Bill Belichick Post Game Comments
Here is a transcript of Patriot head coach Bill Belichick's comments following New England's 31-28 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
On why it comes down against the wire against Peyton Manning and the Colts:
“He’s pretty good, he’s pretty good. They’ve got a good team, I mean, it’s not just him, they’ve got a lot of other good football players too. They’re well coached, they do a good job. They’ve won a lot of games….they’ve won a lot of games.”
On the interception by James Sanders:
“I’m sure they’d like to have it back. It was a heck of an interception by James. He went up at the high point of the ball – it was a terrific catch.”
On if the Colts changed anything in their last few drives:
“No, we were playing some zone coverage and they hit them underneath. And we got in man a couple times and they ran good routes and stuck it in there like they normally do. It was a great catch on the middle read there for the touchdown. Look, they're tough. They're tough.”
On whether moving Kyle Arrington, was an in-game adjustment or something they planned:
“Yeah, yeah, we planned it. We don't draw them up on the dirt now.”
On what it says about the team being able to come up with a win:
“As usual, games like that come down to a couple plays. Today we were fortunate enough to make them.”
On his thoughts about the touchdown run by Danny Woodhead?
“He's a good runner. I thought Benny [BenJarvus Green-Ellis] ran hard. Woody [Danny Woodhead] ran hard. Those guys break a lot of tackles, they're tough to bring down. Looked like we had a couple good blocks there from Branch and Welker. It was hard to see the whole play, but it looked like Branch came over and kind of helped spring him there. Wes was making a block in the end zone, so good running, good downfield blocking by the receivers. It was good team football.”
On his thought process in putting Darius Butler back out there:
“Well, we switched Kyle.”
On the reasoning for the move of Arrington:
“It's something we felt, you know, could help us in the game.”
On how they’ll manage the short week with the upcoming game in Detroit on Thursday:
“Yeah, it's tough. We've got to go quick. Tomorrow is going to be a scouting report and get going on Detroit day. And Tuesday it will be a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday combined, and Wednesday we're travelling, so we're going to have to cram a lot in here and do a good job on preparing for the Lions, they've got a lot of stuff to get ready for. [They're] a real explosive team offensively. So we've got our work cut out for us on the preparation for that. That's the way it is. With every long week comes a short week, with every short week comes a long week, so it all balances out in the end. But that will be a big challenge, preparation challenge for us this week.
On if he sees Tom Brady getting more comfortable:
“There were a lot of great things in the game. Unfortunately, the fourth quarter offensively that wasn't part of it. Defensively we just didn't do a good job on our two possessions or their two possessions after it was 31-17. After we kicked the field goal we had two bad drives on defense and two bad drives on offense. We certainly need to do better in that situation as a team.”
On if he thought Deion Branch and Tom Brady are “meshing” really well:
“Yeah, I mean they are both really good players. They are both really instinctive players. Deion almost always makes the right decision and does the right thing on his routes based on the corner's technique or the coverage, and Tom of course does a great job of reading that stuff. So they're just two good players.”
On the offensive line protection of Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis:
"Well, I don't think you ever want to hold the ball against those guys. You try to get that out as quick as you can, but you've got to mix in some downfield routes or the defense will just sit on everything and throw all two-yard patterns - they'll just sit on top of those. So somewhere along the line you've got to mix it up and get the ball down the field. But blocking those guys is a challenge.”
On his thoughts on the short week and playing on Thanksgiving:
“I mean, I think Thanksgiving is a great day for football. It's a great day for high school football and obviously for the NFL the double header is now a triple header. I mean that is a great day for everybody to be with their family and eat turkey and watch football. That's kind of what that holiday is, so it doesn't get any better than that. It's a great day for all of us to be thankful for all of the opportunities that we have, particularly the opportunity to play in the National Football League, and for me personally, to be with the Patriots and to be here and the opportunity that Robert [Kraft] and his family have given me, so that's great. But I mean football is football and everybody looks forward to Thanksgiving Day. But having been in Detroit, I know what a big game that is for the Lions and how much that is a part of that city and that franchise and the tradition that has been there. They are always ready to go on Thanksgiving. Jim Schwartz - I know he does a great job and his teams are always well prepared and I know that they'll be ready to go. We have a lot of work to do to get to that point. So after a couple hours we're just going to have to turn it around and get going.”
On the last interception, whether or not he thought Sanders would be there based on the coverage:
“No. He kind of fell off on the route. He kind of read the quarterback and fell off on the route.”
On whether he made the play just based on instincts:
“Yeah, well, he read the quarterback and making a good play on the ball. He went up - I mean, he covered some ground to get to the ball, went up, high pointed it. I mean, it was a great interception.”
