SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2010
Vikings Head Coach Brad Childress
I haven’t had a chance to see you guys since we made some of those final cuts. I think getting down to that 53-man roster is always some tough decisions. I think you’re always trying to see if you can add value and possibly depth. I think it gives us a chance to be the most competitive and successful team. I think ideally it gives you some flexibility and you can use some of that flexibility to your advantage, as we did trading Sage Rosenfels to the Giants. Again, you have to balance the right now, with the future. I think also I consistently stated to you guys the development I have seen with Tarvaris and the camp that he had; I think he’s probably positioned himself, with the progress in the system, working knowledge and athleticism, to give us the best chance to win should Brett get hurt. I would talk about that in the same light that I would talk about and probably more so the catcher that plays behind Joe Mauer. I know Mauer has missed games. I don’t think you have seen Favre miss that many. I know it’s always the provocative thing to talk about the second quarterback on the roster, but maybe history has a chance to change, I doubt it. Tarvaris gives us the best chance to win. Practice squad guys – we’ve got seven set right now. We’re going to bring a couple more in here. We would have liked to add 
Q: What did
A: I think you have to understand that the guy that started with the first group got to play 8 snaps in the St. Louis game. The second guy got 36 attempts and was 24 of 36 or something. 8 snaps – 36 snaps. The guys that they played. The guys that he played. It’s a completely different set of circumstances. I would hope that if Tarvaris was in there going with the two’s, that he would have been able to light it up that same way. Throw it to a guy in the post with no one covering him. One on one is usually your best match-up. The one that
Q: Who is going to be heading the return game?
A:
Q: What’s the most important position to add depth to right now?
A: You are always trying to take care of the bottom of your roster. Right now casting a gaze towards offensive lineman. I don’t think they are quite finished hammering through. We’ve got a little priority; did our guys get picked or not picked? We’ve got to find out how we can set our practice squad. Everybody else is kind of sifting through and I think that process will continue. We’ve got to see who was claimed and who was taken. You are subject to the waiver wire. We’ll get all of that information here as we go off the field.
Q: What are your plans for the CB position for the Saints game?
A: We’ve got a couple different ways that we could go.
Q: Are you going to talk to the league about the treatment towards quarterbacks, specifically Favre (last year’s NFC championship game)?
A: They parceled out their fines. I don’t think that New Orleans will have any different stance in wanting to hit the quarterback and we won’t have any different stance in wanting to hit their quarterback.
Q: Can you apply what you did on defense in last year’s game to Thursday’s game?
A: If you just look at them in the little bit that they played in preseason, they are explosive as ever. They are doing as good of a job as ever. The quarterback gets the ball out of his hands. He’s a great rhythm thrower. Any time you can disrupt him and hit him or disrupt the people he’s throwing to and hit them. I think it pays dividends. It’s going to be put together with rush and coverage to try to disrupt. He takes enough shots up the field where somewhere they got a chance to go three and out. I think they had a couple of those last time. Then you have to make hay on your offensive side of the football. The best defense is to stay on the field offensively.
Q: Was it a difficult decision to active
A: I don’t have any illusions about that. The thing that he had to do now was get out here and do football specific movements. He’s gone about as far as he can go with our training staff. We talked whether its individual drills, whether it’s coming out and being a “red hat” guy on our kickoff coverage team. All of those things you have to be able to stop, turn, pivot, load it. Those things will happen. He’s going to go through a dead-legged period out here where he’s going to have some leg weariness just from standing out here for two and a half hours. He’s playing as a corner on our look teams. He’s doing things specific to his position. We’ll see. We’ll watch him on tape to see if he’s still favoring it. I’m sure we’ll see an evolution.
Q: With injuries to your offensive line, how confident are you in your pass protection?
A: He (
Q: Do you sense any bit of motivation for the offensive line going into this week, given how many times Brett was hit in last years’ NFC Championship game?
A: I really thought that if you looked at our offensive line, they played decently against New Orleans. The fact is, is when you zero blitz, when you hit guys that are coming off the side on a naked, there is nobody to block that guy. You’re going to leave a guy free. A free safety blitz is going to come free. There’s not a hat for him. Count the numbers. There’s just not a hat for that guy. I thought our offensive line played pretty well. They’ll be motivated. They’ll do a nice job protecting.
