Members of the Texans and Colts spoke to the media after the Texans 33-27 loss at Indianapolis.
Texans head coach Gary Kubiak
(on CB Dunta Robinson missing the team charter plane) "It's over. It's disappointing. We dealt with it. We had a game to play. It's over. It's a team issue. We have moved forward."
(on the interception at the end of the game) "The thing that you are trying to do right there is just get yourself in position to throw a Hail Mary toward the end zone. That's all you are trying to do. I don't know exactly what yard line we were on, but golly, I think we were really close to having the opportunity to do that. So, I told Sage (Rosenfels), 'Hey, right there, you don't have to do nothing heroic. Just get us to the 40-yard line and let's throw one up for grabs and see if we get lucky and walk out of here with a big win,' (I) just would have liked to have had a chance to do that, but give them credit. They made a play."
(on using two timeouts in the third quarter) "We burned the first one because we had 13 guys on the field and they were fixing to quick snap us for an easy first down on third-and-8 – well-used timeout in my opinion. The other one, Sage said he didn't hear the play and so he couldn't get out of the huddle. We would love to have them back. You are right. But they were used for the right reasons."
(on his message to the team after the game) "Well, we had a good effort. We came up a couple of plays short, and it was very disappointing. We are going to keep battling. That effort today, you can win some games in this league. But to come in here and win - to keep their heads up. We are going to go to Cleveland and play well."
(on the run defense in the second half) "The bottom line is we didn't stop them. You want to make this team run the ball, obviously. We felt like we did a good job of that throughout the first half. The second half, it shows you what kind of patience they have. They said, 'OK, if you want us to run it, we'll run it.' We obviously didn't do a good enough job. We started to get down into some eight-man fronts, and when we did that, they started picking us apart. So, credit to Peyton (Manning) and their football team and their patience. We had a hard time stopping them in the second half."
{QUOTE}(on RB Steve Slaton) "As I talked to you about last week, I was concerned with the kid. I think we really wore him slick in Minnesota, and he had a rough week last week. We knew it, and we were trying to freshen him back up. Obviously, it was the right thing to do. He's a fine young football player, and he's got a very bright future. We wasted a hell of a day – I would have liked to have seen the kid win today."
(on injuries) "We have a lot of guys dinged. I have to take a look at it."
(on CB Fred Bennett leaving the game) "I don't know if he was cramping or what. A few players cramped today. It looked like they had a couple and we had a couple. But I don't really know right now. I know that Cecil (Sapp) got dinged. (Tim) Bulman got dinged. We will see."
(on not sacking Colts QB Peyton Manning) "I could be wrong when I go back and look at it, but when they stay on the field that long, their drives were not quick-strike drives. They were very long drives. I want to say 10-, 12-, 13-play drives. You know, they've got you out there on that field for a long time. You know, it just looked like we struggled. You know, when we scored, we scored in three plays. I think in the third quarter, offensively, we only ran five or six snaps, so that means our defense was playing a bunch, and obviously, that took it's toll on us."
(on missing opportunities to score touchdowns in the red zone in the first half) "Yeah, we did. We had a couple of opportunities down there but didn't get it in. But we offset it on defense by stopping them three times. That's what you want to have happen. We were plus-one from that standpoint. Points are hard to come by in this building, and they did a good job down there. Fortunately, we regrouped and did a better job (of scoring) in the second half."
(on not having a timeout on the final drive) "That's huge, because it ends up being a difference in probably a minute when it's all said and done. We knew we had to go score a touchdown, but we had plenty of time. We had plenty of time. I don't know what yard-line we were on, but I want to say we were on the plus side of the field. We had plenty of time to get into position to throw one up."
Texans WR Andre Johnson
(on the game) "We have a game like today and we just don't finish it. You know, everyone went out and played hard, but we just have to find a way to come out and find a way to come out on top."
Texans DT Travis Johnson
(on being on the field for a lengthy amount of time) "We got some guys like (DE) Earl (Cochran) who played 70 plays. (DE) Mario (Williams) played 81 plays, and it gets you tired. We are professionals and have to work through it."
(on having a chance to beat the Colts) "We approach any game like we have a shot at it. We feel we are good as any other team. We just have to continue to work."
Texans QB Sage Rosenfels
(on the interception in the final drive) "We had four verticals on and they rolled a cover that sort of surprised me and I thought I had a chance with Kevin (Walter) on the sideline. I saw Owen Daniels flash. I think Owen Daniels was open enough, but I just made a bad throw. I threw it behind him and probably should have just checked the ball down or something else. I really just made a bad throw. You know, we had a chance. To come into this place, it's a hard place to win, and we had a chance. They made the plays today and we didn't."
