* *
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on coming off an exciting win on MNF to face a winless team)
"Well it's a division game, it's on the road and we've always taken a serious approach to all of these division games because like (Head) Coach (Tony) Dungy always points, out they count double and they're crucial as far as our goal of winning the AFC South. On the road we have always had tough games down there in Houston and we expect the same challenge this week."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on this being a huge game for the Texans)
"We have a very business like approach. We've had excellent weeks of preparation for each game up to this point. It is a short week and it's always a challenge. We're coming back from a Monday night game and hopefully our players will be able to handle it and have a good week of practice and go down there and play well."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on the Texans)
"They're a team that has always given us different looks and we've always earned everything that we've gotten against these guys in the running game and the passing game. Both teams are very familiar with each other, therefore it presents a challenge."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on what's tough about a short week)
"Most guys will probably tell you it's a physical thing. For most guys it's really two days off, and here we are Tuesday was almost half a day off because it's such a late night game and we're back into practice on Wednesday and it carries over into Thursday and Friday. It's obviously a shorter amount of time to prepare. You don't get as much time to study film and to meet with the coaches. Everything is just crammed a little bit, but we've had these situations before and I think we will do a good job of handling it."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on their defense)
"They are familiar with us, with our schemes and our personnel. It's a lot of the same players. They've added some guys through free agency. We've always had good battles with Houston, especially when we play down there."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on the offensive philosophy)
"Our philosophy has always been to try and be balanced and to try to establish the run and the pass. If teams are mixing it, then you are going to be a little bit more two-dimensional, but if teams are staying with one thing, then you have to go with the weakness against that defense. Against St. Louis the other night they were pretty much playing pass coverage the whole game and you have to be able to run the ball. The challenge is when you don't run the ball well you have a lot of 2nd and 10's and 3rd and 10's that can be tough to face. We did a good job in the run game of getting positive yards. We were good on third down again which was key. Most of our third downs were 3rd and manageable and that will be the challenge again this week."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on how far the record can go)
