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Bill's take

Comments from Bill Belichick's post-game press conference:

Troy Brown came up with a big strip…
“Troy Brown is a terrific football player. He does it all. Hey, we just kept battling for 60 minutes. That was obviously a key play.”

Do you feel like you were on your heels for much of the game?
“No, I thought it was a very competitive game. It was a very competitive game. It was an ebb and flow. At times, they had a little bit of the upper hand. At times, we had a little bit of the upper hand. It was a dogfight. It was a physical, tough football game – two teams competing their tail off against each other. We just made one more play at the end than they did.”

The offensive line seemed to do a nice job…
“They’ve done a good job all year. Dan and the backs and the line, they did a good job. This is a good pass rushing team, but I thought they stood up to him and blocked them. It wasn’t perfect, but they blocked them pretty hard.”

What was the game-plan for Tomlinson, playing him straight up and not bringing a safety down in the box?
“We played what we thought was the best we had, all game long. That’s what we did. Whatever we thought was the best, that’s what we did.”

Was the idea that he would get some yards?
“We weren’t going to give them to him. We were going to make him work for them. He’s a great back. They’re a good offense, led the league in scoring. They can move the ball and they have a lot of great players. You just try to stand in there and go toe to toe with them. He certainly made some plays against us. I’m sure they wish they had made a couple more.”

What did you think when McCree made the interception and Brown helped get the ball back?
“I thought it was a great play by our guys to strip the ball out and come up with it. There were a couple of fumbles there where there was a big pileup, a lot of guys in there fighting for the ball, and we came away from it. Give our guys credit for coming up with the ball.”

Did you say anything to Gostkowski before the field goal?
“No.”

What prompted you to call the long shot to Reche at the end?
“They were giving us a lot of press coverage in the latter part of the game, and when they’re out there pressed, there are opportunities to get it deep and Tom made a nice throw and Reche was able to get a little separation, not much, on Jammer. It was a good throw and a good catch.”

The touchdown drive before the half was critical…
“It was really critical to get back within a four-point game. We were down 14-3. It was good to get those seven points, that was the big thing.”

What is your confidence in Tom to keep firing, even when he has those interceptions?
“I have a lot of confidence in this team. This team is a good team. They play hard, won a lot of games, I have a lot of confidence in them.”

When you came in here, you mentioned you were speechless. What was it about the game that made you feel that way?
“Just looking up there in the fourth quarter, we’re down by eight and we’re on a long field and backed up, and now we’re ahead by three. A lot of things had to go right, and a lot of them did.”

On the direct snap to Faulk on the two-point conversion, was that something you worked on specifically for that situation?
“Of course. Yeah, we had a two-point play and that was pretty well executed. We got a look and it was well blocked and Kevin made a good cut.”

Was that your only two-point play you were considering for this game?
“We’ve had other two-point plays this year. You go into a game-plan with one or two two-point plays. That was one we selected.”

Can you comment on Rosevelt Colvin’s interception?
“He made a nice play. I think just defensively, San Diego hasn’t had many turnovers all year. They only had 15 the entire season and we had four today, so I think that’s a real credit to our defense to be able to come up with those balls. They’re careful with it, there is not a lot of opportunities. We had one on special teams and one on defense there with the strip. Just to come up with those plays, however you get them, is big for us. Rosie has done a good job for us all year and made a good, athletic play on that scramble pass, and made a nice catch back over his shoulder. That was a tough one.”

You threw it more than 50 times. Was that the plan coming in?
“No. That’s just the way the game went. We did what we felt gave us the best chance to win.”

Can you comment on Indianapolis?
“We didn’t do very well against them last time we played them, so hopefully we can do better this time. They’re a great football team, playing great defense now. They haven’t given up much of anything on the defensive side of the ball. I think we all know what kind of offensive team they have. They’re tough at home, they have great players, they’re well coached. It will be a big challenge for us to go into Indy and be competitive with them.”