Weekly chat with Tony Dungy

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Each week Tony Dungy will answer questions concerning the team and here is the link to the interveiw after the loss to Dallas: http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=4304

A Weekly Conversation with Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy
Each week during the 2006 regular season, Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy will discuss topics pertinent to the Colts with Colts.com.
Question: A 21-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys Sunday. This was the first loss of the season for the Colts and in the times you have spoken publicly since the game, you have seemed more upset with how the Colts played than the loss itself . . .

Answer: I really thought it would be a team that really just beat us and I just didn’t think we would self-destruct like that. But it’s probably a good lesson for us and we’ll move on and learn. One thing is we don’t have to overhaul anything, which we shouldn’t after one loss in I don’t know how many months. But when you haven’t lost in a while, you kind of look for all the reasons why. They played well and we didn’t play quite as well as we needed to.

Q: You’ve said that for several years now, through this streak of regular-season victories –that this is not a team that typically makes mistakes that lead to losses . . .

A: That was the difference Sunday. We normally force people to beat us. We make them play perfect games and put the pressure on them. What happens is a lot of people self-destruct. I’m sure teams come out of games saying, ‘Oh, if we hadn’t done this or if we hadn’t done that.’ Sunday, the shoe was on the other foot. We did some uncharacteristic things and didn’t get points out of drives we normally do. That was really the difference.

Q: Most NFL teams have at least three or four games like that. It says something about the Colts that it’s so rare, doesn’t it?

A: That’s what we try to avoid. That’s what you preach. The games we’ve lost in the last few years I think people have come in and really outplayed us. That’s what you try to avoid. The only way you get a long winning streak like the ones we’ve had going is when you play pretty sound and you haven’t had those off days. When you have them, you try to look for the reasons why and you are disappointed maybe a little bit more.

Q: You were very specific in your next-day press conference that you don’t think the Cowboys playing a 3-4 scheme defensively was a huge factor Sunday . . .

A: No. We’ve had tough match-ups against San Diego the last couple of years because they’re good. We’ve had tough match-ups against Pittsburgh. We had a tough match-up against the Cowboys. We’ve had tough match-ups against New England. But it’s not all 3-4 all the time. Those teams play a lot of 4-3 and they’re not the only tough match-ups we’ve had. By the same token, we’ve played some 3-4 teams where we really haven’t had much of a problem. We’ve played the Jets and we didn’t have any turnovers and we didn’t have any problem moving the ball. It’s how you play and if you can block the people you have to block. Really good 3-4 teams have good linebackers that are tough to block. That’s what makes them good and they utilize those guys and they’re able to bring them. But it’s still no harder than playing against really good 3-4 teams, which we’ve done.

The quoted text is only part of the article. If you wish to read on click on the link provided at the top of this thread.