(on leaving plays on the field) "When you play Indianapolis, you have to score touchdowns and not field goals. That's what happened. We did a pretty good job for the most part on offense. We played the type of game we wanted to play. We wanted to play sort of a smash-mouth game and not turn the ball over, which we did for 59 minutes of the game, and limit the number of possessions Peyton (Manning) gets. You don't want to play the hurry-up two-minute game because he will win that game versus every team in the NFL. You want to try to slow the game down, which we did. They had a low-possession game, but once they get that lead on you, (Dwight) Freeney starts pass rushing a little harder and it makes it more difficult."
(on the running game) "That was the whole reason we were in that game was our running game. We ran the ball fairly well against them the last time we played. That's what we knew we wanted to do this time. You just don't want to throw the ball 40 times against them with the way the pass rush because that's really all their defensive line does is pass rush. They totally sell out. It's what they get paid a lot of money to do, and they're great at it. They are as good as anyone in the league in pass rushing. So, you want to run the ball and that's what we did. And our offensive line did a great job and our backs did a great job."
(on his thoughts after the game) "We know that we can play with any team in the NFL. This, over the past seven years, has been one of the premier teams in the league, and we played right with them twice this year. We didn't beat them, and that's tough to take. But we know we are a good football team. We are better than our record, but our record is who we are right now. But we know if we play like that, we will win a lot of games the rest of the year. We know if we play like that, we think we'll win next week. I'm sure the Cleveland Browns are saying the same thing. They're a good football team, but their record hasn't been great. We know if we can just keep playing cleaner football - and that's what I thought we did was play pretty clean football; Peyton didn't have a lot of really long throws or easy touchdowns – we will play right with teams and win them in the fourth quarter."
(on calling a timeout because of miscommunication with the coaches) "You know, in this stadium, the fans are pretty smart. When Peyton's out there, you can literally hear a pin drop. But especially when it comes to third downs, it's hard to communicate. I got the play in, but I didn't get the entire play and I didn't want to call the wrong play, which I've done once or twice in the past. So, I figured I would just call a timeout. Now, we would have liked to have had it at the end. But we probably would have used it on their last drive. I'm not sure how much of a difference it would have made. You never want to call a timeout, but I decided I didn't want to call the wrong play, either, and I chose to call the timeout."
(on the runs by RB Steve Slaton) "They were huge. You want to run the ball against these guys. I think that everyone that plays them says you've got to run the football because when you run the football, then it sets up the play-action that we do. We hit a couple of those down the field. Part of running the football is keeping your defense off the field and keeping Peyton Manning off the field, too."
Texans RB Steve Slaton
(on if he can enjoy the success he had in the game) "In some ways. I mean, it's a positive note that we can run, which just have to do that the whole game and next week. It's just sad that on the last play we ended the game. But if we play like that week in and week out, we will win some of them."
(on if it helped him to rest last week) "It definitely did help me to rest. You really don't realize how much football I have played so far just being a rookie now. I think last week definitely did help me."
(on if he was worried someone would catch him on his 71-yard touchdown run) "I was real worried. Guys on this level are a lot faster, and it was a pretty long run. So I took a glance at the Jumbotron to see if anyone was behind me."
(on the 71-yard run) "They had everybody stacked in the box because it was third-and-short. I mean, that happened on our first drive because it was third-and-short. I got a pretty big run, but I fumbled the ball. This time it happened, and there was just nobody nowhere."
(on what caused the fumble) "I really don't know that. I know I was trying to get my balance, but I think they may have knocked it out, too. But I've got to be aware and put two hands on the ball and not drop it."
(on looking at himself in the Jumbotron) "Yeah, it seemed like they were closer than they were. But I just wanted to finish when I saw the pylon."
(on missing opportunities to score in the red zone) "I definitely think we did. I think the game could have been a little more our way than it was. You never want to put up three points against this team. You want to try to put up seven."
Texans DE Mario Williams
(on holding the Colts to a lot of field goals) "We just have to get that one play and we didn't get it. We have to get turnovers, which we didn't get. We just have to make it happen some way, somehow."
(on what the Colts did differently in the second half) "Nothing, really. For some reason, we just started missing tackles and then we tried to get that corrected. It was just missed tackles. We just started missing tackles and we just got to shooting ourselves in the foot."
(on being frustrated on the last Colts first down) "It was very frustrating, but at the same time, we still got a chance. Luckily, they didn't score."
Texans T Eric Winston
(on the running game) "I said earlier in the week there wasn't going to be a lot of surprises. We were going to come out and do our thing and they were going to do their thing and see what happens. I think we did a good job of getting a continuous push up front and (RB) Ahman (Green) and Slat (RB Steve Slaton) did a great job of breaking tackles and giving us extra yards."
(on their last drive) "Well, we have no timeouts, so we need to just go. We have to get completions. We have to get down the field and just rally as fast as we can and get ourselves in a position to at least throw into the end zone and win."
