

STEELERS VS. COLTS POST-GAME QUOTES
AFC DIVISIONAL
PLAYOFFS
Sunday, Janaury 15, 2006
at RCA
DOME
Colts Quotes
HEAD COACH
TONY DUNGY
JANUARY
15, 2006
Pittsburgh Steelers vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
TONY DUNGY
(on general comments)
Pittsburgh
Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts
Post-Game Quotes
“Well from a
fan's standpoint we didn't play quite as well as we wanted to. I think you have to give
Pittsburgh a lot of credit. They picked up their tempo. They played very hard and they made the
plays to win it. I was proud of our
guys for hanging in there and fighting all the way through. We just didn't play well enough
today. They played better than we
did. They deserved to win the
game. We played hard and gave
ourselves a chance but didn't make quite enough plays at the end. You know it's disappointing to have a
regular season like we had and put yourself in position and not finish it
off. But we've got to use that
disappointment and get into our off season program when that starts up and then
get ready for next year. I think
we'll look back and see we did some good things and made some progress. But when you don't finish it the way
you'd like, that makes it tough.
It's very disappointing right now.
We'll get a chance to look back and reflect a little bit as we have some
time off. But again, I'm proud of
this team. They handled every trial
that came upon them. I really
thought the Lord's hand was on this team.
We have some special guys and I'm very proud of them. We're disappointed the way this season's
turned out, disappointed not to play better in front of our home crowd
today. But, we'll survive. Personally, a couple of big
disappointments. Obviously, this
one doesn't rank anywhere close to the last ones. From my standpoint, it's disappointing
and my job is to get this team to play well. And we didn't quite do that today. But I know we'll bounce
back."
TONY
DUNGY(on having first
week bye) Pittsburgh
Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts
Post-Game Quotes
“I said
before that we practiced well. I
attribute Pittsburgh really coming
in and playing smart football. They
got after it early. Once we got the
one drive to the one yard line, I think we got a little bit of confidence
there. Got the crowd back into
it. We had a false start down there
on the one yard line on the play that might get in. That cost us points and they ended
up being big points at the end.”
TONY
DUNGY(on going for field
goal instead of touchdown in 1st half) Pittsburgh
Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts
Post-Game Quotes
“Once we got
to the seven, no, we really wanted to get the points there and we did. It got us back in the game. We knew we
were going to get the ball at the start of the second half. The first thing you have to do is try to
get back in the game. They played
well, got the jump on us early, were able to play their style of ball, made a
couple of key fourth downs in the fourth quarter, but our guys fought to get the
ball back from Jerome Bettis on the one yard line with a minute to go. And that just shows that we were still
playing in the end.”
TONY
DUNGY(onPittsburgh's
defense) Pittsburgh Steelers vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“They blitzed
and that's their style. They passed
and we didn't get them all picked up.
We made some throws against the blitz in the fourth quarter. But not enough. They made the
plays.”
TONY
DUNGY(on Mike
Vanderjagt's missed field goal attempt)
Pittsburgh Steelers vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“He hasn't
missed very many big kicks since I've been here. I know he's very disappointed but I told
the team we've got to rally around him.
That wasn't the play that lost the game for us. We had many opportunities to get points
and score. And we're thinking of
winning the game there at the end.
We didn't get it tied up.
But that's just kind of the way the game went. We were just a little bit off all
day.”
TONY DUNGY
(on going for touchdown,
not first down at the end of the game)
Pittsburgh Steelers vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“We took one
shot at the end zone and had the play we thought we could score. A lot of times Reggie
(Wayne) comes up with that
catch. On third and two, you'd like
to make a first down and keep it going.
We just weren't able to. We
thought we could make the kick. We
thought we were in field goal range.
That was our thinking.”
TONY
DUNGY(on if Nick Harper
situation's affected on the team)
Pittsburgh vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“That's a
tough deal. And we're going to
support Nick through this and try to come to some conclusion on this. But I don't think so. This team has been through a lot. We know how to focus. And I thought we were focused
today.”
TONY
DUNGY(on
Pittsburgh's play)
Pittsburgh vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“They came up
with some different things. We
didn't pick them up quite as well as we needed to. And I give a lot of credit for coming in
here, playing well enough to win.
They did a couple of things a little bit different. But they played hard and made things
happen."
TONY
DUNGY(on having same
outcome as last year) Pittsburgh
vs. Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“Well, you've
got to fight that feeling off.
Every year is a new year.
And you've got to come in and you start from scratch. And the disappointing thing is you know
hard it is to get to this point.
How hard you had to work.
But you've go to come in with that mindset that we've got to work a
little bit harder next year."
TONY DUNGY
(on Jerome Bettis'
fumble) Pittsburgh
vs. Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“You really
have a good feeling when they overturn it.
I saw the ball come loose late and that's the rule we've been looking at
all year, when you go to the ground you've got to possess it all the way through
the catch. So I thought we had a
chance to get it. We take it down
and score. We get the penalty and
still get the two point play. So
when it's three, you think this just maybe something that's going to work out
for us. We get a stop and just
can't get it moving. They've got
the ball at the one yard line. We
told our guys, let's go out there and fight all the way through. The ball comes loose and I've seen that
ball go all the way before. So
you're kind of thinking maybe we can win it right here. But I felt good right there. We had the ball at mid field and felt
like we were going to get down in position to
score."
