HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN(on how he anticipates the Colts will approach the game) 12/29/04
"Well, we don't worry about things we can't control. We're just going to get ready for their football team and their starters. It's a very important game for us. We have to win this to get in the playoffs and whatever the Colts decide, they decide."
HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN(on if the Broncos are going in playing as well as they need to be) 12/29/04
"We played pretty good last week. So, it was a confidence booster. We've been playing fairly well on offense and defense. We've been making some mistakes to keep us from being as consistent as we'd like."
HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN(on where he puts this Colts offense) 12/29/04
"Anytime you score over 500 points, it's always up there right in the tops, with all of the other teams that have been able to break that barrier. It's a team that probably could have scored a whole lot more. (Head Coach) Tony (Dungy) is a really a class guy and doesn't really put a lot of points on the scoreboard when the game is out of reach. So, very similar to how George Seifert was, when they were moving the ball fairly well. It's one of the best there is. They've been very consistent in the running game and in the passing game. (Peyton Manning) is unbelievable. To have a 121 passing efficiency is hard to imagine. I was with Steve Young when he was at 112, and I thought that would be impossible to break. Peyton just shattered it, so it kind of gives you an idea of what I think."
HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN(on what John Lynch has meant to the team) 12/29/04
"He's a great leader. He's a great football player. He plays the game well. He's very accountable. He expects a lot from his teammates and he expects a lot of himself. He's been a very positive role model for us."
HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN(on if having some big hitters on the back line of the defense helps them out) 12/29/04
"You have to have those big-time playmakers on defense. If you're going to win championships, you have to have a defense step up and play great in January and February. You have to have people step up and play, because there's going to be some rough conditions. Usually, during the playoffs, great defenses have to make a statement."
HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN(on if DE-Dwight Freeney is a type of player that has to make plays) 12/29/04
"He does. If you don't account for him, you're going to be in for a long day. For him to get the sacks that he's gotten and the attention people pay to him is really a tribute to what a great player he is."
S-JOHN LYNCH(on what it means being voted to the Pro Bowl after changing teams and conferences) 12/29/04
"It was a tremendous honor. It always is. What's most important to me is that your peers are electing you saying, 'Hey, you're one of the best at your position in the league.' And that always is meaningful to me. I think, in particular this year, when there were some doubts by some people whether number one, my health would ever come back, and number two, if I was still playing at the same level, and to come and do it in a new conference and really at a new position in free safety, was pretty special for me."
S-JOHN LYNCH(on how meaningful it was being voted captain of a new team) 12/29/04
"Probably even more meaningful (than being named to the Pro Bowl). I go back to my days in Tampa, and in Tampa, we only had two captains on the whole team. After Hardy Nickerson left, my teammates elected me captain, and that really was the proudest moment of my career. And to come into a new organization and have my teammates say, 'Hey, we want you up front,' that was tremendously humbling for me. That's, in part, what they brought me in here for, to lead this team. I appreciate the guys choosing me to do that."
S-JOHN LYNCH(on if it's hard to believe Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy is behind this offense) 12/29/04
"A little different than (TampaBay) Buc Ball, yeah. I'm real happy for Tony and the success he's having. I owe so much of my football career and so many people down there in Tampaowe so much of their football career to him. He showed us the way on how you play and how you compete and how you become a championship team. I'm real happy for he and his family, that they've found a place in Indy where it's really working out well."
S-JOHN LYNCH(on if this year's Colts offense is better than last year's) 12/29/04
"I think so. There's no doubt about it. I think when you look across the board and when we go over their scouting report today, and you know about it, you hear about it, but everybody has 10-plus touchdowns on their receiving corps, the tight ends have five or six each, the receivers all have 1,000 yards receiving and then you have Edgerrin (James), and he has over 1,500 (rushing yards) with 51 catches. I mean, it just blows your mind. I think what Peyton (Manning) has done this year is just unbelievable, and what that whole offense has done. In all of my years, I think it's the most high-powered offense I've faced. And you face some good ones."
S-JOHN LYNCH(on if the Colts offense this year is better than the Rams of the late 1990s) 12/29/04
"Even the Rams. We played the Rams fairly well back then and they were explosive as well, and there's a host of them, but I think Indy's ability to both run the ball and throw the ball, and the guy they have at quarterback, separates them."
S-JOHN LYNCH(on if he were in Head Coach Tony Dungy's place, how do you determine how much you play your starters in a game like this) 12/29/04
"I'm sure it's worked either way, but having gone through it (in 2001 when Tampa lost to Philadelphia in the playoffs), and Tony (Dungy) was a part of that…whether it has anything to do with that or not, I think Tony probably learned a lesson that you don't want to mess with rhythm and momentum going into a playoff run. So, I'd expect to see them at full strength and their full complement of players. And I would think that's the way you have to approach it."
S-JOHN LYNCH(on DE-Dwight Freeney) 12/29/04
"Every time I watch a game, the guy changes the course of a game. He's a guy who's fun to watch. I sit there, and forget about all the DBs, this guy is faster for 10-15 yards than anyone in this league. He's a guy I really enjoy watching. He changes the course of a game, and we're going to have to be prepared to take care of him."
S-JOHN LYNCH(on if DE-Dwight Freeney should be considered for Defensive Player of the Year) 12/29/04
"I think he certainly deserves to be looked at for that honor. Not only the numbers he's put up, but the attention that he gets and the attention that he takes away from the rest of their defense, allows them to do things. I think it's a little tough because Indy hasn't had the greatest of defensive seasons, but I think when you look at his play, it's just phenomenal."