Colts head coach Tony Dungy
(general comments) "Big win for us. A good one to get. It's very, very difficult to beat a team twice, and we were able to do that. Houston, you have to give them a lot of credit. I thought their offense was very sharp, especially in the second half. Defensively, we weren't as sharp, but they do that to you. They have a lot of things that you have to defend. You can't give them the big run. We gave them two long runs today, and that was really tough on us. I thought we fought for how we practiced and how many guys we had out of practice early in the week. We bounced back and did pretty well. Last week, our defense got the takeaways and made a couple of big plays. This week, it was our offense that kind of saved us in the second half with those long drives and touchdowns. All in all, a good win for us."
(on S Bob Sanders' injury) "He had some swelling after practice on Thursday, really Friday morning. He left Thursday and we felt like he was going to be fine, and it's just one of those things. We'll just have to investigate and keep working on it and hopefully he'll be ready to play this week. If not, Melvin (Bullitt) will get a lot more work."
(on their streak) "We're on a three-game streak. We haven't gotten one all year. November is the time to get them. We have a tough opponent (San Diego) coming up on the road next week. It will be a huge game. Getting three in a row, getting back into the race, was big for us."
Colts RB Joseph Addai
(on whether anything was different schematically with the running game) "Same plays. I mean, just really trusting it, just trusting it. We were able to do that and everybody was on the same page and we were able to get the win."
(on the success he and RB Dominic Rhodes had) "You want everybody to be successful. So we were able to do that, both runners. Offensive line did a great job. Peyton did a great job putting us in different situations. It happened for us, and we got the win."
Colts QB Peyton Manning
(on the running game) "That was nice today. There is no question we have said all along that is what we try to do. We stayed committed to it during games, especially during practice, working on things, trying to fix things. That is always what we try to be here is a balanced offense. Try to keep the defense off-balance with the threat of first-and-10 of running the ball, drop back and pass or to run play-action. Certainly, the best we have done this season. Credit to a lot of guys. Of course, Dominic (Rhodes) and Joe (Joseph Addai) both ran hard, but the offensive line blocked great. Tight ends, receivers blocked down field. There is a lot of great effort there allowing some of those extra yards. That was important today."
(on everything clicking with the offense) "It's hard to say, I guess, because obviously, it's all about winning, finding different ways to win based on what the defense is giving you. Houston really came out today playing a lot of double-safety, two-man combination coverages where they were sort of daring us to run. It makes it hard to throw because there is a lot of double coverage. When you have some first- and second-down negative plays and you've got third-and-10s and third-and-12s, that is playing into their hands. That makes it tough on you. When you can run the ball effectively and you're going second-and-two and you're third-and-1, we went a couple series there where we didn't even have a third down. That is ideal. It's hard to think of the last time, I think someone said that the last 100-yard game we have had by a back since maybe Week 8 of last year, so that has been long overdue. Came at a good time to have this game, and hopefully, we can build off of it."
(on being comfortable with the offensive line) "Sure, absolutely. It is very similar to getting timing with receivers or running backs or tight ends. You like to get a feel for your lineman and kind of where they expect you to be, kind of how long you are going to have on certain throws. It's a timing thing with a quarterback and his lineman. It's been nice to have the same unit, like you said, for the past few weeks and get a little continuity there. Hopefully ,we can keep that a unit for the rest of the way and build off of that."
(on the offense today) "It is one of those things where we are a no-huddle team and we were winning today because we never stopped, never took our pedal off the gas. I felt like we had Houston's defense maybe a little bit fatigued, had them on the ropes. So that drive, obviously, you want to keep that same momentum and tempo, at the same time run a little clock. What you don't want to do is go out there and huddle and take you out of your offense and play into their hand, but we still were running a little clock, but the best way to run the clock is to keep making first downs."
Colts RB Dominic Rhodes(on the game) "Today, we came out and we established ourselves. In the first half, they were coming pretty hard and they were kind of getting the best of us. In the second half, we imposed our will and we played some good ball. It kind of reminded me of the game before, how we played. It might be close in the first half, but in the second half we kind of pull away and just do what we do. Today, we played a pretty good game."
Colts WR Reggie Wayne
(on what was different offensively in the second half) "Nothing, just touchdowns instead of field goals. We left some plays on there on the field in the first half, and we were able to come in at halftime and make some adjustments and come out and start turning those points from field goals into touchdowns."
(on the team playing better after a slow start) "We would love to get off to a quick start, but that wasn't the way the ball bounced for us. We have an opportunity now to control our own destiny (for a wild-card position in the playoffs)."
(on the team winning three straight close games) "It's like that every year. We always have close games, and it kind of molds us. It gets us going and lets us know what close games are like. Today was kind of a playoff feel, going back and forth. The team that goes the hardest is going to be the team that wins, and that's what happened today."
(on WR Marvin Harrison's play) "It was good. I'm glad he was able to make some plays and get going. Hopefully, we can just build on that."
