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"Looking at our game on tape, it was really tough to take a lot from it other than the first 10 minutes when we were pretty sharp and the last four minutes. Everything in between was not the type of football that we're used to playing and not the type of football we're going to need to play to win. It was difficult digging that type of a hole, but the one thing that was positive, our guys did continue to play even when, mathematically, it looked like we were out of it. We still played hard. Our offense went down and got a score, which helped us and gave us a chance to win it, and then we made some plays on defense.
"For three quarters of the game, we self-destructed. We didn't play with the passion that you have to play in those types of games. We didn't play sound, and it hurt us. We have to get those things squared away. I thought we had made progress over the bye week, and we did in a lot of ways, but it didn't translate out on the field. Hopefully, we can build on what we saw in those last five minutes and grow from there."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on how to get the team to play with passion)
"There's a lot going on, especially with some of our young guys, with the thought process and thinking and trying to be right on your assignments and trying to be where you are supposed to be. You have to be able to do all that, but it comes to a point, too, where it's just energy and making things happen and not being denied, two guys flying to get to the quarterback and the ball ends up coming loose, (DE) Robert Mathis diving from six feet behind the guy and stripping the ball. Sometimes you just have to do that. You have to go get a second block. You have to run over people. Things aren't going to go perfectly, and that's what we have to get a little bit of, also."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on why the team is so up and down in games this season)
"I don't know. That's not what we're looking for and that's not the way we practice. That's not the way we've done things for a number of years. For some reason, we seem to have it this year. We have to get through that, fight through that and build on it. You're not going to be able to come from 15 points down, from 17 points down week after week after week. It just doesn't work that way in the NFL. So, we have to work to eliminate that. A lot of it is just knowing what we're doing and not having critical errors at the wrong time."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if it makes him feel better knowing the team can come back)
"That's the positive. We do have an explosive team that can score points quick and can make big plays. We have guys that can make big plays for us on defense, and we have talent. Right now, we're .500 because we aren't playing consistent football."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if the late turnovers will turn things around on defense)
"You hope so. Again, I think a lot of that comes from playing hard and playing with passion and energy and urgency and flying around. We had some balls on the ground before that. We had some interceptable balls, but we haven't gotten them. In a couple of minutes, we did get on track. Hopefully that opens up the flood gates."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on DE-Robert Mathis)
"He plays hard and that's what we noticed the first time we saw him on tape in college and that hasn't changed. We have a lot of guys that play that way. Robert plays with high energy and makes a lot of good things happen just with tremendous effort."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if this game was a season-saver)
"You hope that it is. You hope that it's a game that spurs us on to play that way all the time. We'll see down the road. We just have to play the way we played the last four minutes. If we do, we're going to be in good shape."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if the team is waiting until late in the game to turn it on)
"You can't do that in the NFL. My hope is, especially our young guys, they see what we're capable of. We have to get more of that performance more often."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if QB-Peyton Manning and WR-Marvin Harrison are off)
"We are a little bit in our passing game, and it's not just Marvin. People are starting to crowd us, which is unusual for us. We've gone so many years where people have said they can't give up the deep balls. Now, for whatever reason – whether they think we're not going to have enough time to throw, whether we are a little bit off – they're just saying, 'We're going to let you take your chances with the deep balls.' We hit (WR) Reggie ( Wayne) on one yesterday. We missed about five that we normally hit. Until we start hitting some of those, I think we're going to see the same thing."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if deep balls are not being completed because Manning has less time)
"I've looked at quite a few of them, and it's hard to say. Some of them, we do have time, everything is set up and it's just a little bit off. A couple of them, we have been rushed and a couple, we've had guys open and the protection hasn't been there. We haven't been able to get them off and we've had to dump the ball off. We've had five or six, maybe even more than that, in the first four games that we normally hit and we haven't hit for whatever reason."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on the pass play when Harrison went outside and the ball was thrown inside)
