***RECAPS: Post Game Press Conferences

[Bleu Star]

BP

I thought that false start was going to come back to haunt us. we were going to go for a td before we hit that false start.

(speaking of romo) he didn't have his best day but he got us down the field when it counted.

(speaking in the 3rd person) this is a very important place in bill parcell's life. most of the great memories i have are centered in this place. the cowboys are adding to them. i want to credit the giant they really showed a lotta guts today.

(on gramatica) 1st game back in the league. that kick.. you can't get more pressure than that. i told him he's making me look good.

(on gramatica's miss) i just told him. just relax. i thought he just chunked it a bit. he had been hitting all of them in practice.

(on the giants last drive that ended in a FG to tie) we didn't do well on that last drive. we didn't tackle well. fortunately they scored fast enough to give us a chance to come back.

you can't play this league without being able to rely on your kicker. it's a crucial part of the game. that kick right there gets him on the team for sure. nobody's worrying about it. i'm very pleased.

it was a good kick. a clutch kick. now if you'll just let me and my guys get out of here...

it could have gone either way this game. we did have two drives in the last 5 minutes so you gotta give us credit there but i gotta give them credit too.


coughlin

it was called on the field to be honest with you. i didn't call that timeout.

they had a minute and three to get the whole length of the field. they should have been stopped.

i did not take the timeout. once the timeout was called..fine. as it turns out when they ended up with as much time as they did it's not something i would have liked but they go the length of the field so..

what do you mean how do we recover??? we just have to regroup and win the next game. an awful lot goes into every game and that's the way it should be.

i'm really not sure whether he was trying to switch his hands or what he was doing. he should have got on the ground and covered it up.

the disparity in penalties was not good. we talked this week about being smart... about thinking.. about thinking.. keeping our poise. controlling our emotions.. those penalties were not what we needed at the time.

i think you should focus on something else other than the timeout..really. the timeout was taken with a minute tweenty left in the game.

(about romo's pass to witten) he threw the ball right between the two defenders..got in the crease. we're frustrated and angry but there's a bunch of guys that wanna win and we'll keep working to get it.

Eli

i think we'll be able to bounce back. i think when you play a game like this. you're playing good football. we don't have any time to get down on ourselves. we got carolina. we don't have a whole lotta time left so we gotta start winning soon.

we had some bad calls. one was a cut block. i tried to argue that one a bit but it didn't work. you've gotta give credit to dallas. they performed and executed down there.

(about the timeout that had coughlin fired up) plaxico called it. he thought he saw someone on the sidelines signaling for a timeout. it worked out. we got the right personnel in there. it's just the way it goes.

i think it was a good time to throw. we got down there a few times and tried to run and didn't get it.

obviously we left too much time on the clock. i gotta give credit to tony. he was running around and scrambling around all day. he's playing good football.

romo

it's exciting because it's a big win. we were kind sitting in the same place last year and we didn't win. hopefully this gives us some more momentum.

it's a divisional game on the road and sometimes you've gotta battle through it. as long as we stay in the game i feel like we have a chance.

(on gramatica) i told him it's the same as warmups. i had all the confidence he was going to drill it.

i saw witten going up the seam. he actually turned over his left shoulder which is a great instinctive play by him.

as long as we got time on the clock i feel like we have a chance.

(about the pass to crayton) i saw him come down and i actually wasn't planning on throwing it that wide. it's dangerous but sometimes you have to put the ball in some tough spots.

the great thing about this game is when you have two good football teams it always comes down to the 4th quarter. we made the plays that we needed to make for the win.

[Jimz31]

BP(speaking of romo) he didn't have his best day but he got us down the field when it counted.

If Romo would have played lights out, once again BP woulda had something negative to say on the subject.

He knows that Romo had a tough day out there and now wants Romo to keep his head up.

Perhaps Romo needed a day like this....in a sick sort of way. ;)

[Bleu Star]

If Romo would have played lights out, once again BP woulda had something negative to say on the subject.

He knows that Romo had a tough day out there and now wants Romo to keep his head up.

