The
"Grill"
Miscellaneous
Coach's Forum
February 22, 2004
Coach's Press Conference
It's nice to be on the winning side of the game again. I think our team may have forgotten how to win games over the past 4 weeks or so, so this was a huge one for us. No injuries to report. We had a huge game from LaDanian Tomlinson - he ran for 150 yards and scored two touchdowns for us. David Boston caught everything thrown to him, and Brees was for the most part steady. The two interceptions he threw nearly cost us, but he battled back and threw some nice passes.
Question 1: Why was David Boston so successful today? Was it something you planned for? Coach Grieb - We knew that the Salty Dogz would try to take away our tight end plays to Stephen Alexander. We saw it early on. This meant that they would be covering Boston with one player, and we knew we could exploit that. When they started doing a lot of bump-and-run coverage, it enabled us to throw the ball deep to Boston. I think we forced them into bump-and-run coverage, because of our strong running game.
Question 2: Was this the best that Tomlinson has looked all season? Coach Grieb - He's had quite a few games like this. When he runs like this, we need to give him the ball more. I think he could've easily had 200 yards. We got greedy on a few drives, and we paid the price. We won't be able to do that against the Prowlers.
Question 3: Speaking of the Prowlers, you were unable to beat them last year in 4 games. In fact, for the most part, you were trounced in every game. Are you concerned about this game? Coach Grieb: I'm concerned about every game we play. This is a heckuva league, and it keeps getting better. Last year was tough. This Prowlers team rolled over many an opponent on their way to the championship. It was important for our team to get a win this week over a good opponent, so that we could gain some confidence going into next week's game. The Prowlers are fighting for home-field advantage. They are in the toughest division in the league. We have to play mistake-free football if we want to beat them. It should be the game of the week in my book.
Question 4: Were you concerned about missed opportunities in tonight's game? Coach Grieb - Absolutely. We missed two field goals, and threw an interception in the end zone. That is not acceptable. We need to do better than 50% in the red zone. In fact, anything less than 100% is unacceptable.
Question 5: Will you be watching the Bandits vs. Beermen game tonight? If the Bandits win, your team is in the playoffs. Coach Grieb - Actually, I'll be watching tape of the Prowlers game. I don't concern myself with playoff scenarios. We know that if our team does its share, we'll make the playoffs. Hell, we would've already clinched, had we not played so poorly for the past few weeks.