"He's running where he thinks the ball was going to be. That ball was thrown inside. He thought it was going to be outside, so he's running away from the defender. Gonzo (WR-Anthony Gonzalez) back shoulders one and doesn't quite get it. (WR) Reggie (Wayne) gets one. That's just the story of our life right now, that we aren't hitting them. Somehow, we're going to have to hit them. Otherwise, that's the way everybody's going to play us."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on OT-Tony Ugoh playing some on special teams but not on first-team offense)
"No, not demoted. (OT) Charlie (Johnson) is playing fine. Tony's getting back in the swing of things and Charlie was the one that had the most practice and the most work. We just thought it was best to play Charlie. We'll see how it goes, where Tony is this week, and we'll see."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on OGs-Mike Pollak and Jamey Richard)
"I thought they did well once they got into the flow of things. For Mike, it's his first real action since the pre-season. As the game wore on, I thought he got better. Jamey shifted around a little bit and played some different positions. Both of those guys, I thought, did OK."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if the running game is struggling because of a lack of consistency on the OL)
"That would be an easy way to excuse it and say, 'Well, that's what it is,' but we've been like that with everything – our passing game, running game, everything. We have some promising plays and then other plays that short-circuit, so we have to get more consistent all the way across the board, offense and defense."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if he has ever been involved in three straight games like the Colts last three)
"Not three in a row like this. Again, you just don't have that many 15-, 17-point comebacks in the NFL and we've had two in three weeks. Then, we have another game where we score to take the lead and don't hold the lead. It's been a roller coaster, but probably just tells us we aren't playing consistent enough."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on special-teams coverage)
"We're doing better coverage-wise. I think (P) Hunter (Smith) and (K) Adam (Vinatieri) are kicking the ball better for us. Adam's kicking the ball great on kickoffs. We can still improve, but it certainly has been better over the first four weeks, although over the first six games last year it was very good, also. We have to continue to build on that. We do have some young guys going. Jamie Silva, Philip Wheeler, Pierre Garcon, they're learning as they go and hopefully will continue to improve."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on being second in the AFC South after almost being last)
"That's how the NFL is, and I think it's going to be that way for most of the year. That's why you can't really look at how other teams are doing, or who's where, who's ahead of you, who's behind you. We have to get ourselves playing good football and winning consistently. It's going to be the type of thing where you're going to have teams up and down, and a win or a loss can make a big difference in how you feel for a couple of weeks. I think that's just what we're going to see."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on DT-Raheem Brock being called for holding)
"Yes, it was. I think it was probably a good call. What they're trying to eliminate is the defenders holding guys from getting off and blocking linebackers. In this case, Raheem was getting double-teamed and really just gets drilled to the ground and he pulls the guy down with him. I could see how it could be called. It was just one of those bad things that happen to you when you're not playing well."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on WR-Reggie Wayne's touchdown catch)
"I've heard from a lot of people that said, 'Wow, what a catch,' and, 'Could you believe it?' I hate to say routine, but it's what we see a lot in practice. Our guys do that. They have very, very good concentration. Catching the ball, getting it secured with one hand and getting his feet down, it was a very, very athletic play, but it's one we see a lot and our guys don't get too surprised by it."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on how close the call was on Wayne's touchdown catch)
"I think the big decision was, 'When did he actually get control of it?' and, 'When he had it in one hand, did he have control of it?' They were looking to see if the ball was moving around, but it looked like to me he stopped it and then he had it with one hand. I thought it was a pretty easy call."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on Houston QB-Sage Rosenfels)
"Unfortunately for Sage, he's probably not going to get to play through it. I'm sure when (QB-Matt) Schaub gets back, he'll play. It's really unfortunate. You feel bad for someone like that. He comes in under tough circumstances, probably having not practiced much all week, plays very, very well, directs everything and then he's just trying to make one play at the end to win the game, fumbles the ball and now he's trying to make another play and it just snowballed from there. He played 55 minutes of exceptional football under the circumstances. You hope that he'll just continue to move forward and not let that bother him. I know that has to be tough on their whole organization, to lose a game where you feel like you have it won."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on how he would approach Rosenfels if it was his QB)
"I would just talk to him and say, 'Hey, you did everything that we could ask for. You were trying to win the game and you didn't lose the game yourself. We still had plenty of opportunities to get the job done.' I'm sure, in their locker room, guys will rally around him and look at the things he did well and not those two fumbles."
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