HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(general comments following Sunday's 51-24 win vs. Tennessee) 12/6/04
"In looking at the game, we're obviously pleased to get a win, and did some things really well. Some other things, we kind of reverted back, and that wasn't what we wanted to see. We wanted to play a little sharper than our Thanksgiving Day game (at Detroit) and we didn't do that in all areas. Once we got through the first quarter, I think we played a little bit better, and maybe it was just that rust of having that time off, I'm not sure. I thought we practiced well, I thought we were ready to go, but we weren't really that sharp defensively. Offensively, we moved the ball. We had some uncharacteristic turnovers and we have to try to eliminate that, because as we go on and play in bigger games and against teams that aren't as short-handed as Tennesseewas, that will obviously hurt us. But, I thought our energy was good and our effort was good. We just have to continue to practice and work to be a little bit sharper. We're right where we would like to be. We have a chance to clinch our division this week, so this becomes an even bigger game."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on making the team believe they must win the division) 12/6/04
"Wherever I've been, that's always been the first goal, and especially since we changed to this four-division format. As you can see, this year, the wild card race is going to be really tight, and there are going to be some good teams left out. You don't want to be, in the last week of the season, saying, 'Boy, we hope we win and someone else loses,' or 'We need this team to win so we can get a wild card.' If you win your division, you know you're in, you know you have at least one home game, and then, you can start working from there. But that's always been my number one goal. And I think our players have bought into that and understand how important it is."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on how nice it has been to watch this offense) 12/6/04
"It's something that I guess you think about more in the middle of the week, afterwards, and (Vice President of Public Relations) Craig (Kelley) will give me some stats; this happened, that happened, or this could happen. When you're watching it, you kind of want to see things go the way they go in practice. And that's the way it's been for the most part. (The Tennesseegame) was a little bit of an aberration, where we did some things where we don't normally do, some penalties and mistakes. And that's been the first time in a while that we've had that. But normally, it's been pretty pleasant to be over there and watch it unfold just like it does in practice."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on if he can put this offense in historical perspective with his years in the NFL) 12/6/04
"We played the Rams in 1999, and I got to watch them on tape when they were really rolling, and they had some good weaponry. But they turned the ball over a lot. They were explosive and ran up a lot of points, but I don't know that they were as efficient as we've been so far this year. The team I go back to that I'm familiar with is the San Diegoteams in the 1980s, when they had Dan Fouts and a lot of different receivers and good running backs. They probably were more explosive than we are, but again, I like our efficiency and the fact that we're doing it week in and week out, and we don't have to have a 70-yard play to score. We've had a lot of drives where we've had very few third downs in the game. We'll have some games with seven or eight third downs total. That's just the mark of a very efficient team."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on how he would describe how special what fans are witnessing this year) 12/6/04
"It's not often that you get to see this. I think (Offensive Coordinator) Tom (Moore) had a group like this. I remember playing against Detroitwhen I was at Minnesota, when they had Herman Moore, (Brett) Perriman, Johnnie Morton, (Barry) Sanders and David Sloan. They basically did what we do: you have one formation, and if you loaded up the box on Barry, they threw. If you didn't, then the runner really hurt you. And that's kind of what we have going. Any day can be anyone's big day. You have a bunch of guys that are working hard, and they really are good at what they do. They are efficient and proficient. It is a group that's playing at a real high level right now."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on if you clinch the division, does it matter what seed you are in the playoffs) 12/6/04
"I don't really worry about the seed, no. And I won't get preoccupied. Our big thing will be, 'Win this week.' We know we can clinch the division. If we win this week and we're in, then the next week will become a positioning-type game. We'll be playing Baltimore, and that's what you'll talk about at that point: 'Okay, here's where we are; here's what a win would do for us; here's what a loss could do to us.' And you take it week by week. The big thing is to get in, and then you win as many as you can and try to have that momentum. I'd much rather have the momentum of us playing well and be the No. 3 seed than to (be the No.1 or No. 2) seed, and have lost two of our last three and not be hitting on all cylinders. We were the No. 3 seed last year and it worked out pretty well for us."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on QB-Peyton Manning possibly passing Dan Marino's NFL record of 48 TDs in a season) 12/6/04
"If it does go, sometime this year, it will be a monumental deal. It's one that I thought would stand for a long, long time. He's playing very well. I don't think he's focused in on the record. I know he'd like to have it. I think everybody in the room would like to have it. But he is really focused on just doing the job and moving the ball and scoring points, and that's probably why it's coming, because he is following the game plan. You have a bunch of guys who can catch the ball, who can run after the catch, who make things happen and help it out. I think it's a real team effort, but Peyton is certainly playing an unbelievable level right now."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on what they will take from the first game with Houston) 12/6/04
"We'll take some things from that, and hopefully what our team will understand is it's very difficult to sweep a team in the NFL, to win twice. They make adjustments. They come in with a little more incentive. They're playing at home this time. If we go down there and think at all that it's going to be easy or it's going to be a similar game to the way it was up here, we'll be in for a rude awakening."