QB-PEYTON
MANNING (on the
disappointment of the loss)
“After the
game you kind of reflect back over the whole game and
Pittsburgh came in here and beat
us. They came in here and played
well and you have to give them credit.”
QB-PEYTON
MANNING (on the Steelers’
blitzes giving the Colts more trouble)
“Let’s just
say we had some problems in protection.
I’ll give Pittsburgh credit
for their blitzes and their rush, but we did have some protection
problems.”
QB-PEYTON
MANNING (on if they did
anything differently than the first meeting)
“Well,
Pittsburgh mixes up their blitzes
and their looks every single week.
It’s kind of the signature of Coach Dick LeBeau. I think every week they have some
different looks. I thought we had
some chances but jus didn’t have the best
execution.”
QB-PEYTON
MANNING (on the first
four series being frustrating because of the lack of
offense)
“We just couldn’t get much going there.
Pittsburgh
had some good coverage on a couple of them, a sack in their some where and some
long third downs. We weren’t able
to overcome that. We obviously
would like to come out and get off to a good start and get some first downs and
get some momentum.”
QB-PEYTON
MANNING (on if the layoff
effected them at all)
“No, the
disappointing thing is that we played really well this year in a number of games
in September, October and November, but in the past two games we’ve played teams
have come in here and outplayed us.
It’s disappointing because you would like to be playing your best
football in December and January.”
QB-PEYTON
MANNING (on if this loss
is tough after the great season)
No question,
we’re disappointed. It’s
football. All I’m going to do, and
I get tired of saying it, is keep working.
I think we put ourselves in a good position with the bye, but we just
weren’t able to take that next step and I’m disappointed. It is hard to swallow. Give
Pittsburgh credit for coming in here
and playing better than us.”
QB-PEYTON
MANNING (on the last
drive)
“We were
trying to win the game there. We
threw the takeoff route to Reggie
[Wayne]. We had a deep pass called on the third
and two. We believed until the
end.”
QB-PEYTON
MANNING (on how personal
this loss is for him)
“Every game
that I play I take it personal when we play well and when we lose. I’m disappointed and I can’t give you
anymore of an explanation than that.
It will be more disappointing tonight and tomorrow, and it certainly
takes time to move on from a game like this.”
QB-PEYTON
MANNING (on possibly not
having back some key players next season)
“That’s
always the case in the NFL. That’s
why we’re never trying to build toward next year or talk about next year. It feels kind of like college when you
lose your seniors. We possibly are
going to lose some guys and I really like our team this year. We had good guys and guys you want to
win for.”
QB-PEYTON
MANNING (on if he’s
worried that the window on this team may be
closing)
“I’ve always
played with a sense of urgency ever since my rookie year and I’ve never accepted
losing. I never like to say that’s
ok we’ll get them next year because it’s not ok.”
QB-PEYTON
MANNING (on what went
through his mind while the ball was in the air)
“It’s
tough. It’s a tough feeling to see
that. We put so much in to trying
to get our position and it was such a long season. We spent so much time studying and
preparing. One play is not the
reason the Colts didn’t win this game, but it kind of lets you know that it is
over.”
RB-EDGERRIN JAMES (on the loss in relation to outstanding
season) Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“I don’t know
what happened. I came ready to play and was hoping for another
result.”
…”Everything
was laid out for us. We just didn’t get it done. We folded. You’re going to have
regrets when you see the opportunities (we had).”
“It does take
away it (the regular season). That’s what this team was built for. This year
there were no excuses. The bye had nothing to do with it. We just didn’t get it
done.”
RB-EDGERRIN JAMES (on what the Steelers did differently on
defense in comparison the regular season) Pittsburgh Steelers vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game Quotes
“I don’t know
what they did differently. I don’t have anything to say. It’s just the way it
came out.”
C-JEFF
SATURDAY (on today’s
game) Pittsburgh vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“We didn’t
play well enough to win. It’s
disappointing because I think we have a better team than we showed today. We just didn’t play well enough to
win. Give them credit, they played
well. We just didn’t get it
done. Up front we didn’t do a very
good job to begin the game. You
can’t spot a team like Pittsburgh in
the playoffs like that. The bottom
line is we had plenty of opportunities and didn’t get it
done.”
OT-TARIK
GLENN (on today’s loss)
Pittsburgh vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“No
explanation [for the slow start], we just didn’t execute. It’s real simple in our offense: you
either lock ‘em up and run the ball or lock ‘em up and pass the ball and the
receivers catch the ball and the running backs run the ball and none of those
things seemed to click.”
WR-BRANDON
STOKLEY (on today’s game)
Pittsburgh vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“You gotta
give the credit to them. They came
out and just played better than us, and that’s the bottom line. I don’t think rust had anything to do
with it.”
WR-BRANDON
STOKLEY (on the pain of
losing) Pittsburgh vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“It hurts
bad, really bad. You can see it on
everybody’s face; everybody is really disappointed. But we just didn’t play well enough to
win.”
WR-BRANDON
STOKLEY (on
Pittsburgh’s pressure)
Pittsburgh vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“I think they
brought a little more pressure this game, and they did a good job with it. I think towards the end of the game, we
started getting some plays down the field, but when it was all said and done,
they just made a little but more plays than we
did.”
WR-BRANDON
STOKLEY (on the
disappointment of losing)
Pittsburgh vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“Our goal was
to win the Super Bowl, not to go 13-0.
We didn’t win the Super Bowl, so it’s a disappointing
season.”
WR-BRANDON
STOKLEY (on changes for
next year) Pittsburgh vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“That’s why
it hurts. It’s going to be a lot
different next year, it always is.
Every year is a big turn around. And a great group of guys in this locker
room and some of them aren’t gonna be here next year and that’s just the
NFL.”
LB-GARY BRACKETT (on today’s game)
Pittsburgh Steelers vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“Pittsburgh
is a good team, you know, they watch film; they saw something we might of…[they]
could exploit on us. They got some
big plays on us and we were down for a little while, but, you know, we came
fighting back and unfortunately we didn’t pull it
out.”
LB-GARY BRACKETT (on whether or not
he was surprised by Pittsburgh
passing early) Pittsburgh
Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts
Post-Game Quotes
“Nah, not at
all. Like I said, they watch film
too. So obviously that’s one of
those things where the probably saw that they could get a couple plays on it and
they did. All-in-all, we didn’t do
enough things to win today.”
LB-GARY BRACKETT (on Bettis’s fumble)
Pittsburgh Steelers vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“I mean,
we’re a team that’s gonna fight for sixty minutes. Until the final whistle, we’ll be out
there fighting, and even when all seemed like it was over, we got a fumble on
the goal line; picked it up; had a chance to run it in; got tackled; gave our
offense the ball back and we just didn’t finish. Like I said, we just have to be
motivated into next season and hungry.”
LB-GARY BRACKETT (on the pain of
losing) Pittsburgh Steelers vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“You know
what, they’re all painful. Maybe
[more]so, because we had home field advantage this time
around.”
FS-BOB
SANDERS (on)
Pittsburgh Steelers vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“We started
off slow. They didn’t do anything
that we didn’t expect them to do.
The ran a lot of plays that they ran the last time we played them. We didn’t get started. In the second quarter we played pretty
well. In the second half we shut
‘em down a little bit. Our plan
coming in was to do what we do.”
DT-COREY
SIMON (on his
disappointment) Pittsburgh
Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts
Post-Game Quotes
“You go out
and have a 14-2 season; the last thought you have is going out in the playoffs
this early.”
DT-COREY
SIMON (on
Pittsburgh)
Pittsburgh Steelers vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“They came
out and they played well. They came
out and did something very uncharacteristic for the Pittsburgh Steelers – they
came out and threw the ball.”
DT-COREY
SIMON (on his
disappointment) Pittsburgh
Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts
Post-Game Quotes
“It’s a hard
loss. It’s hard to lose anytime you
get to the playoffs. A loss is a
loss – anytime you lose, it hurts.”
DT-COREY
SIMON (on the long layoff
between games) Pittsburgh
Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts
Post-Game Quotes
“It had
nothing to do with rust. Today,
they had the breaks, they played well – they played well enough to
win.”
DB-NICK
HARPER (on what he was
thinking when he saw the ball on the field before the fumble recovery in the
Fourth Quarter) Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“I saw it and
was trying to get it as soon as possible and get to where there were no
defenders, find a clearing, and score.”
DB-MIKE
DOSS (on loss in relation
to regular season)
Pittsburgh
vs. Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“I don’t
think this takes anything away from the regular season. We played well. We
played hard. We just didn’t get it done today.”
WR-TROY WALTERS (on bye week)
Pittsburgh Steelers vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“That’s an
excuse. We practiced well. This is an AFC divisional game. If you can’t get up
for this, you can’t get up for anything.”
WR-TROY WALTERS (on loss)
Pittsburgh Steelers vs.
Indianapolis Colts Post-Game
Quotes
“They played
well. We didn’t. It hurts anytime you start as well as we did and finish with
the No. 1 seed (and lose). We expected to go to the Super Bowl and win
it.”
TE-BRANDON STOKLEY (on play calling
on the last drive) Pittsburgh
Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts
Post-Game Quotes
“We tried for
the endzone a couple times. We just didn’t make
it.”
K- MIKE
VANDERJAGT(on missing the
game-tying field goal) Pittsburgh
Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts
Post-Game Quotes
“I made
everything all day – in practice and pre-game. I made everything all week. I
wasn’t worried about the kick at all. I’m somewhat in shock that I am standing
here after a missed field goal....”
“…I’m not
sure what happened. You know as bad as we played, we still had a chance to tie
in the end and that’s what I’m here for ..”
“When you
kick 250 field goals for an organization, you are going to have some good ones
and bad kicks. This was a bad one.”
…”I am still
the field goal kicker. I am still here to make 3 points and we were down by 3
with 20 seconds left.”