HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on what he will say to FS-John Lynch) 12/29/04
"I'll say congratulations on a Pro Bowl year and coming over to the AFC and making his mark. I'm sure we'll talk about his adjustment to Denver: different position, different defense, new conference. That's a lot of new things, but there was really no doubt in my mind he would do well if his health held up, and it has."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on if it helps that Denverhas everything to play for) 12/29/04
"It's definitely going to be a good game from that standpoint. I think it will be great for our guys to go into an outdoor situation, a ruckus atmosphere, a team that's going to play at a playoff intensity level. So, I think it's a perfect setup for us."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on what he learned from the Philadelphia/Tampa Bay situation in 2001 when the Bucs played Philadelphia in the season finale and the NFC Wild Card Game) 12/29/04
"That was a situation where it was a little bit different. Both teams knew that they were in. Both teams knew that they were playing each other, and we were going to play in Philadelphia. So, there was no suspense in it, and you're trying to figure out what to do and play the game, but not show too much. Both teams took the approach of really not playing a lot of guys and not doing very, very much. You could say, 'Hey, it hurt our momentum.' Philadelphiadid the same thing and they went to the championship game. Looking back on it: Did it hurt us? Yes, I always think it's better to play well and win. So, maybe that's what I learned from it: You want to play well and you want to continue winning."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on how much he believes the regulars will play) 12/29/04
"I don't know for sure right now. A lot of it is going to depend on my sense of where we're going to be and when we're going to play. And we'll certainly play it a little bit differently if I think we're going to play on Saturday. And we'll probably play it a little bit differently if there's a chance that we could play Denveragain. So, a lot will depend on what happens in the early games, but our guys are preparing to go quite a bit. We'll see what happens."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on QB-Peyton Manning breaking the passer rating mark at 121) 12/29/04
"That's pretty high. Usually, you inch records along. And from 112 (Steve Young's current NFL mark), you'd expect maybe a 114 or 115. But he's played at a phenomenal level."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on if DE-Dwight Freeney should be considered for Defensive Player-of-the-Year) 12/29/04
"He'd have to be considered. Ed Reed has had a heck of a year, and he dominated some games and you have to gameplan for him. To me, that's what you're looking at: a guy that you have to plan for. When we had Derrick Thomas in Kansas City, he was like that. Bruce Smith was like that. Ed Reed's been like that. I think Dwight's like that. I think it's the impact that a guy has on a game, and Dwight certainly has had an impact on a lot of games we've played."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on Denver's defense) 12/29/04
"They do a lot of things. They do a lot of zone blitzing. They bring a lot of guys. I mentioned to the team that they have 15 guys who have sacks and they only have one guy who has more than three. So, I think that's kind of the secret to them: they do a lot and make you protect a lot and you really have to know what you're doing. So our situation is, we have to make sure we don't turn free guys loose on the quarterback."