Perhaps Romo needed a day like this....in a sick sort of way. ;)

Yep. He was seen giving Romo what appeared to be some motivational advice on the sidelines. Bill is playing Romo perfectly. When it seems as though he's going to get too high he cuts him down a bit. When it appears as though he might be getting a little discouraged Bill is right there to tell him it'll be ok. Bill is coaching his butt off. :starspin

[notherbob]

You can't take anything away from the Giants; they played a good game and gave Dallas all it wanted. Dallas was almost lucky to get out with a win. The Giants are no slouches.

[Martice]

If Romo would have played lights out, once again BP woulda had something negative to say on the subject.

He knows that Romo had a tough day out there and now wants Romo to keep his head up.

Perhaps Romo needed a day like this....in a sick sort of way. ;)

I think this game will go a long way experience wise for Romo. He played well and looked like a veteran late in the game. I totally agreed with BP when they reported Romo was pressing too much. I thought he was trying to hard to impress. Once he settled in, he was alright.

Romo is a true second half QB and I'll take that over the opposite.

[Duane]

Great recap, thanks man.

[WoodysGirl]

Thanks Bleu, good job on the recaps.

[Cbz40]

Thanks for the recap Sir.

Tony will take alot of very valuable experience from this game. The Giant's D was throwing a few curve balls at him today. :)

[Bleu Star]

YW. It's my pleasure. :starspin

[Hostile]

Great recaps. You guys amaze me how well you do those.

[Bleu Star]

Great recaps. You guys amaze me how well you do those.

I'm a fast henpecker.

[dougonthebench]

thanks for the recaps,they are greatly appreciated!

[dfense]

You can't take anything away from the Giants; they played a good game and gave Dallas all it wanted. Dallas was almost lucky to get out with a win. The Giants are no slouches. No, but they are just a .500 team now.

[Juke99]

Hey...thank you for the recap. Great job.

[Cbz40]

Hey...thank you for the recap. Great job.

repost!!!!!!! Oh excuse me!!!!:o:

[Juke99]

repost!!!!!!! Oh excuse me!!!!:o:

:p:

Someone is up past his bedtime.

[Cbz40]

:p:

Someone is up past his bedtime.

I'm wide awake......thanks to my Cowboys today.

I'm still replaying that last drive & FG in my head.:D

[dgr81]

Transcript: Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Bill Parcells
Post Game Press Conference
December 3, 2006

Opening Statement: That is a good win for us. A hard fought game that could have gone either way. I think both teams exhibited pretty good mental toughness with us driving it in there to get the go ahead then them driving it back to tie. Then we kind of came back and hit a good one and Gramatica made me look good. It is a hard fought game and we have a lot of football left but that’s a big step for us. I don’t think that this is over by any means. We have three of our next four games at home and we have a tough opponent next week in New Orleans, I think they won today. I am real proud of my team, I think they came in here and fought hard. I thought the Giants were ready to go and really felt like they would be. I thought they played hard and showed a lot of guts as well.

Q: Speak about the pass by Romo to Witten to set up the winning field goal?

It is a pass that is no big deal that is one of our main staples in our pass offence but we had not run it all day. That was the first time at it right there. That was a good catch and a good throw. I thought that false start was going to come back to haunt us. We had a pass play on there where we were going to go for the touchdown before we got that false start and then the Giants changed their defense and coverage so we wound up having to throw the ball away.

Q: Talk about Romo not having his best day but getting the win?

He did not have his best day but he got us down the field when it counted and that’s all I’m going to say about him. I’ll have more of let’s say an analytical nature later on.

Q: How did it feel to get another big win in this stadium?

This is a very important place in Bill Parcells’ life, this stadium here. Most of the great memories that I have are really centered in this place, a lot of them anyway, the fact that I coached two teams that played here. The Cowboys are adding to them. A game like that with so much on the line for us today makes me really happy with our guys. I want to credit the Giants too because they really showed a lot of guts when they drove down to tie the score there.

Q: What did Gramatica earn from you today?

