“I don’t know where they can start over. They just might keep losing. New England – look out, you might have a top-five pick next year.” – Devin McCourty on his former team
“Is 13.7 yards per carry good? It’s insanity in the membranity.” – Chris Simms on Dolphins RB De’Von Achane
“The Eagles are one of the best and most consistent teams in football for one reason – they win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball every week.” – Jason Garrett
Peacock Sunday Night Football Final Streams EXCLUSIVELY on Peacock Following Cowboys-49ers and Every Sunday Night Football Game During 2023 Season
STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 8, 2023 – NBC Sports’ presentation of Week 5 of the 2023 NFL season began tonight from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., with Football Night in America leading into coverage of Cowboys-49ers on Sunday Night Football on NBC and Peacock.
Maria Taylor hosted FNIA from NBC Sports’ Studio 1 in Stamford, Conn. She was joined by former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, three-time Super Bowl Champion Devin McCourty, former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, NFL Insider Mike Florio and fantasy sports industry pioneer Matthew Berry. Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy and two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison joined co-host Kathryn Tappen at the site of the game.
Mike Tirico (play-by-play), Cris Collinsworth (analyst), Melissa Stark (sideline reporter) and Terry McAulay (rules analyst) are calling tonight’s game.
Football Night also featured portions of an interview with Dungy and 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey. Click here to watch the full-length interview.
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Following are highlights from tonight’s edition of Football Night in America on NBC and Peacock:
ON COWBOYS-49ERS RIVALRY
McCourty: “Thrilled to be sitting here next to you (Jason Garrett). You played in those games, I watched them as a kid. (I was a) huge Cowboys fan. I had the Emmitt Smith jersey, the Deion Sanders jersey. I got to tell Jerry Jones that one time on a draft visit, too.”
ON PASSING OF HALL OF FAMER DICK BUTKUS
Garrett: “Dick Butkus came out to training camp and spoke to our team and his message was really simple – there’s one way to practice and one way to play, you have to be physical. Football is all about imposing your will and breaking your opponent’s will. Nobody did that better than Dick Butkus.”
ON COWBOYS
Harrison: “I’m looking at two veteran players that they brought in to get over that 49ers hump – Stephon Gilmore brings wisdom and experience to that secondary and (wide receiver) Brandin Cooks, who brings that speed.”
Simms: “Dak Prescott has been great this year. They are a short passing, ‘get the ball out of Dak Prescott’s hands’ football team right now…the way they are going to win this game is down the field and outside of the numbers against the 49ers. (The 49ers) take away the middle of the field. If there is a matchup to be had, it is the Cowboys receivers against the 49ers cornerbacks.”
Dungy: “They’ve got a great team. What Dak Prescott has to do is be the engineer and let his guys work. He has got to orchestrate…don’t force the ball where it shouldn’t go…don’t pre-determine your throws.”
ON 49ERS
Dungy: “Everyone in the building talked about the toughness that (Christian McCaffrey) brought. They think this is going to be a toughness game.”
Simms on QB Brock Purdy: “What’s so bad about being a ‘system quarterback?’ There have been some all-time greats that have run systems to perfection and they win Super Bowls. He’s a ‘system-plus quarterback.’... It ain’t that bad to be in the system. Michael Jordan never won it until he had the triangle offense.”
Harrison on LB Fred Warner: “He’s the best linebacker in all of football. When he’s on the field, it’s like having an extra defensive back. He’s running 30 yards down the field with CeeDee Lamb.”
Harrison on the field during warmups: “I had the chance to talk to a San Francisco 49ers defender just now and he told me, ‘We want to stop the run and make (the Cowboys) one-dimensional. We want the ball in Dak Prescott’s hands.’”
ON EAGLES
Simms: “If you over-play their traditional run game, Jalen Hurts is going to hurt you with his right arm and the quarterback-designed runs off of that. They’ve got answers for everything.”
Garrett: “The Eagles are one of the best and most consistent teams in football for one reason – they win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball every week.”
McCourty: “A lot of talk earlier in the season on this Philly offense. Are they going to get going? What are they doing? A.J. Brown the last few weeks has been dominating defenses. Catching the ball one hand, two hands, it doesn’t matter…You find him one time, you find him two times, you just keep going to A.J. Brown. A tough guy to defend all over the field.”
ON PATRIOTS
McCourty: “I don’t know where they can start over. They just might keep losing. New England – look out, you might have a top-five pick next year.”
Garrett: “A model franchise in sports for the last 23 years – the team is unrecognizable. Hard to find any positives…Devin, I know you were a good player, but I didn’t know the whole thing would collapse when you left (laughs).”
McCourty on pick-six against QB Mac Jones in first quarter: “I think the guys saw that and said, ‘Oh no, here we go again.’”
