ATLANTA -- Postgame quotes from Falcons and Colts players and coaches following the 31-13 Indianapolis victory at the Georgia Dome.
HEAD COACH BOBBY PETRINO
Opening Statement:
”That was another tough loss for us, there is no question about that. We started fast and our players came out and competed hard. I liked the way we moved the ball early. We were able to mix the run and the pass effectively. There were a couple of big plays that hurt us in the first half; the fumble by WR Laurent Robinson and then the penalty for roughing the punter, which was really a big swing for us. Following the penalty, QB Peyton Manning got hot and started throwing the ball very well. We were able to get pressure on him at times, but not consistently. We have to come back after a couple of days off, regroup and try to get a win in St. Louis.”
On the roughing the punter call:
“It was a tough call and I am not sure why it was called. It didn’t seem like we did a whole lot, but sometimes you get calls like that.”
On the team starting fast and then slowing down:
“I think that is when some of our youth and inexperience showed up. There are times when we are doing well, the momentum swings and we have a hard time recovering. When you are playing a tough team like Indianapolis it is hard to overcome that.”
On the performance of the offense despite the injuries:
“It is tough. It makes it hard for us to sustain pass protection. Early on, I thought we did a good job and then some of our guys that have not played that much seemed to fatigue a little.”
On RB Warrick Dunn passing 10,000 rushing yards:
“It is a remarkable feat, especially when you look at his size and stature. It says a lot of about him, his durability, his longevity and just how good of a football player he is. I am happy to be a part of it.”
TE ALGE CRUMPLER
On the loss:
”This is a very tough loss because we have not gotten off to a good start the entire season. It felt like we had something that we could build on, but we were not able to finish. Our defense had a good stop and then we had the roughing the kicker penalty. That gave them a little momentum. From there, they were able to go and score. This team is very capable of going and scoring touchdowns. The defense was playing well and making some plays, but unfortunately that was not enough for us today.”
On Warrick Dunn reaching 10,000-yard rushing mark:
“We tried so hard to get it for him last week and we couldn’t do it. But it’s great he reached the rushing mark this week. Warrick has a tremendous work ethic and he is also very smart. I am proud to see him cross that mark.
On preparing for the next game:
“The Rams are a team that struggled and we are a team that has struggled, but we have to go on the road and find things that we are good at. We have to find ways to compete and find ways to win. Some way, we have to finish the season on a positive note.”
LB MICHAEL BOLEY
On the injury he sustained during the game:
”I banged my elbow up a little bit. It’s pretty good now. I had to calm down a little bit.”
On the running into the punter call against the Colts:
“It was one of those calls that unfortunately didn’t go our way. You saw it and I was there. There isn’t much to say about it.”
On the Falcons’ fast start in taking a 10-0 lead:
“It was very disappointing after coming out like we did. I think that the running into the kicker call kind of changed the momentum around for us, unfortunately. But that’s not an excuse. We did some things early, but we’ve got to keep it up for four quarters.”
RB WARRICK DUNN
On reaching the 10,000 career rushing yard plateau:
”Ten thousand yards rushing means a lot, obviously. Over the years all of the guys have helped me get to this point. But, for me the most important thing is winning. I’m happy about rushing for 10,000 yards, but at the same time, it’s not as sweet as if we had won the football game. So, we have a lot of room for improvement. We played hard early but we just didn’t make any plays in the second half.”
On the play of the Colts defense:
“I just think that they’re sound. They don’t blitz a lot. They make plays with the front four but the linebackers can run. They’re just a sound football team that’s in the right place at the right time always. What they’re going to do is bend but they’re not going to break. You’re not going to have a lot of big plays on them.”
RB JERIOUS NORWOOD
Thoughts on the game:
”We came out fighting hard. We made plays, but we failed to rise to the occasion when the plays really counted. Overall, we need to step up and make plays. We played a good game though. I feel like we did pretty well. They’re a great team. They came out and played hard. Overall, I feel like we came out and played hard. All we can do is go out there, fight hard and give it everything that we’ve got. That’s all we can ask of ourselves.”
Thoughts on the play involving the kicker:
“You just have to continue to play in spite of calls like that. Sometimes you have to beat the referee’s too. Not every call is going to go our way. We just need to put it behind us and keep moving forward.”
FB OVIE MUGHELLI
Thoughts on getting ready for next week’s game; the St. Louis Rams:
“The break will be good for us. Last time we had a break, we went on a 2-0 run. We came back hungrier and more focused. I hope the same thing happens with this break.”
RB JASON SNELLING
Thoughts on playing a different role/position for this game:
“All week, that’s what I’ve been practicing to do. Coach (Petrino) told me earlier, if situations occur, that’s what my job would be. I just wanted to go out there, perform, and show him that I could live up to his expectations.”
Thoughts on the game:
“It was a tough one. Even tough we came out strong, they just had a little bit more than us tonight. That’s football. We just need to keep building on the good things that we did. If we keep building, we’ll get a win next week against St. Louis.”
QB JOEY HARRINGTON
Opening statement:
”As a team, we had a lot of opportunities in this game, but we weren’t able to take advantage of them. We started off fast, but we just couldn’t sustain it through the momentum change to get back on track. The story of the day is that we just missed opportunities that hurt us in every aspect of the game. When you’re playing the defending Super Bowl champs, you can’t commit those types of mistakes because they just keep fighting. They played hard start to finish and that was indicative in the final score.”
Thoughts on the season:
“Thus far, this has been a season where we have been close in games but just haven’t been able to learn how to finish. Our wins this season have given us a taste victory and we need to focus on those positives in order to finish on a good note.”
