Colts DE Dwight Freeney Conference Call (12/8/04)
(on the success of the Colts defensive line) "The best thing about playing D-line is obviously getting the sacks. That's what you want to work toward and we've been having a great year doing that. Robert Mathis and our inside guys are up there leading the way, I think maybe even leading D-tackles, at least in the AFC. I don't know how many sacks D-tackles have out there in the AFC. So we're doing pretty well doing that, especially when you have an offense putting up points like we're doing it's a little bit better. We can pin our ears back and get after the quarterback a little bit."
(on getting better as a defensive line) "Everyday, day in and day out, we go out there working hard. We work the bags and we work on specific drills to get better at getting to the quarterback. We try to show those results in the game."
(on seeing more double teams against the Texans) "I would think so but you never know. Everybody has their own game plan. Most teams we've played this year have doubled us pretty much. But you can't double everybody, well actually you might be able to double everybody if you leave in eight guys to protect. So hopefully we'll get some guys to step up if they do happen to double me and Robert. You know, have the D-tackles go out there and have a good day."
(on why teams don't do whatever it takes to stop him and Mathis) "Every team has their identity and their scheme. If you're one of those teams who have that particular offense where you don't have a lot of backs in their routes and you don't do this, you don't do that and the tight end is not as important in your passing game you may be able to do some of those things. If the identity of your team is to get rid of the ball quick and you need all of your receivers to do that you can't let one guy destroy the whole makeup of your offense because you want to do what you do well and have confidence in those players that they can do the job."
(on worried that his team hasn't played in many close games) "We're not worried about it. We've had plenty of fourth quarter comebacks ... We've done that. We've been in close games a lot last year and we have the same (players) from last year. We've had a couple of close games this year. We want to keep on doing what we do. We're successful and winning games and we're winning by a lot of points so I'm definitely not worried about that."
(on why the Colts offensive line doesn't get much credit) "To be honest with you I think our offensive line is the best out there. I'm not just saying that because that's my teammates. We don't give up that many sacks. If you look at our sack percentage, we're always down low in the league as far as giving up sacks … It's amazing to me how we don't get that much credit as far as the offensive line especially guys like Tarik Glenn – I don't remember the last time he gave up a sack to be honest with you. Maybe it's because of Peyton (Manning). He takes so much of the pub and we've got the receivers, Marvin (Harrison) … We've got a lot of big name guys and maybe that's the reason."
(on Manning's role in limiting sack totals) "Peyton is by no means a mobile quarterback but he has a good pocket sense. He know where to step up in the pocket and where to protect himself. You have to have an offensive line to create that pocket for you and Peyton does a great job of feeling to pressure and know where the pressure is from and throwing the ball."
