Head Coach Jon Gruden
Opening comments: "I'd just like to congratulate the Colts. (It was) a great come-from-behind victory. I can only compliment them right now. We didn't get it done."
On injuries in the game: "I have numerous injuries. Mike Alstott aggravated his neck. Keyshawn Johnson couldn't play late in the game. He has a thigh bruise. Mike Pittman couldn't finish. He has a stomach virus, which he had last night. Darian Barnes was pulled out of the game-he has a shoulder. Aaron Stecker (has) a right knee sprain. None of these guys could finish during the game. We ran out of backs, honestly, as the game drew near the end of the fourth quarter. Greg Spires has a calf. Jack Golden has a foot sprain, and Brian Kelly came out early in the game with a sprain, or a torn pec(toral) muscle. We don't know the exact severity, but he could not play very much in this game tonight. Obviously, a very agonizing defeat. There are numerous reasons for it. 35-14 lead, we give them a big play in the kicking game. They score quickly, it's 35-21. The onside kick (was a) great play on their part. They get a quick strike. We're unable to run out the clock. We have a penalty that really cost us in that situation. They go 85 yards in less than a minute to tie the football game."
On the Colts' success throwing the ball: "I'm standing down there. A lot of those plays I can only tip my hat to (Peyton) Manning. He made some miraculous throws, and they made some incredible catches. They did a great job with their scheme. Obviously, the pass rush, we didn't get it. The sacks, the impact plays, we had them in a predictable situation, as usual. A very, very good situation for us. Unfortunately, we had a guy tonight that made the plays when he had to."
On the penalty in overtime: "They called jumping, and they said he landed on some teammates or landed on some other people. I'm really going to look at that play, obviously, carefully. I don't believe we were in error, at least what I could see on the field. We had numerous chances to win this game. I'm not going to cry about that one."
On whether the Bucs were open down the middle: "A couple of plays, I know Marcus Pollard got a couple of big ones on play action. Obviously, Manning had some good looks tonight. He had time to find some second or third receivers. To be quite honest with you, they are very talented. They have people that can get down the middle fast. The pressure they apply on the outside with Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison make it awfully difficult to squeeze some coverages. It was a combination of them getting it done and us not."
WR Keenan McCardell
On the Buccaneers' loss: "A lot of guys put their heart on the line out there, and we just came up short. They made a play when they had to. I won't say what I really want to say about the last flag we got. It's one of those things that's a heartbreaker. It shouldn't have come to that situation. You have to give them a lot of credit. They fought, they stayed in it and they won."
On if he's seen that unsportsmanlike conduct rule before: "No, I haven't. I think it's a new rule. If a guy jumps, he has to be able to land somewhere. If the lineman pushes the line back, he [Simeon Rice] can't, in mid-air, change direction."
On if the referees ruled that Rice landed on a player: "Yeah. He has to come down somewhere. If a guy backs up, he's got to come down. I can see if he propelled himself off our guy, but he didn't. He took one step and went up. But I'm not going to cry over spilled milk. It shouldn't have ever happened. We have to move on. We've got a big week next week against Washington."
Indianapolis Head Coach Tony Dungy
On tonight's game: "They never gave up, that is what I like about us. We have a great team chemistry. I had a feeling that the lord was going to do something special today, and he certainly did. "
"I think from my standpoint I kind of understand now about what Venus and Serna Williams say: "It's never that much joy in it." I am just extremely happy, but when you fight against guys that you went to war with, it was really tough out there. I am just extremely happy and proud of my guys, and we got a great bunch of guys. We are not a great team yet but we got great chemistry, we got guys that work hard and I think we can a long way."
Indianapolis S Mike Doss
On the game: "I've been here twice and come up short in the Outback Bowl, and to get a win down here, man that was a lot of fun, especially since it was a big game for Coach Dungy. You know our team continued to fight, and we fought back into it."
On the win: "Well, it was motivational, we wanted to come here and get a win for Coach's birthday, you know a big game, and we wanted to play hard for coach, and that is what we did. We came out in the 2nd half and laid it all on the line."
Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning
On the Buccaneers' defense: "That is an awesome defense. They can play. I mean, I love my offensive line, but they were bringing it at times. They were bringing it like you expect and you just try to move around, try to slide a little bit, throw it away if you have to. Like I said, I hated that turnover, but, you're playing against the clock, you're playing against them."
On the second half comeback: "That was a fun game. The first half was not a whole lot of fun, but, we've been in games before where you get down 21 to nothing, and you just feel like, "God, we stink and they're really good." We just didn't feel that way in the second half. I mean, they're a good team, but, we've really been doing some things that are out of character."
On the play of Marvin Harrison: "In the second half, we just said, "Let's go. Let's just go with it." If they play two (deep), I'll hit Marvin. If they play one (deep), I'll work the outside. I don't care who's out there (covering) Marvin. I really don't. But we were finally able to get some one-on-one matchups, and we had a little momentum."
Indianapolis LB David Thornton
On the second half of the game: "We came out and played better football in the second half. We remained poised to come out and play better in the second half, and we did."
Indianapolis RB Ricky Williams
On Dungy's return to Tampa: "We really didn't think about it much. He (Dungy) came here with us and wanted to win. Next week we will try to beat Carolina and go 6-0."
On playing from behind: "We came out and tried to win the game. We didn't come here to play for the fans."
