November 29, 1999
POST-GAME QUOTES FROM COLTS LOCKERROOM

HEAD COACH JIM MORA (on the improvement of the Colts defense)
“We had a lot further to go defensively than offensively. I knew we would get better and better as we felt more comfortable in the system.”

HEAD COACH JIM MORA (on the defense)
“You lose (the turnover battle) zero to three, you don’t win very often. There’s different ways to win football games. You can’t just say that every time you come out minus you’re going to lose. There’s so many different circumstances every game - who you’re playing, what their strengths are, what you’re strengths are. Over the long haul, if you end up minus-three, you’re chances of winning are slim.”

HEAD COACH JIM MORA (on not taking this win for granted)
“Nobody else in the NFL is going to look at our seven wins (in a row) and be impressed. That we’re in first place is great. But you can’t take anything for granted. Every game is tough, really tough. We saw how tough today, that’s for sure.”

HEAD COACH JIM MORA (on playing against the Jets)
“They’re just a tough, physical team and I think we are, too. I think both teams have respect for each other and when we match up, it’s going to be a fight. It was today and it was the first time we played them.”

RB-EDGERRIN JAMES (on their offensive problems against the Jets)
“They’re a veteran group, and they know what they’re doing. Any time you’ve got guys playing over there that have been around the league, it’s not going to be easy.”

RB-EDGERRIN JAMES (on the defense not allowing a TD)
“It’s good that we have a defense that will step up and meet the challenge. Our offense made turnovers and our defense stepped up there. That just says a lot about this ballclub.”

QB-PEYTON MANNING (on the game)
“The first time we played them, we were flat-out lucky to win. This one, we felt like we were the better team. We made it tougher than it needed to be.”

QB-PEYTON MANNING (on realizing that they still have mistakes to correct)
“It’s easy to talk big right now. In some ways, to win a game like this is healthy because we realize that we have to do more to get better. We can’t beat the Miami’s and other teams making these kinds of mistakes.”

QB-PEYTON MANNING (on being a complete football team)
“We’re a complete football team. Both sides of the ball come to play every single Sunday. All of our victories have been team victories. We put the defense in a bind early on, fumbling the ball and giving (the Jets) an easy three points.”

 QB-PEYTON MANNING (on winning the game and realizing that improvements can be made)
“It’s nice to be able to win and know you still have room for improvement. If there is any good news in this, it’s that we won on an off-day. Don’t get me wrong. We played really hard, but we didn’t play smart enough. We’re in first place and that gives us an opportunity. But it’s all about doing it, not just talking about it. We know it’s going to be a grind.”

QB-PEYTON MANNING (on his two interceptions)
“It was frustrating because I knew that, just one more score at any point, and we had put them away for good. Every time we’d get to their 30-yard line, I’d tell our guys, ‘OK, come on now, let’s get the ball in the end zone and finish them off.’ But give them credit for keeping us out and blame us, I guess, for not completing the job. We just kept doing stupid stuff, really.”

DE-MARK THOMAS (on the play of the defense)
“I think this week is the building of a championship defense. I think you’ve got to have games where the game is on the line and the offense doesn’t do great - when it doesn’t put up 30 points. When that happens, and your offense is struggling, and the game is in your hands as a defensive player, that’s when championship defenses are made. That’s what it’s all about.”

DE-MARK THOMAS (on the Colts 9-2 record)
“Coming from where this team was last year, the struggles it had, we couldn’t be in a better situation. We couldn’t ask for a better scenario. I feel like a little kid again. It’s great to be having the success we’re having. But the key is, it’s not over. If we lose the rest of the games, it doesn’t mean anything. If we don’t get to the playoffs, if we don’t reach our goals, it doesn’t matter. We’ve got a long road ahead of us. If we continue to play well, the future is ours. There is no tomorrow, there is no next year, the future is now.”

DB-CHAD COTA (on how it felt to keep the Jets out of the end zone in the fourth quarter)
“Relief, I guess that’s the best way to describe it. Relief that it was over, and that we’d done it. The offense has been putting it up all year. It feels great to be on the defensive side of the ball, and have it on our shoulders in the last seconds, and step up and get that win.”

DB-CHAD COTA (on the Colts run defense against Jets RB-Curtis Martin)
“Run defense is a team effort and everybody has to partake in it. It was kind of surprising how they came out early throwing like they did, trying to light us up. They got a few on us, but after that we stepped up. The offense is sometimes not going to put up great numbers. It came down to our defense beating theirs and we did.”

LB-CORNELIUS BENNETT (on the game)
“Anytime you play against Bill Parcells, you know it’s going to be a tough, physical ballgame. It was everything that it was set up to be. They had a big challenge coming into this game. They were fighting to stay alive. We just happened to pull this out. It takes all kinds to get to the championship level. There are some good ones and some bad ones. This one looked like a bad one, but we came out on top.”

LB-CORNELIUS BENNETT (on the defense improving with each game)
“The last two weeks the defense has played extremely well. We played three quarters of shutout football today and that’s pretty good for a defense that people say is the Achilles’ heel of this team. We knew we had to go out and play hard and keep them out of the end zone. That just shows the character of this team. Guys never say never. They just keep fighting and clawing.”

TE-MARCUS POLLARD (on the win)
“We are playing great right now. A lot of guys stepped up and made plays when they had to. It was a total team effort.”

OT-TARIK GLENN (on the close win)
“No matter what the result of the game is, we are going to work to get better. If we win by 25 points or win by three points, we are going to keep working to get better. We will correct our mistakes and focus this week on getting ready for Miami.”

WR-MARVIN HARRISON (on the team)
“We are not a team that walks around here thinking that we are the best team in the league. We think we can put some wins together and that will be the key to our success.”

DB-JASON BELSER (on the Colts run defense against Jets RB-Curtis Martin)
“We knew we couldn’t let their running game get out of hand. We knew we couldn’t miss tackles, that we had to swarm (Curtis) Martin and have people around him all the time.”