Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning
On "Escape from New York" being the theme of today's game…
Tomorrow we will start going back and analyzing things, seeing what we could have done early. Right now these are the wins you want and you try to enjoy them. Coach Dungy reminded us after the game, we do know how to win in close games. There truly was never any panic. When they ran the kickoff back, we were just getting back to the bench. We didn't have any time to get mad, or to panic, if you will. Everyone was fatigued. We just sat down and we saw someone score. I was on the phone talking to (quarterbacks coach) Jim Caldwell and I had to hurry up and hang up. I did not get in much of a conversation with him. We were real patient. The first part of the two-minute drill, we didn't have any time outs. That was going through my mind. I didn't want to be wasting timeouts going into the fourth quarter, but it is what it is. Once we crossed the 30 we started taking some shots. That's when they started to be a little more aggressive. We hit a big post corner down to WR Reggie (Wayne). We ran a quarterback sneak. That's one of Jeff's (Saturday) favorite plays. He didn't say it, but I know he was thinking it. It was good. I wanted to keep my touchdown-rushing streak alive.
On his enthusiasm after the touchdown (to make it 21-17)…
That was a great drive to get down there. We had a good mix of passes and runs. When they ran that kickoff back, it can be deflating, but it only is if it's the last pass of the game. When you know you have time to go back out there and do something about it, you don't sit there and talk about it, you talk about what you are going to do right now. The coaches gave us the plays they were thinking of and told us to go down there and get it in the end zone.
On TE Bryan Fletcher…
He did a great job. He knows all the details. He's not in the starting rotation, but he knows his assignments. When called upon, he's always there. He's like Chris Carter, if you thrown him the ball, he always makes the catch. That was a huge play for us.
On spiking the ball after scoring a touchdown…
There might have been a little spiking going on. It was exciting. You practice those two-minute drills all season. Everyone imagines when you are in your backyard and it's the last drive and you have to go do it. That's always something you'd like to do.
On the Jets running the no-huddle offense…
They obviously did a good job. They caught us with some substitutions. They cost us some timeouts. They kept the tempo up; they put a lot of pressure on our defense. They did a good job on converting on third downs, but our defense did a good job of not giving up any free, long plays. They did a good job of keeping the Jets out of the end zone on that fourth-and-goal, when they had the interception. That was huge. The Jets did not play very much man-to-man. They played a lot of double safeties, and safety double covers. When you do that, you've got to be able to run the football. If you can't then it can be a tough day passing.
On when he almost pulled it down to run in the fourth quarter…
When a team is playing man to man with two safeties and the backs are going out, sometimes the middle of the field just opens up. I was about to run. I saw the D line pull back a little bit and then I saw the safety come up, which took him out of his zone and let Marvin (Harrison) catch the ball. He probably would have scored a touchdown if I did not throw it so far out of bounds. If we don't get that, at that point, then we have a long fourth down.
Indianapolis Colts' DT Montae Reagor
On Peyton's play today…
He is the best. I love the guy. He does what he needs to do to get it done.
On escaping with a win…
Well I wouldn't call it an escape; we made more plays on the field than anybody else. I feel like we let them hang around and stay in the ball game. They played a great game. I am not taking anything away from the Jets, but we felt throughout the whole game that we were in control. We just made too many mistakes.
On critics' questions of Manning's play….
Like I say to the critics and the fans, just look at what he did today. He had two unbelievable drives. The ball was in his hands. No matter what the outside people think, we know he gets the job done when we need him to.