Q: Have you looked at T.J. Houshmandzadeh?
A: Not right now, I’d be more prone to see if we could find a younger guy or somebody that’s been around in a West Coast offense.
Q: Will you consider bringing
A: At a point in time. I had a good discussion with him last night. He did a decent job for us. He’s system friendly. Obviously he knows the quarterback a little bit. So many of these decisions are just based on numbers at other positions. Whether you have a position you are trying to cover injury-wise. Whether you feel like you have a glut of people, like the defensive line. You keep the best football players for your 53-man roster. We don’t want to make up a number and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got nine offensive linemen that we feel are NFL caliber.’ We don’t want to fill up a position and leave another good football player to somebody else. Somewhere as I mentioned to you, future value, considerations for somebody else; somebody else makes us an offer we can’t refuse trade-wise. Going back to Javon, it’s going to be hard to keep five wide receivers, when we were looking at where we were at different positions.
Q: Did you lose
A: We just went in a different direction with the practice squad. It’s a matter of if you keep seven linebackers, the guys that give you service are the backup guys. Today we’re practicing with a defensive lineman as an offensive lineman, because of Patrick Brown going to the Jets. It’s kind of a global deal. You got to be able to practice.
Q: How personally is your team taking these couple weeks leading up to Thursday’s game?
A: That would be a good question for them. We know we played a good game, but we have a lot of work to do on all sides of the football to play at a championship caliber. Starting the year off, I don’t think we’re there right now.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2010
Vikings Quarterback
Q: How much is the NFC Championship game still in your mind going into this Thursday’s game, or have you gotten past it already?
A: Yes and no. I don’t think you ever completely get over it. Just like in the Saints case, or in years back in my case, it’s a great feeling, a great win. Equally it’s that tough of a loss. I don’t know if that every completely goes away. We have to line up and play this week. It’s a different season. No different than in 1996, when we won the Super Bowl and came back the next year. It was great, but it’s a new season. You have to move on.
Q: Were you mistreated in that game do you think, because of all the hits?
A: You know, I just got done on the conference call talking with [the Saints reporters]. I’ve heard that. Going home, everyone was like, ‘I thought that was this and that.’ Had it been us doing that to Drew, we wouldn’t probably feel that way. They would be getting those questions. It’s football. If you’re able to get the opposing quarterback out, are there cheap hits that happen occasionally? In every game. The ones on the quarterback are more obvious, people see them. To answer your question, no, I don’t feel that way.
Q: You’ve played a lot of games. To take a beating like you did against the Saints and have to come back and play them this season in week one, is there a mental hurdle that you’ll have to get over?
A: No. I felt a lot worse after the San Francisco game last year. People are probably like, ‘Yeah, right.’ My ankle was hurt. It was hurt going in to the game. The worst thing that I had was a thigh bruise. I got elbowed, or kicked, or something in a scrum trying to get the ball. All of the other hits, believe it or not, didn’t really hurt. Now do they take their toll over time? Sure they do. As far as a mental hurdle, no. It might be the same thing. It might be different. I couldn’t tell you, but I’m not worried about it.
Q: Are you concerned that the Saints have set a blueprint for what you might face throughout the season?
A: We had 500 yards of offense. We turned the ball over 6 or 7 times. We don’t turn the ball over it’s a different ball game. We probably have more yards. We lost the football game. Give them credit. I expect that every week, especially this year. Look at our schedule, the teams we play, not a whole lot different than the Saints, as far as the style of defense that they play. We play a of 3-4 teams, and all those 3-4 teams are aggressive. [They] will give you a lot of different looks, coverages, pressures, things of that nature. That’s just the way they play. To answer your question, I think we will see a lot of that. I don’t know if the reason is anything other than that’s the style of defense that they play. There’s always a risk, reward, regardless of what side of the ball you’re on, by being aggressive. It’s not like we were shut down offensively. We went into a hostile environment and were extremely productive on offense, but yet [the turnovers] proved costly. Do I think we’ll face the same style of defense this week? Gregg Williams, as many times as I’ve played against his defenses, they play that way. Will they have a few wrinkles? Sure. But overall, he says, and I’ve never been in his meetings, but he says, ‘We’re going to be good at what we do. It’s up to them to beat us. We’re not going to outsmart ourselves and things like that. We’re going to be aggressive, we’re not going to change.’ I foresee it being the same style of defense. A few new faces obviously. [We] just expect it every week.