You know his first game back in the league for a while and that kick, you know you can’t get much more pressure than that for the division lead. He did a good job. I told him he was making me look good.

Transcript: Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo
Post Game Press Conference
December 3, 2006

Question: What’s your feeling right now?

Response: It’s exciting because it’s a big win in the division and we were kind of sitting in the same place last year and we didn’t finish the way we wanted to. So hopefully this gives us a little momentum going into the rest of the year.

Q: Can you speak about battling through a game that wasn’t so easy for you initially?

RE: Hey, anytime you come up to this place you have to know it’s not going to go real smoothly throughout it. It’s a division game on the road and sometimes you have to battle through tough times. We made mistakes today. I did, I know that. You just have to have a chance at the end to do something to help win the game. As long as we stay in the game, I feel our team has a chance whenever we get into the fourth quarter.

Q: On the game winning kick you were the holder for Martin. Nobody was really talking to him. Did you say anything to him at all and can you go over that moment?

RE: I just told him the wind seems like it was the same as in warm ups, I don’t think he missed going into that end at all. So I had all the confidence he was going to drill it.

Q: Can you talk about that pass to Witten to set up the game-winner?

RE: Yeah it was a play where he’s not the number one option. We have a couple of other guys, but the way that the protection ended up being I was able to roll a little bit to the left and the backside corner started to fall off. So I saw Witten going to the seam and he actually turned over to the left corner, which was a great instinctive move on his part, and when I saw that I just tried to get it to him on the run and it was a big play. He made a great catch there; he was awesome.

Q: When the Giants scored with still a lot of time left, did you feel confident coming back on the field just before the final drive?

RE: You always feel you have a chance if you have the ball. As long as we’ve got time on the clock, I feel like we have a chance.

Q: On the throw to Crayton on the touchdown drive did you get a little worried when Wilson broke on the ball?

RE: I saw him coming down and right at the last second I actually wasn’t planning on throwing it that wide, I was just going to throw it in Patrick’s chest. At the last second I actually tried to move the ball even further to the right and luckily I did just because it barely got out by his tip of his hands. That actually worked out good. It’s dangerous but sometimes in those positions you have to put the ball in tough spots in drives in the fourth quarter.

Transcript: Head Coach Tom Coughlin
Post Game Press Conference
December 3, 2006

Opening statement:
Opportunities were there. It’s frustrating to be in the situation that we’re in and have the game end like it did. I thought we played hard, we fought hard. We had too many penalties, obviously – dumb penalties. But we did some things that gave us an opportunity to win the game and then we didn’t finish it. There’s not a whole lot more I can add to it.

Q: On Jason Witten’s catch, you do credit Tony Romo for making that throw, or --

A: He got outside of the contain again. He was outside of the containment for the majority of his big plays of the night. He gets outside of the contain, he floats out there, he creates more time to…We have people in coverage down there. They should make the play on him. He’s that far down the field. That’s one play. There were a lot of plays.

Q: So many mistakes were made in that game and it’s your fourth straight loss. Is the situation now dire?

A: No, it’s not dire. We needed to win a football game. All four of these games are very, very critical, like the game we just played. We’re going to stick together and we’re going to work as hard as we can. We’re going to find a way to win. That’s what we’re going to do. Dire…We lost a game. We lost a game which we had an opportunity to win and nobody feels worse about it than I do. But I do know (this): would I go for it on fourth down again? Yes. It was within the length of a football. We had an interception, we fumbled the ball right back to them (and) they scored on that particular drive. There’s a bunch of them. There’s a ton of plays. That was a long field goal that (Martin) Gramatica just made to win the game, which, statistically, for a guy that hasn’t been kicking with regularity, that was a most difficult thing that he did.

Q: Can you explain the play-calling on the 4th down with Brandon Jacobs going outside?

A: He bounced outside. They had good penetration, we got flattened out. We really have been very good in all short-yardage situations this year and we had an opportunity there to keep the ball at the end of the half and score a touchdown to keep the ball away from them. And of course, we didn’t make it. I don’t question the decision, I don’t question the call. He didn’t make it.

