“It was just so odd to watch this complete domination of the Patriots at home.” – Mike Tirico
“Is he 43? The way he runs and throws still, he’s better now than he was 10 years ago.” – Chris Simms on Tom Brady
“How could you allow your quarterback to get his head knocked off and no one comes to his defense?” – Rodney Harrison on the Cowboys’ reaction to an illegal hit on Andy Dalton
“The Steelers are 6-0 for the first time in 42 years. How do I know that? I was on that last 6-0 team.” – Tony Dungy
STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 25, 2020 – NBC Sports’ presentation of Week 7 of the 2020 NFL season began tonight from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., with Football Night in America leading into coverage of Seahawks-Cardinals 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 State Farm Stadium and was joined by Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth.
In addition, McHugh interviewed Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins while actor Josh Lucas hosted a piece about Cardinals QB Kyler Murray.
Al Michaels (play-by-play), Collinsworth (analyst), Michele Tafoya (sideline reporter) and Terry McAulay (rules analyst) are calling tonight’s Seahawks-Cardinals game.
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Following are highlights from tonight’s edition of Football Night in America on NBC:
ON SEAHAWKS
Collinsworth: “Right now, not only do we have the favorite to be MVP in Russell Wilson, we have a legitimate emerging star in DK Metcalf.”
ON CARDINALS
Collinsworth on QB Kyler Murray’s running ability: “He’s un-spyable.” [Meaning spying the quarterback with a linebacker or safety doesn’t work]
Harrison on stopping Murray on defense: “The key is trying to get the ball out of his hands…I’m talking about two spies. Have two spies and protect the deep part of the field and you have an opportunity to stop this guy.”
Tirico on Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray: “With Kingsbury as the coach and Murray as the quarterback, that’s like the Big 12 home office of big numbers and offense.”
Simms on Kingsbury and Murray: “I think it’s the perfect mesh for this quarterback, especially his skillset, his size, everything about him. Kliff Kingsbury, yeah, he brought the Big 12 to the NFL.”
ON THE AFC
Dungy: “Three weeks ago, I would have told you that Kansas City and Baltimore were head and shoulders above everybody else, but Pittsburgh and Tennessee are good teams, they’re balanced. I think they’re right in there. I think it’s a four-way race.”
Simms: “It’s very close. They are four complete teams, but there’s this guy wearing white and red that has No. 15 on his jersey (Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes) and I just can’t get away from that, plus all the playmakers that Kansas City has all over the field…I still think they have the edge in that AFC, which is very tight.”
Harrison: “In the AFC, there’s one king and that’s the Kansas City Chiefs. You have the second cluster of teams – Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Tennessee – right there close to one another. People tend to think of the Kansas City Chiefs as being a finesse team…They get after you. This is not a finesse team, and this is the best team in the NFL.”
ON STEELERS
Dungy: “The Steelers are 6-0 for the first time in 42 years. How do I know that? I was on that last 6-0 team [in 1978].” (laughs)
Dungy: “They were doing it last year with (the) running game and defense. Now they have a complete unit with Ben Roethlisberger throwing the ball. They’re dangerous.”
ON TITANS
Simms: “I don’t think anything less of the Tennessee Titans…They’re still I think one of the best teams in football. We know they can run the ball, but their pass game can bring them back when they get down…I’m just still shocked by their defense. A Mike Vrabel, Tennessee Titans defense has really been letting up a lot of big plays. It’s a little concerning.”
ON PACKERS
Simms on Davante Adams: “They know how to feature him and know how to get him the ball in a bunch of different ways…It’s amazing how they use Davante Adams.”
Dungy on the Texans’ defensive game plan for Adams: “Maybe a little double coverage might be in order?”
ON CHIEFS
Simms on their physicality and depth: “Kansas City has a physical element about their football team. Le’Veon Bell is going to fit right in…it’s not even about (Patrick) Mahomes and the offense. They find other ways to win football games.”
ON BUCCANEERS
Tirico: “Brady and Gronk are getting dialed in, folks. Tampa looks as good as anybody in the league. They go to Vegas and it doesn’t come up snake eyes at all.”
Simms on Tom Brady: “Is he 43? The way he runs and throws still, he’s better now than he was 10 years ago.”
Simms on Brady and Rob Gronkowski: “Woah. It just seems like it’s getting better every week. Watch out everybody. Gronk is looking better and Brady is on point right now…Same story, different city.”
Simms on the Buccaneers’ offense: “(Mike) Evans, (Chris) Godwin, Gronk. Oh wait, there’s another guy we’ve got to worry about, Scotty Miller. Brady just throwing the ball down the field perfectly lately.”
ON COWBOYS
Harrison on the Cowboys’ reaction to Jon Bostic’s hit on Andy Dalton: “The Cowboys quit today, and for you to sit there and watch your quarterback get knocked out, lay on the ground, and no one comes to his defense, I just don’t understand it. I look at the culture of this team and they’re soft…How could you allow your quarterback to get his head knocked off and no one comes to his defense? It speaks to the culture, it speaks to the selfishness of the Cowboys, and the Cowboys flat-out quit today.”
Tirico: “It has been a season of woes.”
ON WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM
Florio on Ron Rivera’s reaction to Bostic’s hit on Dalton: “Coach Rivera told me that he sought out Mike McCarthy…to apologize for that hit. He said that he wanted McCarthy to know that that’s not the way his team plays, and Rivera said he also went to Jon Bostic and said, ‘You’re a veteran. You should know better than to apply a hit like that.’”
ON PATRIOTS
Dungy: “That New England offense was out of sync all day…Never seen the Patriots look like this at home. Again, Cam Newton was off. They eventually took him out, and just got nothing going on offense.”
Tirico: “It was just so odd to watch this complete domination of the Patriots at home.”
ON 49ERS
Dungy on RBs: “It doesn’t seem to matter what back they put back there. We even saw Deebo Samuel running from tailback today and it was all effective.”
Dungy: “I have been so impressed with Kyle Shanahan the last two weeks. Not only keeping the attitude of the team great with all the injuries but dialing up these running plays that make things happen.”
ON PANTHERS
Simms: “Carolina has some weapons that people need to take notice of, and D.J. Moore is one of them.”
ON BENGALS
Dungy: “Really impressed with Joe Burrow all day today.”
Simms on Joe Burrow: “I don’t care if they win or lose, he’s been looking great. Just an unbelievable thrower of the football.”
ON BROWNS
Dungy on QB Baker Mayfield: “I was really impressed with his poise in the fourth quarter…this is what Browns’ fans were waiting to see.”
ON CHARGERS
Dungy on Justin Herbert: “He is playing great football, but he’s got some receivers that make some plays for him.”
ON JETS
Simms: “Offense looked better, there’s no doubt. Early on there was some rhythm and timing to the offense and you went, ‘Ok, wow. Buffalo’s in trouble.’ Well, they’re the Jets. They find a way to mess it up.”
–FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA–