FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, October 18th, 2020
NOTES & QUOTES FROM WEEK 6 EDITION OF FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA ON NBC
“Aaron Donald is the best defensive player on the planet.” – Rodney Harrison
“(Tony Dungy) calls him a dump truck, but he’s got a Ferrari six-speed in there, too.” – Chris Simms on Derrick Henry
“You aren’t supposed to be able to do this in live football. You do this in video games.” – Tony Dungy on Lamar Jackson
STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 18, 2020 – NBC Sports’ presentation of Week 6 of the 2020 NFL season began tonight from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., with Football Night in America leading into coverage of Rams-49ers on Sunday Night Football on NBC.
Mike Tirico hosted FNIA from NBC Sports Group’s Studio 1 in Stamford, Conn., and was joined by Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy and former NFL quarterback Chris Simms. Due to COVID-19 precautions, two-time Super Bowl-winner Rodney Harrison and NFL Insider Mike Florio joined Football Night remotely from studios in their respective homes. Liam McHugh co-hosted the show on-site from Levi’s Stadium and was joined by Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth.
In addition, NBC Sports’ Jac Collinsworth interviewed Rams DT Aaron Donald and McHugh interviewed head coach Sean McVay.
Al Michaels (play-by-play), Collinsworth (analyst), Michele Tafoya (sideline reporter) and Terry McAulay (rules analyst) are calling tonight’s Rams-49ers game.
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Following are highlights from tonight’s edition of Football Night in America on NBC:
ON RAMS
Cris Collinsworth on Rams offensive scheme: “The illusion of complexity.”
Cris Collinsworth on CB Jalen Ramsey, who is playing a new “star” position in which he blitzes and covers TEs in addition to WRs: “He’s a much more physical guy than I ever knew so he’s having an impact on the game playing that star position.”
Harrison on Aaron Donald: “Aaron Donald is the best defensive player on the planet. He reminds me of a former teammate of mine, Junior Seau, because he’s so relentless.”
ON 49ERS
Cris Collinsworth on how the 49ers can turn it around: “It has to start at the quarterback position, it really does. Jimmy (Garoppolo) got hurt earlier in the season. We watched him in that game last week against Miami and he just was not himself, just basic fundamentals of throwing the football.”
Cris Collinsworth on the 49ers’ loss of defensive end Nick Bosa: “He is the Aaron Donald of this football team. They have built this entire team around a defensive line…It just hasn’t been the same.”
ON BUCCANEERS
Simms on Tampa Bay’s defense: “It’s one of the best front sevens in football in Tampa Bay, and they confused Rodgers all game long whether it was with the coverage or just pressure in his face…Really big win for Tampa Bay. Great job by their defense.”
Simms: “Watch out for Tampa Bay. With this defense and Brady and Gronk coming on, I think they’re one of the better teams in the NFC.”
ON PACKERS
Simms on Aaron Rodgers’ interceptions: “You don’t see these types of mistakes from Rodgers often. It wasn’t a pretty day for him.”
ON RAVENS
Dungy on QB Lamar Jackson’s TD pass to TE Nick Boyle: “You aren’t supposed to be able to do this in live football. You do this in video games.”
ON TITANS
Simms: “Ryan Tannehill just doesn’t miss people when they’re open.”
Dungy on RB Derrick Henry: “Huge game by Derrick Henry today. Long runs, pass receptions and the winning touchdown in overtime.”
Simms on Derrick Henry: “Coach (Dungy) calls him a dump truck, but he’s got a Ferrari six-speed in there, too.”
ON PATRIOTS
Dungy to Simms: “You talked about elite teams in the AFC, but you didn’t mention the Patriots. You’re right. They are not playing good football. We are not used to seeing that. A lot of reasons that could be, but the biggest one to me is very poor offensive line play.”
Harrison: “I don’t recognize this Patriots team. I just don’t recognize them…I wouldn’t want to be one of those guys in that meeting tomorrow morning with Coach Belichick.”
Simms: “There’s not a lot of separation by these receivers. Not a lot of people running wide open…I don’t think we see receivers in New England that are capable of getting open. I think this is the second game in a row we’ve seen a defense call their bluff.”
Harrison on offensive struggles: “I’m concerned about the offensive line, and I’m not used to seeing the Patriots struggle and make the mental mistakes that they’ve made the last two weeks…Coach Belichick has a lot of work to do, but it starts with the fundamentals and getting the mental mistakes up out of there.”
ON STEELERS
Simms: “One of the best things I saw today was the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. It’s back, it’s the best in football — turnovers, hitting the quarterback, stopping the run. They put a stop to that Cleveland high-flying show that we’ve seen so far this year.”
Tirico: “This pass rush was relentless.”
Dungy on Browns offense: “When they had to drop back and throw, that Steeler pass rush was awesome…this was Steeler football, Steeler defense.”
ON BENGALS
Dungy on rookies QB Joe Burrow and WR Tee Higgins: “These two guys are going to make Zac Taylor a good head coach for a long time.”
ON FALCONS
Dungy on Falcons interim head coach Raheem Morris and the defense: “Great job today by his group. The defense stepped up early and often…A lot of zone coverage, they read the quarterback and broke on the ball well all day long.”
ON BEARS
Simms: “The Bears are starting to play really smart football. They’re playing through this great defense and not taking a whole lot of chances on the offensive side of the ball.”
Simms on Khalil Mack: “Khalil Mack’s mad. People haven’t been giving him respect lately. He’s reminding us he’s still one of the best pass rushers in football.”
ON DOLPHINS
Dungy on rookie QB Tua Tagovailoa’s first action: “Get used to this, Miami fans. You’re going to see a lot of this in the future — not right now because Ryan Fitzpatrick is playing well, but Tua is going to be great for you.”
ON JETS
Tirico: “Only winless team in the NFL.”
Dungy: “Miami defense was all over the Jets. They got absolutely nothing going on offense.”
–FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA–