Q: Was he supposed to go up the middle?

A: No, no. It was an outside – It was a BOSS play, which is a read. It’s an inside-out read and if a hole opens up, he can take it up. They got penetration and flattened him out. I haven’t seen the tape, so…

Q: Was another consideration to have him go up the middle?

A: That had been another consideration, yes. Those were the order of plays the way we had them in that situation and that’s the way it went.

Q: After the 1st-and-goal from the eight in the fourth quarter, Jacobs came out and you went with two passing plays. Was he hurt, or--

A: No, he wasn’t hurt. That was our intent. One was a screen, one was a pass.

Q: Has Tim Carter shown you enough since Amani Toomer went down?

A: There were a couple of opportunities there tonight he didn’t take advantage of, but I’m not going to say that he was, you know, it’s only one thing that he did. I’d have to look at the tape to comment on that.

Q: Can you tell us about the personal fouls?

A: I wish I could, because most of them I don’t see. Two of them were on the other side of the field, and there was one out of bounds on the other side of the field. I know what…I think I know what the plays were. There was contact out of bounds on one, one was a crack-block. Another was a block after the whistle -- I think that’s what it was. I’m not sure what the fourth was.

Q: What was the thinking with 1:42 left and calling the time out?

A: We were going to switch some personnel around there and we scored on that drive…You’re talking about the clock being running?

Q: Yes

A: It was called on the field. I didn’t call it.

Q: Were you concerned that you were moving too fast when you got down in there?

A: That wasn’t my thought. My thought was to score a touchdown. What did they have, 1:03? They had 1:03. They make a heck of a play to get the whole length of the field. They should have been stopped.

Q: You didn’t want a time out called in that spot?

A: I did not take the time out. Once the time out was made, fine. Let’s regroup. We did change personnel because of that and had an effective play, and then went back to another on-the-run form of personnel. It was a time out that I didn’t call, but it wasn’t something that was that critical. As it turns out, the way they ended up with as much time as they did, it wasn’t something that I would have liked, but that’s not the reason they won. They go the length of the field in a minute.

Q: Did the quarterback call that time out?

A: No.

RE: Osi Umenyiora and Sam Madison’s first game back from injury

A: They were very good additions to our defense. I have to look at the tape. I don’t think we got especially good pressure on the quarterback.

Q: How do you recover knowing how much went into this game emotionally?

A: You keep going. What do you mean, how do we recover? We just have to regroup and focus on the next game. Go and win the next game. An awful lot goes into every game, and that’s the way it should be. Hopefully we’ll do the same thing next week.

Q: Have you ever coached a young player like Mathias Kiwanuka after two tough plays like last week’s blown sack and this week’s interception followed by a fumble?

A: No, there’s really nothing I can say about that. It’s not something that…I’m really not sure whether he was trying to switch his hands or what he was doing. Instead of just covering the thing up, he hit the guy on the ground. The ball came out, they recovered it back, and…

Q: How close was the decision to activate Michael Strahan?

A: It wasn’t very. We worked him out and he couldn’t do it.

Q: You talked about not seeing the personal fouls. I would think that four personal fouls is four too many.

A: The question was asked, ‘What were the personal fouls?’ I thought that was what was asked. I was trying to respond to that. Am I happy about it? No. The disparity in the penalties was not great, it was the yardage. We had 90-some yards in penalties. We had nine and they had seven, but ours were of the big nature. Ours were a lot of yards. We talked this week about being smart, about going into this game, about thinking, thinking about the circumstances and the situation. And we need to have poise, controlling our emotions. Those penalties obviously were not what we needed at the time.

Q: Can you say who did call that time out?

A: I think you should focus on something else other than the time out. The time out – We scored a touchdown. It was 20-20 with a minute to go in the game.

Q: What was the coverage on the Witten pass?

A: It was a…I want to say it was a form of two-deep.

Q: Was that a blown coverage?

A: No, I don’t think it was a blown coverage. I think it was probably a reaction to the quarterback coming out of the pocket. We should have stayed in coverage, should have kept our depth, should have been able to break on the ball, but he threw the ball right between the two defenders and got it in the crease.

