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BB: It was real good to go out there
and win today. Real proud of our team. I thought they stepped up and played
some of the best football we've played all year as a team. All three phases—special
teams, covering those kicks and offensively, third down, picking up the
blitz, running the ball, you know, defensively, I thought those guys played
well. The Jets are a good football team and I give them a lot of
credit. They certainly gave us all we wanted today, and all three games were
very hard-fought. They're a physical team, they're a good football team. Eric [Mangini] has done a good job with that team. But we were
fortunate to win today. I think our players stepped up and just made a few
more plays, and that was obviously the difference in the game. Really proud
of the way they played and their toughness and their competitiveness. Now
we're moving on to San Diego, and we all know how good they are, so
we're going to have to continue to bring our 'A' game to be competitive this
time of year, we all know that. A lot of guys played well today, it would be
hard to single anybody out. But as a team, I thought they really played well
as units, and we executed things—probably some
of the best things we did all year.
Q: Can you talk about the Vince
Wilfork fumble?
BB: Well, it looked like they were
trying to throw the bubble pass out there to the slot. It was clearly a
lateral, from, I mean I was standing almost right on the line of scrimmage.
I definitely thought the ball was lateraled. [Rosevelt] Colvin got his hand on it, and Vince made the smart play, which we always
talk about—get on the ball and ask questions
later. I was disappointed to see him get rundown from behind there [Smiling], but
obviously that was a big turnover. Unfortunately we were only able to get
three points out of it, but still, it was a big field-position swing, and it
did give us a few more points there. It was a big play.
Q: You touched on just starting the
game offensively no-huddle how important was it tempo-wise in this game?
BB: I thought it was important. The
whole game was a little bit of a tempo game, both ways, on the line of
scrimmage and getting players in and out. Both teams used timeouts on
substitutions, and getting the calls and the communication was an issue all
the way around. Tom [Brady], as always, does a great job
managing that. We were able to punch some runs out there in the second
quarter, in some of their sub defenses. I thought that opening drive was a
big drive for us, obviously, to get on top and try to play the game from
ahead, even though we eventually gave it back to them. That’s certainly the
way you want to start the game.
Q: Did playing no-huddle early on
force them to keep the same personnel on the field a little bit so you could
create matchups there?
BB: Well, yes, that's inherent in
that. If you don't substitute, then they can't substitute, either. Again,
there are advantages and drawbacks to it. We wanted to go at a tempo where
we could kind of control it and not get into as much of a matchup game, even
though we wanted to play some of that, and we did play some of it, but we
were able to just control the tempo early in the game, and that was
something that we wanted to do.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about Jabar Gaffney and the day that he had?
BB: Jabar has done a good job
for us all year. He came in here earlier in the season, about a quarter of
the way through, and he learned all of the positions—he's
played X, he's played Z, he's played in the slot. He's a smart kid, a good
route runner. He's done a great job of picking up the system. He works as
hard as anybody. He's given us some quality plays this year. I was happy for
him and all of the receivers, the tight ends. Offensively we had a lot of
production across the board, a lot of different guys. That's what you'd
always like to see, is that kind of balance and good team execution.
Q: Other than better execution, what
would you contribute to Tom's greater comfort level this time than
back on November 12th?
BB: Again, I just think we played
better as a football team. We had better field position, we played better on
defense, we had better protection, we ran the ball better. I think everybody
played better. I think we did a better job in trying to play our game and do
the things that we need to do. It wasn't perfect. The Jets give you a
lot of things to worry about and they give you a lot of problems. I thought
our tight ends and backs did a great job today in blitz pickup. They ran a
lot of pressures, and crisscrossed guys, moving around before the snap, and
coming from different spots. Just to be able to sort all of that out and get
them blocked was…Dante [Scarnecchia] and Josh [McDaniels],
the offensive coaches, Pete [Mangurian], Ivan [Fears],
those guys did a great job of sorting all that stuff out and being able to
pick it up. The receivers, they obviously stepped up and made some plays
today.
Q: Can you talk about Kevin [Faulk's]
touchdown play? It seemed like the Jets blitzed up the middle and he
was wide open.
BB: It looked like they missed the
peel on it. I think somebody was probably supposed to peel with him on the
blitz, coming out of the backfield, and it looked like they must have missed
it. I couldn't really see it, I was standing on the opposite side of the
field. But my guess is that they had somebody assigned to peel with him and
he must have missed him.
Q: What did you say to Mangini after the game?
BB: Do you want to talk about the
game? We're not going to get into a postgame analysis here. I've had enough
of that.
Q: The photographers thought it was a
big show.
BB: There were 80 people between me
and Eric. I'm just trying to coach the team, that's all. Just trying
to coach the team.
Q: Can you talk about Asante [Samuel's]
interception play?
BB: We were in a coverage that was a
little bit of a combination coverage, and Asante kind of dropped back
like he was going to cover the outside receiver. He made a great move and
trapped the inside receiver breaking out. Asante has a great feel for doing
things like that. He made a nice play on the ball and [had] a good run. It
was a big play, but it was well-executed by [Ray] Mickens and
Asante and the safety. It was just well-timed. Once again, the pressure
upfront makes it tough, hopefully, for the quarterback and the receivers to
execute those deeper-down-the-field throws. And I thought we had good
pressure today on the pass rush.
Q: Do you have the luxury of taking
any time to enjoy this win or do you have to turn the page almost
immediately?
BB: I think we have to turn it pretty
quick. I think that San Diego has pretty much led from start to
finish here. You look at all of the ratings that you guys do every week and
they're always right up there, one or two. They've been there all year.
They're the number one seed, the best team in the AFC based on the
regular season performance, and they deserve to be. They're good on defense,
they're good on offense, they're good on special teams. They can score. They
can stop you. They had a week's rest; I'm sure they're going to be ready to
go. I have all the respect in the world for Marty [Schottenheimer]
as a football coach. We don't have long, maybe a couple of hours here. Then
we're going to have to go on the road and get back to work here against San
Diego. They're tough. |
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