Q: Do you embrace the defense coming after you because of the matchups it creates?
A: You look at that game, I know right off hand, two times Sharper came free and it was huge plays for us. We didn’t have enough to pick it up. It was just they overload blitzed us. It was a matter of me getting the ball off before they got there, and getting it off to a guy who had to beat his guy one-on-one, or anticipating the throw. On both of those, it was huge plays for us. We didn’t see that blitz any more. We saw it twice. Maybe the first time when we were successful on it, he may of said, ‘I’m going to roll the dice again, that was kind of a fluke,’ and I hit Bernard on a comeback and we never saw it again. Did that scare Gregg Williams out of doing it? I find that hard to believe. I just think that with his style of defense that he’s got enough to dial up, different types of blitzes. Did they get us on some? Sure, they did. It’s kind of ironic that the two interceptions, they backed out of it, played zone. And that’s, in a roundabout sort of way, that’s kind of the beauty of that defense. You get so caught up in pressures, blitzes, things like that, that your time clock speeds up. What do you do now? Take a deep breath. That’s obviously easier said than done. The pressures we handled fairly well. One of Adrian’s better runs, really two. [Adrian’s] first touchdown was against an all-out pressure and they had several more than we could block, and he comes out the back door, makes a guy miss, then there’s no one back there. So as a defensive coordinator, you’re going, ‘Yeah, we can get home, but if we miss, there’s no one back there.’
Q: After the Seattle game, you mentioned to Peter King that you got an injection in your ankle. Can you explain what that means?
A: Yeah, it’s more or less a lubricant. I don’t know the scientific or medical term for it, it’s more or less like a gel or something that acts as a [lubricant]. I think of it kind of as Vaseline, [to lubricate] where it’s bone on bone. It remains to be seen if it will work.
Q: So it wasn’t Cortisone?
A: No.
Q: Has it helped?
A: It felt bad going in. I’m kind of scared of needles, by the way. Regardless, I was already squirming. It may be mental too. It seems to have helped a little bit, but it’s a long season so I might need more than silicone, or whatever it is.
Q: Are you going to need to have it done more throughout the season?
A: Maybe. We’ll see how it helps, or doesn’t help. I didn’t know it was going to make that big of a deal. My mom called and said, ‘I didn’t know you got an injection.’
Q: With the condition your ankle was in after the Saints game, would you have been able to play in the Super Bowl if you had won that game?
A: I’m almost certain I would have found a way to play. Believe me, if it had been the following week, instead of two weeks, [I’m not sure]. Considering I’ve played in every game, I would sit here and tell you yeah. I think it would have been extremely difficult. More so the thigh. Don’t get me wrong, the ankle was sore and swollen, and for a while. As the game was winding down, the tightness in my thigh and ankle, had I went in for halftime and came back out, I’d have been stiff as a board. I’m assuming I probably would have, but I know it would have been as difficult as any other time I’ve had to play with an injury.
Q: Those pictures that came out of your ankle, when were they taken?
A: I think they were taken Wednesday [after the NFC Championship].
Q: How confident are you with this offense going into game one?
A: From my standpoint, and I’ve obviously been around a long time and know how difficult it is to perform, I do feel as confident as I did this time last year. Maybe even a little more confident. I didn’t know what to expect last year. I had never played in a real game with these guys. Most of these guys I have now. Sidney’s not in there, Percy’s been out some. But if you think back to last year, none of us knew what Percy could do. We’re having to work a few new guys in there. It’s always tough when you have to work with a new center. We hope John Sullivan plays, and is able to play at a high level. Taking snaps from a center in here, even if it’s your normal center, and taking snaps on Thursday night in a hostile environment, is always different, and then you throw in to the mix that it could be a new center. No disrespect, but we opened up with Cleveland last year. It wasn’t as loud. We were able to control the game, run the football, as we had hoped, and for me to kind of ease in to it. It was for me, I don’t want to say easy, but I got to watch Adrian, I had the best seat in the house. I said, ‘This is going to be a lot of fun this year.’ I think the next week is when we beat San Francisco on that play. This is a different opening. Do I think we will be as productive this year, week-in and week-out? It would be hard to beat what we did last year, and that’s with all the guys back and healthy. It just would be hard. I’ve played 19 years, and by far that was the best year I’ve ever had. It’s just hard to do. With a few new guys, it’s going to be even harder. Not to say that it can’t be done, but the confidence is there. You don’t have to score as many points as we did last year, you don’t have to throw as many touchdowns. You just have to be consistent. I feel confident that we can do that. It’ll be tough every week just based on our schedule. Obviously this week, who knows what will happen in this game, either way. Going into that playoff game, there was a lot more confidence. Just based on, we had seen ourselves do it, week-in and week-out.
Q: Were you upset that Javon was released?
A: I wouldn’t call it upset. I think he helped his cause, no doubt. I’m not in personnel meetings, even though I understand the dynamics of how the cuts, and really teams get down to this point. It’s still tough, because I really feel like he did a good job. I was all for them bringing him in to give him a shot and I felt like he had done a good job. Now we need numbers in other places. There’s always a chance we bring him back, sooner rather than later. He’s well aware of that. But right now, because of some of the other positions, it’s not to say if all those other positions were fine that they would have chose to go in a different direction. I don’t know that. I do understand, more disappointed, just based on how he worked and my history with him, I think the guy is - can he run like he used to? No. But he’s a good football player, he’s a good guy, he’s a hard worker. We have a lot of those guys on this football team. There are other guys that are deserving. Maybe it’ll work out that he can come back.
Q: With Sage Rosenfels being traded, was it tough to see him go?
A: Yeah, but you know, I really get along with both of those guys [Rosenfels and Jackson] equally the same. And both of those guys have helped me, and have had input, not only in weekly meetings but during the game. I respect both of those guys, their advice. Who am I to say that one is better, or worse than the other? I think they each have their own unique qualities. This is a business and I’ve been around a long time. Here today, gone tomorrow. Nothing surprises me anymore. Really it doesn’t. I had a nice talk with Sage after he was traded. He wished me well, and vice versa. It is the nature of the business.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2010
New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton
Q: What is the biggest challenge going into this season where you are trying to repeat as Super Bowl champs?
A: We have talked about that term and in order to repeat you would pretty much have to have the same players on your roster and so it’s different. The team is different from a year ago when you look at the roster. Obviously we have a different schedule. The only way we know how to prepare is to focus on the first game at task. Certainly there are challenges though as it pertains to your offseason schedule. The season is longer; you have to reduce that schedule. There are more demands; you are pulled in more directions. Certainly those can become challenging but I think that we have the right type of guys in the locker room, character wise. They understand those challenges, they understand statistically just looking at our league it’s been a challenge for teams that have won (previous Super Bowls). You go back to New England really in the last 10 years. Our focus is really going forward and really squarely on preparing to play Minnesota.
Q: Has Drew Brees shown leadership qualities in helping the guys move past last season?
A: Clearly he is one of our leaders. Each season he comes in prepared and focused, mentally and physically. He is very demanding of himself. I think his teammates clearly see that and he has got that leadership ability that brings others with him. As we finish practice he is probably still throwing right now with the receivers working on some specific route. He is very driven. That is the type of leadership I was referring to in regards to moving onto the next season after having success.
Q: How do you respond to Brad Childress’ making numerous statements about Brett Favre being hit late and illegally?
A: I really don’t respond to it. Guys are going hard and playing physical and it’s a tough game. I was just asked the question, ‘Do you think there will more of an emphasis of a pass rush in this game from both teams?’ And I would say, the same emphasis. Each week when a guy like Brees or a guy like Brett Favre has a lot of time to throw, they are hard to defend. I think that we play with an attitude and a swagger and a confidence level that is within the rules and I like the way we play.
Q: Did your guys take it over the line in the NFC Championship game against Favre?
A: No, I thought they played with great energy and effort. There was one foul that was called. Certainly you can look back and make a case one way or another. Ultimately the next week they played in Miami for the Super Bowl.
Q: As you look at what you have to do at linebacker, are you concerned with the injuries that have popped up in the last couple of weeks?
A: We’ll just keep going day by day. The one thing about this early game is, and you guys are probably going through it like we are, the schedule is different. Today becomes like a Wednesday. The problem with the transactions is that it limits or prohibits you from getting players here in time to practice today if the waivers just cleared. We’ll have to look closely at what we want to do defensively. I think coming off of a preseason like this, both teams have some nicks at certain spots. You’ve just got to overcome those. Once you get into your normal routine. We had a hard time just getting our practice squad assembled in time for today’s practice. It is uniquely different with a Thursday game.
Q: Does Dunbar just step in there and become the starter?
A: We’ll see. We haven’t announced any starters. We’ll have flexibility. We’ll probably announce it the night of the game.
Q: As you look back to the game last year, with all the Vikings fumbles it got overlooked, the way they ran the ball against you guys, is that a concern?
A: Certainly. They’re one of the best rushing teams in the league. When you look at a guy like
Q: How much does it affect the game not having Sharper?
A: Two things. When you have Darren, you’ve got more experience in the secondary. There’s so many reps he’s had and he can see formations and begin to diagnose fairly quickly. With Malcolm, he’s a guy that had a good rookie season for us at corner. He’s very intelligent, he’s got a real good football IQ and good ball skills. Certainly it’s different, and I’m sure [Darren] will be working closely with Malcolm and the defense as they get ready to start, not only this weekend but throughout the early start of the season.
Q: When did you guys go from celebrating to start turning the page toward this season?
A: I don’t think there’s ever a date that you point at. You have certain events that take place that you would categorize as events that are a result of winning the Super Bowl. I think that once you get started in training camp, clearly in our OTAs and the spring offseason, minicamps, that transition has begun and is clearly taking place now. I don’t know if there’s one day that you look at and say, ‘Alright, it’s done.’ But you go through the ring ceremony, you go through the White House trip, and you go through some of these things that are really the result of winning the Super Bowl, but clearly as we’ve gone through training camp the focus has been on this season.
Q: Do you guys have to go out and sign a linebacker, or are you set there?
A: We’ll see. We’ve got some flexibility in the roster. Usually you’ll see teams, especially in these first three weeks, with multiple transactions. I would expect the same with Minnesota. But as we move forward here we’ve just got to attention closely to the waiver wire.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2010
New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees
Q: Can you talk about what your main concern is about heading into this challenge of trying to repeat?
A: I think at first you just want to make sure everybody feels motivated, nobody is relaxed and that there is still a sense of urgency. What has been awesome about this offseason and preseason, it’s been as competitive of an offseason and preseason as I have ever been a part of. Nobody around here is relaxing. Everybody around here still feels like we have so much to prove. Everybody is competing for a spot on this team and a role within this offense or this defense; by doing that, I feel like everyone’s putting forth their best effort. That’s what you want to see.
Q: The defense you are facing Thursday night is pretty much the same one you saw in the NFC Championship game. What are your thoughts on how they played against you in that game and what you expect from them on Thursday night?
A: I thought they played very well against us in that NFC Championship game. As we go back and look in that film, we feel we were all kind of disappointed in the way we played offensively. You have to give them a lot of credit, obviously, because they did some good things. We just looked at short-yardage situations where we were kind of poor at. Third downs in general, we did not do a very good job. The one thing we did do a good job of was scoring when we got in the red zone and obviously getting turnovers defensively. That’s really what helped us win the game. All in all, I feel like we are a lot better than what we showed last year in that game.
Q: In trying to avoid complacency, have you made a conscious effort, or have you done anything differently to lead the way and make sure that doesn’t happen this year?
A: All of us have done a little something. I think it is just making guys aware of what the pitfalls are and why it is so hard to go back and do it again and why teams from the past have not been able to do that. I have had the chance to talk to a lot of guys that have been a part of really successful years, Super Bowl championship years and then next year they didn’t even make the playoffs. My question to them was, ‘Why do you think that was?’ I got some really good explanations and opinions as to what causes you to not. Then again I talked to some guys who were able to go back and repeat a championship. Not just in the sport of football, but other sports. It was guys from different sports, but really it was just that mindset. How do you create that mindset? How do you prepare yourself? How do you prepare your teammates? How does that affect your approach or the process? I think the general feeling from everybody was you have to continue to get a little better every day. You can never feel like you’ve arrived or that you are there. You constantly have to find a way to get a little bit better every day. You are either getting better or you’re getting worse and you’re never staying the same. I think the tendency for teams that have been successful in the past was that when little things start to go wrong here and there, the tendencies have been for teams to ignore those little things; saying ‘We’ll figure it out on game day. We have in the past; we’ll figure it out,’ as opposed to addressing the issues right then and there. Then all of a sudden they end up getting you beat and then it’s too late to go back. I think that’s been the general consensus.
Q: The Vikings are short a couple of cornerbacks right now to injury, how can you all exploit that?
A: They are still a very, very good defense. A guy like
Q: Brad Childress said again today that in the NFC Championship game your defense was hitting Brett Favre late and illegally. As both a quarterback and a member of the Saints, what do you think?
A: I would say that any defensive player, when you have a chance to take a shot at the quarterback legally, you’re going to take it. I feel like that’s something that every defensive coach and every defensive player talks about. I know that we did hit Favre a lot in that game, but that’s the style of defense that we play, with the pressure packages and everything else. I don’t think they hit him illegally in any way. Do I think they hit him hard? Yeah, they hit him hard and they hit him a lot, but I don’t think they hit him illegally and there was no extra malice or anything like that from any of those hits. Like I said, any defense out there, if the Vikings guys get a clean shot at me, I know they’re going to take it. That’s football, and everybody loves hitting the quarterback.
Q: Are you surprised at all to see Brett come back again, or did you expect it to happen?
A: I expected it to happen. The guy’s still a very, very good player. He’s a great player. You can tell he loves the game. He just seems like the kind of guy, as long as he’s healthy enough to play it, he’s going to play it.
Q: As you look at your defense, are there any concerns for you? Sharper’s not going to play, and the linebacker situation with the injuries, do you have some concerns about your defense?
A: No, I don’t. We find a way regardless of who is on the field. Everybody knows what to do; everybody has bought in to the system and our game plan. Everybody has a role, and they fit in to it. We’ve been in plenty of situations in the past. As I look to last season where a guy goes down here and there, sometimes two, three, four guys, these young guys have to step in and do the job. We find a way to get it done. We find a way to put those guys in positions to succeed, to do what they’re good at. Obviously, you miss the starters when they’re out, but that’s an opportunity for the young guys to step up and get the experience.
Q: Where is your offense at heading into this season? It seems like you all are healthy, Reggie Bush is playing well, where would you compare it to last season?
A: I feel good about where we are at. I think you never really know until you get in there with all the bullets in your gun and have the opportunity to start playing for real. I think the last few preseason’s I’ve felt good going into that first game. So many times the preseason is so vanilla, with what you’re doing offensively and what defenses are doing against you. It’s not until you get to the first game that you really start to establish our identity again.
Q: Has Sean Payton changed at all after winning a Super Bowl?
A: Nope, same old Sean. This offseason for all of us was pretty crazy, but if there’s something that could be gained from that, all of us could not wait to get back to work for training camp. It was a shorter offseason, obviously, but I feel like with everything that everybody had going on we kind of look at this as football and getting back to work is kind of like our sanctuary, just being able to focus and eliminate distractions and just start playing ball again. Obviously we still have a lot to prove and still have a lot that we can accomplish as a team.
Q: When do you feel that the celebration ended and turned toward the next season?
A: Certainly February and March were just crazy. Just about every guy on the team had their high school jersey retired or a street named after them in their hometown, all kinds of stuff. Once we started the offseason strength and conditioning program in late April and got back to where we are practicing again in mid-May, I felt like the focus was very much on, like I said it was as competitive as I have ever seen. You have a bunch of guys that are fighting to get better, fighting for a position and a role on this team. I think we all see the window of opportunity that we have and how talented we are and how special of a group this is. Everybody wants to be a part of it. Everybody wants to be a part of this journey, this run.
Q: Can it work in your favor that so many people say teams that win a championship can’t do it the next year?
A: Yeah, I think we’ve always been a team that’s tried to prove the doubters wrong. I think that anybody that’s reached a certain level of success has had people along the way that said, ‘You can’t do it,’ or ‘You won’t make it,’ that kind of thing. I doubt that four years ago a lot of people thought we’d be winning a Super Bowl. And then now, I guess there’s nobody out there that’s picked us to repeat. Everybody’s picking other teams in the NFC to represent us in the Super Bowl this year. That’s just more motivation for us.