Thoughts on team’s overall play:
“The offense moved the ball very well, but we weren’t able to put the points needed for the victory. We have run into this problem several times this season and it seems sometimes we struggle trying to get the ball in the endzone. We will work on this as the season goes on and it is my responsibility to lead the way.”
COLTS HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY
On his team’s offensive execution in the first half:
”It was a fight and we kind of expected it. It is tough being on the road and we were not really ourselves in the first quarter. We had some uncharacteristic things and penalties. We hurt ourselves and once we got through that, we played a lot better. It was still not the type of game that we are use to, but we got the win and that is the important thing. We get some rest and time off now and that is something that our team needs. We will also get some guys back in December. So all things considered, I think that we are in good shape and we are very happy to be where we are. We are looking at a December that will be meaningful.”
On the slow start on defense:
“It was very slow. We hurt ourselves with some penalties, lining up in the neutral zone and things like that. They converted some third and fourth downs in the first two drives. We lined up offside and that just kind of hurt us. They did a good job getting rid of the ball quickly as well as converting some running plays. Once we got through that stuff, we settled down.”
On his offense:
“It was nice to have some of our guys back. They made some plays. Dallas (Clark) made some plays. We came into the locker room feeling good.”
COLTS DB DANTE HUGHES
On turning things around after back to back lackluster performances:
“We’ve got a lot of people on defense who get no recognition. Our defense is rolling and we showed it tonight, injuries or not. Bottom line is we got adjusted to what they were doing after they got those first few points. We came out, executed and that was that.”
COLTS DE SIMEON RICE
On blending in with a new team, and registering his first sack:
“Things are happening for me here. I knew they would. It’s not just a coming of age. It’s a coming home. The situation is unique for me. I’m playing fast, getting up field and making things happen. You know, sometimes you don’t come out of the chute like you want to. But you keep working and we ended up dominating. That’s what we set out to do and that’s what we did.”
COLTS DB ANTOINE BETHEA
On “spotting” the Falcons 13 points, then turning it on:
“That was our goal tonight. It was all about starting this stretch into December and getting us ready for the playoffs. We started slow, but picked it up and finished strong. I feel like the DBs helped a lot tonight. We call ourselves the “hit squad.” We try and punish anyone who comes into that area. I had a good hit on (Laurent Robinson), and he fumbled. Other guys were flying around the ball and we did it well tonight.”
COLTS WR ANTHONY GONZALEZ
On his play tonight:
”Just coming back tonight was exciting. It is hard to explain how helpless you feel when you are hurt and can’t play. You work so hard and are only guaranteed 16 chances. When some of them get taken away from you, it is pretty disappointing. So when you come back and are able to contribute to a win it feels very rewarding to me.”
Did you feel comfortable:
“Yes. Each game has its own feeling-out process and we were going through that a little at the beginning. Once we settled in, we starting clicking pretty well.”
On Peyton Manning spreading the ball around tonight:
“We executed in a way that we did earlier in the season and maybe for some reason got away from that. Everybody executed the plays pretty well and that’s why we got 31 points.”
COLTS QB PEYTON MANNING
On the Atlanta defense:
“I thought that their defense was good. They have been playing well all year. They’ve had some turnovers that had put them in some tough positions. They have a good pass rush with (John) Abraham and some good cover corners. They jumped out early and came out and made some plays offensively, defensively and on special teams. We finally got on track and were able to take the lead and put them away in the second half.”
On getting Anthony Gonzalez back:
“Certainly the more bodies that we can have out there the better. He is a guy that has been here since mini-camp and I have had some repetitions with him. He’s still a young player, but he definitely made a couple of big plays. He made that first play (35 yard catch to the 8 yard line) to get us going and get a little momentum. He made a good catch down the sideline.”
On having so many injuries:
“It is what it is. It is not really a surprise when we find out someone is not playing since we hear about it on Monday. When you lose guys during the game you have to make the adjustment. Whoever is in there we have to find a way to make it work. It is not an excuse, it certainly is an adjustment, but we have to find a way to deal with it. Hopefully we can use the rest time to get some guys back next week for the Jacksonville game.”
COLTS TE DALLAS CLARK
On the Colts heading toward the heart of December after tonight’s game:
”We built that confidence, and I think we’ll just keep getting better.”
On having to play twice in five days:
“We’ve done it before and that helped. It’s something you see on the schedule. You kind of already mentally get ready for it. You just hope that the week before, you don’t get too injured and banged-up. I think the team is feeling pretty good, health-wise and energy-wise.”
On the Falcons’ defensive gameplan:
“We knew they were going to apply a lot of pressure. We were able to get some drives, get some first downs and get them running. It opened up the passing.”
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-COLTS GAME:
- NEWS: Dunn passes 10,000-yard mark
- GAMEDAY: All the coverage from the Falcons-Colts game
- STATS AND PLAY-BY-PLAY: NFL.com Game Center
- GAME NOTES: Updates and injury news from the Georgia Dome press box
- INACTIVES AND STARTERS: Inactives and starters from Week 12
- QUOTABLE: Thoughts on the game from Falcons players and coaches
- VIDEO: Head Coach Bobby Petrino
- VIDEO: Quarterback Joey Harrington
- VIDEO: Tight end Alge Crumpler
- VIDEO: Running back Jerious Norwood
- VIDEO: Linebacker Michael Boley
- VIDEO: Running back Warrick Dunn
- VIDEO: Falcons-Colts Highlights
- VIDEO: Touring the Tailgates with Falcon Al
- VIDEO: Falcons-Colts Short
- VIDEO: Can't Miss Play: Roddy White
