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HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (opening remarks)
"It must be a big game. This is a bigger crowd than we normally have on a Wednesday. This is fun. I think our players are looking forward to it. I'm very, very excited for our city to be able to host this after such a long time, a long wait. But the most important thing is not hosting it, but finding a way to win. And that's going to be tough duty. We've been watching the Patriots the last two days (on film). They've played very, very well down the stretch, and they play well on the road. They go on the road with a certain air of confidence. And, they have a championship heart. It's going to be a battle, one we're looking forward to, and one we're excited about playing."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on his thoughts about the possibility of two African-American coaches reaching the Super Bowl) January 17,
"Well, hopefully we get there. We'll be able to discuss that (then). Right now, I'm really focused on winning this game. Obviously, it would be tremendous. I'm honored to be in this position. But more than anything else, I'm really focused on getting the Colts there for the first time since we've been in Indianapolis."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if it is appropriate to face New England to get to the Super Bowl) January 17,
"I think it is. I think we all felt in our heart of hearts that we'd see New England at some point in the playoffs. For us to get where we want to go, we're going to have to beat them. It's probably poetic justice. We're going to need our best game, and we're looking forward to it."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on with the history of the two teams, the Patriots winning the last two post-season games and Colts winning the last two regular-season games, how this game might turn out differently)
"I think it's going to play out that whoever plays the best on Sunday night is going to win. That's what I told our team — don't read too much into the seven-game losing streak we had, don't read too much into who won the playoffs or who has won the last ones. It really doesn't matter. They're going to come in with an approach, (and) we don't know what their approach is going to be. We're going to just have to be ready for that. I don't think history is going to be much of a factor."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on the Chargers giving the Patriots chances with mistakes and if he uses that example to teach his team anything)
"As a matter of fact, I did. Everyone thinks that you have to raise your level of play in the playoffs, (that) you have to do something different, something special, to step up to the big stage. Really, I think what the Patriots do so well is they play their game, and they don't have the errors that come from being nervous, from doing things a little bit differently. They play their game, and if you don't, you're not able to beat them. The last couple of times we played them, we've been able to play with minimal errors, and that's what you have to do to have a chance against them."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on the importance of having a good kicker in the playoffs)
"You're playing good teams (in the playoffs). And most of the times, you're playing close games. Many of them do come down to field goals, but you've got to play (well) the rest of the game to get yourself in a position to do that. I think the lesson we learned last Saturday was don't discount field goals. Scoring is important. You always want to score touchdowns, but you can win a game with two field goals just as easily as you can with one touchdown. It is great to have Adam (Vinatieri) on our sideline, and we feel good about having him."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on how he would characterize QB-Peyton Manning's play in the playoffs)
"I think Peyton has played very well. He had a couple of throws in the Kansas City game that he would like to have back, but in 95 percent of that game, he was really good and he got us into the right plays
