HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on how noise will translate from the RCA Dome to Lucas Oil Stadium) * *
"I think it's really the fans that make the noise level. Everybody says the dome helps, but we look at some of the places that are tough for us to go; Kansas City is probably the place that comes to mind the quickest, and that's not a dome. Minnesota is tough, and has been tough, but I think it's the fans. For us, it probably started in 2003. Our fans were very used to being quiet because of the no-huddle offense. We were always asking for quiet on offense and it took a while for that noise to really come around. I'm sure we are going to see it Sunday night, if we have the roof open, that the noise is going to be about the same and it's really the fans and not necessarily the venue that make it."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on the noise level at Qwest Field)
"We played in Qwest, and it was a pre-season game, and it was pretty loud. I know it was the first game they had the new turf, I don't know if it was the first game of that stadium or not, but it was loud. Their fans had a dome and they were loud and the noise was a factor and it helped their team and I think they took pride in that and wanted to be just as loud and just as vocal and they had been. As I said, I coached in Kansas City for three years and they never had a dome, but it was always a loud place. A couple of my neighbors out there, after big games, they would come home and say 'We never sat down all game.' They were so proud of it, that they were a factor in the game and making it a tough place to play, and I think we have fans like that."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if Colts fans are like that)
"Absolutely. When you talk to other people from other teams, they talk about it and they talk about changing what they do and having to go to silent snap counts and maybe coming in with a different game plan and throwing the ball quicker here than when they play us at their place. You do realize it's a factor."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if the fast starts are a by-product of pre-season approach)
"I would like to say it's all the head coach, but I don't think that's the case. I really think, from my vantage point, it's the fact that we have an experienced offense and our offense usually comes out clicking pretty well. Normally, early in the season, the defenses are a little bit ahead of the offenses. The offenses take their time to get their timing down and you play more low-scoring games early on. We've just had the good fortune of playing well on offense, of not having a lot of turnovers and problems, and scoring puts early on. If I had to point to one thing, I would say the experience factor we have on offense has really helped us get to those good starts."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on the importance of a fast start)
"I've always thought that was good, because I have been on the other end in Tampa, where you're 3-3 or 3-4 and you feel like you have to get on a streak and you have to play perfect. Not only do you have to win your games, you're watching the scoreboard hoping the other teams lose. It can be done, but that's a hard way to go. It's much easier when you have the one-game lead or the two-game lead and they're trying to catch you."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on the AFC South being one of the toughest divisions)
"I've always thought it was tough. I think the national attention is catching up to it because our teams are getting on TV a little bit more that we had three teams in the playoffs last year. The year we won the Super Bowl, we lost three games in a row in our division. The other years, even when we've gone 5-1 or 6-0, we've had tight games and tough games. It is a division that has good quarterbacking. It has very, very solid coaching. You have Houston, who is coming from an expansion era, but they've drafted so well. Especially their young defensive players – (DE) Mario Williams and (LB-DeMeco) Ryans and (CB) Dunta Robinson when he gets back – are really coming on now. It's a tough division and we have a lot of pride in the fact that we do think we're in the toughest division in football."