Q: How would you assess the mood of the team after this particular loss?

A: Well, we’re frustrated and angry, obviously, that we lost, but there’s a bunch of guys in that locker room that want to win and want to find a way to win, and they’re going to keep working about it to get it.

Q: When you look back on this loss, will you look at the two opportunities for touchdowns, with all of the talent you have on the field --

A: The other guys have some talent, too. The other guy has some people playing in the game, too. They’re not a bad defense. You ought to check on that. I think you’ll find out they’re fourth in the league. That’s not an excuse, again. We should have had touchdowns, yes. We need to get it. They didn’t get a couple, either. If you want to check that out, too, I remember a couple of field goals they (had to kick, too).

Transcript: QB Eli Manning
Post Game Press Conference
December 3, 2006

On the mood in the locker room:

“We are obviously disappointed. We thought this was a game that we could come in and win but we did not come through at the end. I think we understand where we are. We are not down and out by any means. We have four games left and if we handle our business these four games we can have a spot in the playoffs. That is where our focus is right now. We have four games to do something. I think we played better football tonight then we have in the past. We played four complete quarters but we had several bad plays. We played well against a good team. They are playing about as good football of anyone right now and we were a few plays away from a win”

On the fourth down play:

“He [RB Brandon Jacobs] had the opportunity to bounce to the outside but I have to see the tape. He has to make that decision; he thought he needed to bounce and I trust him. He is going to try to pound it if he feels that’s the best way to get the yard.”

On the team finding a way to bounce back from four straight losses:

“I think we will be able to bounce back. I think when you play a game like this and you are playing good football, you have the ability to bounce back. We don’t have the time to get down on ourselves. We have to get ready for Carolina because both teams are looking for a playoff spot and we know it is going to be a big game. We don’t have a whole lot of time left. We have to start winning soon.”

On the little things hurting the team:

“We had some penalties today that hurt and we can’t accept that. The personal fouls and cut block, I tried to argue that one a little bit. But we did well as an offense. We moved the ball well. But we got inside the five yard-line a couple of times and got field goals instead of touchdowns. That’s what it all comes down to. When you get that tight, you have to find a way to get into the end zone. You have to give a lot of credit to Dallas. They performed and out-executed us.”

just adding the transcripts

[big dog cowboy]

romo

as long as we got time on the clock i feel like we have a chance.
:D :D :D :D :D

[groo]

Q: Can you talk about that pass to Witten to set up the game-winner?

RE: Yeah it was a play where he’s not the number one option. We have a couple of other guys, but the way that the protection ended up being I was able to roll a little bit to the left and the backside corner started to fall off. So I saw Witten going to the seam and he actually turned over to the left corner, which was a great instinctive move on his part, and when I saw that I just tried to get it to him on the run and it was a big play. He made a great catch there; he was awesome.

Q: When the Giants scored with still a lot of time left, did you feel confident coming back on the field just before the final drive?

RE: You always feel you have a chance if you have the ball. As long as we’ve got time on the clock, I feel like we have a chance.

Q: On the throw to Crayton on the touchdown drive did you get a little worried when Wilson broke on the ball?

RE: I saw him coming down and right at the last second I actually wasn’t planning on throwing it that wide, I was just going to throw it in Patrick’s chest. At the last second I actually tried to move the ball even further to the right and luckily I did just because it barely got out by his tip of his hands. That actually worked out good. It’s dangerous but sometimes in those positions you have to put the ball in tough spots in drives in the fourth quarter.


I find that it's quite insightful to hear how Romo described these two plays as if he saw them in slow motion. I hear all the time that a QB gets it when the game slows down for him. Sort of like driving a car fast. An experienced driver ignores the 100 irrelevant things around him and just focus on straight ahead while is still able to do other tasks simultaneously. What is even more impressive is how he made last microsecond adjustment on the throw to Crayton. If he hadn't then that pass would have been picked off. The level of details that Romo saw live on the play and the ability to make the adjustment are what separate the greats from the rest.