BB: That was a long football game. There are some tough guys in that locker
room. They won't quit. They just keep fighting. It doesn't matter who
believes in them or what anybody else thinks they can do; they just keep on
digging. I have got a lot of respect for those guys and I thought they
really deserved it today. It was uphill the whole way, but we were able to
make enough plays at the right time and in all three areas of the game, and
it was really a terrific victory. I can't say enough about the effort that
the players put out there for 60 minutes or it was more than that, 65
minutes, however long it was. So now we just sit back and see what happens.
But as far as today goes, we did what we could do and hopefully we will live
to fight another day.
Q: How gratifying is that to you to see your team come back in the last
five minutes like that?
BB: It was great. I mean they never give up. They never stop fighting. But
we also executed some things real well, made some key stops, managed the
clock and converted on the two-point play. We just did a lot of things right
at the end and it was good.
Q: How clutch was Adam Vinatieri? Could you tell at the end his last kick
was good?
BB: Yes. It looked pretty good and the fans started cheering. You could see
them right behind the goal post. He is the best kicker in the league so if
you want anybody kicking that kick it's him. We came real close to getting
the fair catch there at the end of the regulation which would have given us
a free kick, but we couldn't quite get at it. It was good we got a clear
shot at the end.
Q: How much frustration was there on the sideline, if any, that
defensively you had problems with Ricky Williams? Offensively, there weren't
that many openings. Was there a frustration level?
BB: I thought we had more trouble than we needed to have in the running
game. We just didn't do a very good job on the bounce-out runs and setting
the edge. Ricky Williams got a lot of easy yardage outside that we just
didn't defend as well as we needed to defend it. So that was frustrating. It
shouldn't have been as easy for him as it was to gain some of those yards.
But he is still a great back and they've got a good running attack. So that
part was frustrating. Offensively, we had a couple of opportunities we
didn't take advantage of, but that is a good defensive football team so we
had got to keep plugging away, keep taking the shots and fortunately, we
were able to hit some.
Q: You didn't see as much of Ricky Williams in the second half...
BB: I thought we just played poor perimeter defense in the first half, poor
to atrocious, somewhere in that neighborhood. It wasn't perfect in the
second half but it was a lot better. It was just terrible in the first half.
Q: The kick at the end of the regulation, was that an option or were you
going to kick that away the whole time with the on-side look?
BB: No, we were kicking it deep.
Q: You featured Kevin Faulk a little bit more in this game. Is this the
best game he has played for you?
BB: He has had some big plays this year, but he played consistently well
today. I thought we were able to get him on some matchups in the passing
game. Kevin has had a solid year. He has had a heck of a lot of big plays
and he certainly came up with them today. They, of course, obviously, played
a lot of press coverage like they always do, roll up a lot on the outside
receivers. So he had an opportunity to get some space inside and he made
some nice plays with it.
Q: What did you say to your players when you took the trophy out
yesterday?
BB: I just told them what I thought it stood for and it was more about the
present than the past, what it would take for us to get it, what I saw in
the team that won that trophy, how it played, how we needed to play, and
fighting for 60 minutes. Playing tough, hard-nosed, smart football was
really what that was about.
Q: You seemed confident your club would rebound today, especially after
the last two games. What did you see coming into this game?
BB: Just what I said. I think we have a lot of tough guys in that locker
room, guys that are tough that will compete right to the end even when
things are tough. I'd go to war with them any time.
Q: There were times earlier in the game, Brady seemed to be favoring his
arm. Was there something there?
BB: I don't know. It was a tough game. There was a lot of hard hitting out
there. But I thought he made a nice throw there at the end to Kevin.
Q: Comparing this year to last year, would you admit now the way it is
kind of uncanny?
BB: This isn't about this year and last year. We have had a couple of close
games. Look at the Chicago game. We lost some tough ones. We have won some
tough ones. Going into today all we could do was just stay in the division
race. All we could do was beat Miami. We did what we could do.
Unfortunately, we have several other losses along the way that may or may
not keep us out of the playoffs. But we did all we could do today and I am
proud of the way the players handled that.
Q: How are you going to spend the next three hours? You did what you
could do today and now you have to sit and watch...
BB: That is the way it is. I mean there is nothing you can do about it at
the time. When it is over we'll know one way or the other. You can't control
between now and then.
Q: Are you going to go to your office? Do you watch it as a team? What
are you going to do?
BB: No, we don't have any plans to watch it as a team. I have trouble
watching games like that. I will probably just come in later on in the
second half and see how things are going. It is hard to go back and forth
play to play. It is probably emotionally more than we are ready for right
now. I have never been in a situation like this before. I have been in
situations where you play on Sunday and you wait for the Monday night game
or you play on Saturday and it is a Sunday game, but I have never been in a
situation where you have won a 1 P.M. game and something is dependent on the
the 4 P.M. game. So let's go Packers.
Q: Would you classify that as kind of typical of Brady, when you really
needed something he came through?
BB: Yes. He really did today, no doubt about it. I would probably say that
about the Chicago game too. He certainly played well in the clutch and I
thought he made some good throws earlier in the game. I mean they weren't
all perfect, none of them are. But he certainly made some clutch ones at the
end. The two-point throw was a big one. The throw to Kevin on the sideline
was a great throw and catch. It was tight coverage and he was able to get it
in there. Kevin made a terrific play.
Q: As physically and mentally tired as your team might be at this point
with all it has gone through, did you have an inclination that they still
had this in them?
BB: I thought heading into this week, well, whatever we got, I thought we
were going to lay out there today. Whatever that was, whether that was 80
percent of our maximum or 92 percent of it or 97 percent, I don't know what
it was, but I really thought whatever we had, we would lay out there. And I
would have been disappointed if the players hadn't done that, but they did.
Hey, Miami is a good team. They gave us some problems, no question about it.
But the effort, the toughness, the hanging in there, the just fighting to
the bitter end, that is what I respect about these players. And they
certainly did it today. |
