The
"Grill"
Miscellaneous
Coach's Forum
January 20, 2003
Coach Grieb: First of all, no injuries to report. We played our best game ever, offensively. What makes it sweeter is that it was against one of the best defenses in the league. Our coaches deserve a lot of credit for the game-planning they did. Brees is really starting to come into his own as a big-time quarterback, and what can you say about Tomlinson that hasn't already been said? On defense, I felt like we really stifled them in the first half. What was the yardage total again at halftime - 350 to 88? We really need to work on our kick and punt returns - they practically killed us in this game. But all in all, a win is a win, and I'll take it - especially in a game as important as this one.
Question 1 - What happened with the special teams unit today, especially Tim Dwight?
Coach Grieb - Well, Tim definitely had a bad day. I don't think the weather helped him that much, but he's got to concentrate more. He has been known to fumble the football on punts, and maybe we'll have to instruct him to make more fair catches. The thing is, that he is explosive when he has running room. We'll have to review the tapes and make adjustments.
Question 2 - Can you describe what has happened to Drew Brees? I mean, last year you traded Junior Seau in order to bring in John Elway.
Coach Grieb - I think bringing in Elway really helped Brees in the long-run. It may not have seemed that way at the time to Drew, but he really absorbed what Elway was teaching him. He gained a lot of confidence this year, especially with all of the game-winning drives that he has engineered so far. That is a direct result of what Elway taught him. I'm proud of him.
Question 3 - Why was your offense so successful against the Panzies? What did you do differently?
Coach Grieb - Our coaches game-planned well for this one. I don't want to give too much away, because we play them again in a couple of weeks. But we did insert a few more plays, and actually got Stacey Mack on the field a little more. The ball didn't get to him, but I foresee him playing a bigger role in the upcoming weeks. We were very satisfied with this one.
Question 4 - What can your defense do to improve against the Panzies?
Coach Grieb - Like I said, we were happy with the way the defense played in the first half, and even in the beginning of the third quarter. We got them out of their game plan. But, Tom Brady picked us apart. We need to go over the films and see if we can make adjustments to contain Brady. He is a great quarterback.
Question 5 - Are you looking past the upcoming game against the Crusaders because of the rematch with the Panzies in a few weeks?
Coach Grieb - I stress to my team to take it one game at a time. The Crusaders are former Dick's Bowl champions. They are one of the premiere teams in this league. If we aren't at our best, this team will take us down. We need to focus fully on this game. Donovan McNabb can beat you so many ways, and we're going to have our hands full.