Simms: “They’re in trouble. They’re injured in the secondary, Matthew Judon is out, and they have no playmakers on offense. I’m definitely worried about the Patriots.”
ON BENGALS
Simms on Ja’Marr Chase: “At what point do you start to double-team a guy when he has 19 targets?”
McCourty: “Oh, we would have had him double-teamed on Wednesday. Double Ja’Marr Chase everywhere.”
Garrett: “They’re back. They look like themselves. They were impostors the first month of the season. Joe Burrow looked like Joe Burrow – he had his swagger back – and Ja’Marr Chase was ridiculous.”
Simms: “They blocked for Burrow today for the first time this season. That kind of helps when you’re playing quarterback.”
ON DOLPHINS
Simms: “De’Von Achane and this offense – is 13.7 yards per carry good? It’s insanity in the membranity right now…the fastest, most fun team to watch week in and week out…they are not just a passing team this year.”
ON RAVENS
Simms: “They are going to be sick tomorrow when they watch that film back. They let this one slip away.”
McCourty: “Football is about points. Too many times Baltimore had opportunities to score points – dropped passes, penalties, getting the punt blocked…you can’t do that. You can’t have strips. When you’re playing against another good team, a rival team, you have to take advantage of opportunities and score points.”
ON STEELERS
Simms: “It’s a tongue twister, but it works on the field – Pickett to Pickens all day long. When (George Pickens) is one-on-one, they need to throw to him on a regular basis because he is special.”
Simms: “The Steelers somehow win the ugliest football of the day.”
ON JETS
Garrett: “How about Breece Hall out there in Denver? They call him ‘Breece Lightning.’ 177 yards on the ground, he was the go-to guy. He was the guy who took the pressure off of Zach Wilson and everybody else on that Jets offense. He was big time today for the Jets. A big win for them in Denver.”
ON JAGUARS
McCourty: “Just stay in London and play all of your games there. They came out and dominated the Bills up front, they ran the ball, stopped the run, and Trevor Lawrence made the throws in all the big moments.”
Simms: “Trevor Lawrence looked really good. I think this the most consistent showing we saw all year. The run game was working. We saw Calvin Ridley catching the ball. Trevor Lawrence was on point with the best offense we’ve seen from the Jaguars this year.”
Florio, who spoke to RB Travis Etienne, on playing back-to-back games in London: “This is the first time ever that a team has played two straight games in London. Travis told me that their bodies were adjusted, there was no jet lag. He knows how he felt last Sunday against the Falcons and how he felt this Sunday against the Bills and that it was a huge difference for the Jaguars.”
ON LIONS
McCourty on 42-24 win vs. Carolina: “When you’re facing a young, rookie quarterback, you have to take advantage of opportunities…Detroit dominated all day.”
ON FALCONS
Simms on QB Desmond Ridder: You want to talk about pressure, this guy’s job was on the line today. Desmond Ridder had the best game of his career. It wasn’t about the Atlanta Falcons run game, it was about Desmond Ridder. They got the ball to Drake London and to (Kyle) Pitts today. They were very impressive.”
TONY DUNGY’S INTERVIEW WITH 49ERS RB CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY
McCaffrey on learning the offense: “I came in and learned the offense to the best of my ability. I trusted (the staff). They’ve had so many great backs over the years, I figured whatever they are doing is working.”
McCaffrey on the San Francisco offense: “The biggest thing for me in this offense is understanding why (Kyle Shanahan) is calling plays, because there is a reason for every single play…The thing that is so special about this offense is how much pride they take in playing without the ball. Who can block their guy the best when you’re pushing the safety, kicking out an end. That’s part of what makes it so fun. When you have so many dynamic guys with the ball in their hands, plays that may have been 10 yards turn into home runs. For Kyle and the coaches to get that out of everybody is special.”
McCaffrey on his emotions while playing: “Each play might require something different. Sometimes you might have to run somebody over, sometimes you might have to move a little more swiftly and be patient. I don’t know if it’s angry. It’s just free. That’s the beauty of football. You’re free. You’re able to just be yourself completely.”
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Peacock Sunday Night Football Final, an NFL post-game show produced by NBC Sports, streams exclusively on Peacock following every Sunday Night Football game during the 2023 season. The show is hosted from the game site by Jac Collinsworth, Harrison, and Dungy, who will provide instant reactions to each Sunday game along with highlights and interviews, while Berry will host a weekly segment called “DraftKings Crowning Moments,” where the fantasy sports analyst will discuss his successful bets from that day; he will also provide fantasy advice and an early look at the waiver wire. Football Night in America’s studio team will also provide recaps and insights into the day’s biggest moments, while Florio will provide injury and news updates.
-- Football Night in America --