I’ll tell you what, this is probably the best batch of transcripts that I’ve seen in a while particularly from the coaches, collectively there is so much insight it’s impossible to highlight something without leaving something equally interesting out of the mix.
The full transcripts are here, so check them out when you have a few minutes to read.
Here are some highlighs:
Coach Tom Coughlin
"Q: Obviously an easy way to beat them is to stop Peyton Manning. Defense is one thing; maybe a better way is to just keep him off the field?A: That would help, that would certainly help. The amazing thing about last week is even though the Houston team held the ball in the second half – did a nice job that way – he still threw for well over 400 yards and 70% completions – and didn’t throw an interception on 57 passes. So that is certainly part of the deal. You like to see, as you look back over, exactly how much time of possession other people have. However, they were 14-2 a year ago and were the lowest – the 32nd team in the League in time of possession.Q: Do you tell your guys to not get involved in this “Manning Bowl” business?A: I don’t think we have to talk about that. We really don’t. Because the way I look at it, it is two exceptional quarterbacks who are trying to get their team in position to play against another very good football team in the case of the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Giants. And I’m sure the two brothers will maybe talk Friday night, maybe, and then after the game. But they are competitive and that is all that matters."
Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell
"Q: How much of the stuff that Peyton does at the line do you think is for show and how much of it is really him making those changes up there? A: I think probably 50% of it is show and probably 50% of it is communication with his offensive line, with his offensive football team. He runs the offense, as we all know, and I think that when he gets up and he’s talking to those guys or telling them what he wants or what he sees, they’ve got great respect for what he’s saying to them. Now, if it’s all dummy, then they’ve got great respect because they’ll listen and the play is normally a successful play, so he’s doing something right up there when he’s talking to them.Q: What’s the preparation level like when you play a run team like Carolina vs. a pass team like the Colts?A: I think that the level of intensity is all the same because each opponent is unique in what they do. If it’s a run team, it’s uniqueness in stopping that particular run play and then moving on to the next play. It’s the same way with a pass-run team or a run-pass team like the Colts, but you can’t just always focus on Peyton, you have to focus on concepts, you have to focus on the receivers and understand splits, so you have to broaden your horizons a lot more when you’re playing a team that’s a wide open football team like the Colts.Q: In terms of the no-huddle, you guys had a lot of sub-packages last week. Are you able to do that when you can’t get off the field?A: That’s a great question. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to do that or not. I don’t know if he will allow us to do that. He’s very aware of when you bring someone on, he gets his offensive football team to the line of scrimmage and snaps the ball. He tries to catch you with 12 on the field, so we’ll have a plan in place. We want to use our personnel, we want to do certain things, so we’ll have a plan in place for that.Q: Could you get caught with the wrong package too where he can audible out of something?A: It’s a possibility, but that’s the chess game that we’ll play on Sunday."
Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride
"Q: Tale of two halves for the running game last week, huh?A: Yeah, we were very disappointed the way we started. It was a combination of a lot of things. I think they were moving and caught us a few times, more than we would have thought, and that it wouldn’t bother us and it did bother us. Fortunately in the second half, I thought we got it going a little bit. We’re still not nearly as consistent but we got a couple big plays. That’s what I tell our guys is when you face teams that are doing that, whether it’s teams that are blitzing all the time, or a team that’s playing and angling, sometimes they’re going to catch you with that stunting and sometimes you need to catch them, and we caught them a few times, which is good. We got those four big runs. In the grand scheme of things, it’s hard when you get those negative plays. It just knocks you out of your down and distance really. That’s when I think we’re at our best. That’s certainly something that we talked about, and the guys realize it’s something we’d like to become a lot more consistent with. We hope it happens this week.Q: What did that flip play do for you in the second half?A: It was good. I took a deep breath and called it. I said ‘We usually do it with Ahmad, let’s with Brandon’ and we loaded up with a tight end on the wing on the other side, and he showed enough speed to run away from the end. It was a great play.Q: So does that prove what you guys are saying about them being interchangeable?A: Exactly. There are certain things that you’ll always emphasize more with one back than the other, but if all you do is play A-G, and then H-M over here, well then it doesn’t take defenses very long. You have to be able to do both. That was a big play, and it got us started. We were in the same grouping of personnel when Ahmad hit the sprint on the other side away from that. It was a good play for us. We got three big plays out of that formation, that first look."
Center Shaun O’Hara
"Q: You look at a game like when the Colts gave up 250 yards rushing, do you say you can expose those guys?A: We’re obviously a run-first team anyway, so that’s our mentality. That’s how we establish our physical presence, and I’m sure they know that we are watching the film and we saw what happened. But I know it’s something that they are correcting. We have things to correct ourselves from last week, things that we didn’t do as well. So it’s going to be a good challenge.Q: Did you feel the ankle go during practice or was it something that happened overnight?A: It’s just sore. It’s just really sore, and it’s just kind of an accumulation of things. So we’re just trying to do the right thing and hopefully tomorrow it will feel better."
DE Mathias Kiwanuka
"Q: How do you guys stop Peyton Manning?A: You prepare. You prepare until you run out of time and then you prepare a little more. He’s one of the most intelligent players that we have in the NFL, and you have to understand that he’s going to look at us and try to pick us apart. You have to be able to match up and make those adjustments.Q: The key is definitely pressure though:A: I mean the goal stays the same. I think when you go into a game that you need to first stop the run and make them throw the ball. Even though they like to throw the ball, if you don’t stop the run, that’s what they’re going to do. We stop that, and then after that, you go through your progressions and you make sure that you studied as hard as you could during the week and you can anticipate what’s going to happen.Q: How long do you have to spend prepping with all the things you’re doing and positions you’re playing?A: This is definitely the longest just because you have to spend a few extra hours in the meeting room. You add into it the defensive schemes, and the things we’re changing and switching up, I think everyone has to do a little bit extra studying and be well abreast on the defense so that we can get everyone on the same page."
Again, the full transcripts are here. Check them out.