young team, they have a lot of talent, but it’s his job as the head coach to make sure that this team is emotionally prepared. And last year, the same thing happened over and over again.”
http://www.nbcsports.com/video/jeff-fisher-blame-rams-struggles
ON CARDINALS
Collinsworth on Bruce Arians’ success: “He did it in Indianapolis. He’s doing it in Arizona…He’s an aggressive guy.”
Patrick on Larry Fitzgerald: “There’s almost this chip on his shoulder that everyone had forgotten about how great he is.”
ON GIANTS
Ward on Giants: “I have to put this loss on the coaching staff. You’re up by a field goal and you give up a big play by pressing Julio Jones with cornerback Prince Amukamara. You can’t put him in that situation. There’s no way he can cover Julio Jones.”
Dungy on fourth quarter collapse: “You don’t expect this from a Tom Coughlin-coached team. And they’ve got a veteran quarterback. Eli Manning has been in Super Bowls. You’ve got the lead; you’ve got to take care of the ball in the red zone…when you don’t make the plays, it comes back to haunt you. Bad play from the Giants two weeks in a row.”
ON FALCONS
Harrison: “You’ve got to give the Falcons a lot of credit. Dan Quinn has these guys playing and believing that they can make these plays in the critical moments of the game. Last year, these are games they would’ve lost, but it helps when you have Vic Beasley, a legit pass rusher.”
Collinsworth on Julio Jones: “…and we’re seeing now that Julio is becoming the new Calvin Johnson…So if you want to say who the early MVP candidates are, I think Julio Jones is on that list.”
http://www.nbcsports.com/video/julio-jones-has-become-new-calvin-johnson
ON RAIDERS
Dungy on Derek Carr and Amari Cooper: “This is a great young receiver, and Carr and Cooper are getting this chemistry…They are going to be a spectacular passing combination.”
Dungy: “They are not as bad as they looked in Week 1.”
ON RAVENS
Harrison: “They seem flat without Terrell Suggs.”
Patrick: “There’s no sense of desperation, which you’d think you’d have with this team.”
ON BROWNS
King: “This team was setup to play with Josh McCown. I believe that if McCown passes his concussion protocol this week that he will resume his role as starter.”
http://www.nbcsports.com/video/when-will-kam-chancellor-return-seattle
ON SAINTS AND LIONS
Harrison on both teams going 0-2: “I don’t have anything positive to say about them.”
ON YOUNG QUARTERBACKS
Dungy on Winston, Mariota and Manziel: “These guys are Heisman Trophy winners, but they’re young. They’re going to be up and down, and as a coach you’ve got to expect that and relax.”
RUSSELL WILSON WITH BOB COSTAS
http://www.nbcsports.com/video/wilson-key-having-winning-mentality-move
Wilson on handling last year’s Super Bowl loss: “When you have a winner’s mentality, any time you lose, it never feels good…I think the key to having that winner’s mentality is being able to move on.”
Wilson on importance of Seahawks’ team retreat to Hawaii: “We’re always working with a purpose, but obviously going through the Super Bowl and that loss, that feeling and not seeing each other for a couple months…we had a lot of ‘get together’ time. A lot of time to just talk – talk football, talk about life, talk about growing as men.”
Wilson on pivotal moment of team retreat in Hawaii: “Having that final talk on that Friday, the last day we were there. It was kind of up on a cliff, just privately…just being able to talk, each person talked, and it was just a special moment.”
Wilson on absence of SS Kam Chancellor: “Any time you don’t have a guy like Kam Chancellor, arguably the best strong safety in the National Football League, you miss him…and also the fact that he’s a great team leader. I think that ultimately you just have to pull everybody together and play great football. There’s no excuse.”
Wilson on dealing with Lambeau Field atmosphere: “I’m used to being in Wisconsin (from) playing at the University of Wisconsin, so I know that these fans are going to be going crazy, but you look forward to it. The field’s still the same.”
FNIA REVIEWS PACKERS-SEAHAWKS NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Seahawks P Jon Ryan on fake FG conversion for a TD: “It was kind of the perfect situation. We were down 16-0 at the time, so we needed something to spark us.”
Seahawks K Steven Hauschka on successful onside kick: “Jogging out there onto the field, I felt like I was going for a game-winning (field goal).”
Seahawks WR Jermaine Kearse on game-winning TD catch: “You know when you can’t breathe, and you just don’t know what you’re going to do? That’s exactly what it was in that moment.”
–FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA–