HEAD COACH LOVIE SMITH(on going up against Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy) 11/17/04
"It's always good when you get a chance, well, for me, my first team to get a chance to go against as good a defensive coach, as good a head coach as there is in the National Football League. So, we're excited. Forget Tony and I knowing each other, just to get a chance to go against, might I add, a great Indianapolis Colts team. So, we're excited about the opportunity."
HEAD COACH LOVIE SMITH(on the biggest difference the last three weeks) 11/17/04
"I think whenever you're trying to build something that's solid, you have to get a great foundation. And we started from scratch. We're new, we're all getting a chance to know each other and what's expected. A new system is going in. I just think it takes time sometimes to get everything in the way you want it to. You just don't, defensively, our system, it takes a while for guys to completely buy into the discipline of the defense—and the same on the offensive side of the football. So, I think normal growth is what we've gone through. You're supposed to get better from week to week, and there comes a point where you need to cross over. We really felt after the Tampagame, we really looked at ourselves a little bit closer, and guys have really stepped up since then."
HEAD COACH LOVIE SMITH(on what he sees when he looks at the Colts offense) 11/17/04
"Offensively, it starts with the guy that's running the show—Peyton Manning. Peyton, of course, is as good of a quarterback as there is in the league…the best quarterback in the league. That's how he's been for a while. He's a great leader. We have a history together. I was with him at Tennesseewhen he came in as a freshman. He has great skill guys around him, (Marvin) Harrison. You look at all of the skill positions, really: running back, (Edgerrin) James; tight end, both tight ends have played well; and their offensive line, of course, it starts with them giving Peyton time to actually throw and distribute the ball out to the skill guys. So, they just have good personnel, they have a great scheme and they play hard."
HEAD COACH LOVIE SMITH(on if this Colts team reminds him of the St. Louis Rams) 11/17/04
"Well, they're similar in both of them can strike quickly. They both know exactly what they want to do. They have a proven success rate with the systems they're running. Both programs have kept their core guys together for a while, and that's important. We're coming together for the first time right now getting to know each other. Their core guys have been together throughout, and really don't have to do a lot of communicating at times to know exactly what the other guy's thinking. So, they are similar. Both are exciting and can put up points quickly."
HEAD COACH LOVIE SMITH(on why this will be a close game) 11/17/04
"That's why you play the game. Really, I think what happened the last game has very little to do with what's happening this game. We play good defense. That's what we're basing it on. Indianapolisis more of an offensive team. They do a great job on the defensive side. (Defensive coordinator) Ron Meeks is as good a defensive coach as there is out there. The strength of our team is our defense, and we go into every game and feel like we can slow anybody down. And that's the case this week. I know that's a task that no one has done, but this team has surprised me each week with the effort that they've been able to (give). Our Bear fans know what type of football we (play). We don't have to convince them that we can beat anyone."
DE-ADEWALE OGUNLEYE(on how it's been in Chicago) 11/17/04
"Early on, it was a tough adjustment, changing…new team, new system, new guys, new coaches. It was tough, just a new city. It's been hard for me to catch up, but so far this week, I feel good and feel like I belong here in the city."
DE-ADEWALE OGUNLEYE(on looking back at Miami) 11/17/04
"You can't look at that. You look back, that's disappointing because I have a lot of good friends on that team. But, when you look back in the rearview mirror, you see nothing but a train wreck. There's nothing good that's going on. Things happen for a reason, and I thank God that he's put me in this situation to move on with my life and to finish my career here in Chicago. I wouldn't have been able to write this ending any better than it has. I'm happy."
DE-ADEWALE OGUNLEYE(on he and Alex Brown at the end position) 11/17/04
"It was the same way in Miami, and it now seems that Alex has definitely picked up his game this year. It's a pleasure to play with another end again that knows how to get to the quarterback and knows how to make plays. It's fun."
DE-ADEWALE OGUNLEYE(on the biggest difference in the last three weeks) 11/17/04
"The biggest difference has been, just the fact that on defense, we've played okay the first half of the year. We've had some things go wrong, some injuries. But it seems like guys are coming back from these injuries. We're starting to jell a little bit as a unit, on defense. And the offense, they haven't played their best game yet, but they haven't been putting us in bad situations. They haven't been letting interceptions go back for touchdowns or anything like that. They are giving the defense a chance to win the game and that's what we've been doing. The defense these last three games has been pulling out these games, and the offense will come around. It could be this game. So, we just have to keep playing the way we're playing on defense and we know our offense is just a step away from clicking on al cylinders, too."
DE-ADEWALE OGUNLEYE(on what he sees in Peyton Manning and the Colts offense) 11/17/04
"Peyton right now, just watching him, he's as close to a football god as there is right now. He's playing phenomenal football. It's kind of hard to watch the game and not look at it as a fan, because just the way that they're playing on the offensive side of the ball is like 'Madden 2005.' You don't see the ball touching the ground. You just see completions everywhere, touchdowns. I'm sure they're having a lot of fun, but I'm a defensive end and a defensive player, so that's a nightmare for us. We just have to find a way to slow this team down. They're really, really quick, and he's getting the ball to so many people. Then, you have Edgerrin (James), who to me, is probably one of the best backs in the league. It's like pick your poison with this whole team."
DE-ADEWALE OGUNLEYE(on with the two offenses, why he thinks they can win Sunday) 11/17/04
"Because we're playing good defense, and in this league and I'm sure a lot of Indianapolisfans know this, when it really, really counts, it's whose defense is able to stop the other team's offense. If we're able to stop the Colts' off
