SUPER BOWL XLIV - COLTS S MELVIN BULLITT - Ingles

COLTS S MELVIN BULLITT

(on what happened in the second half) “They had a good game plan. We couldn’t get off of the field on third down. Things weren’t going our way, and we just weren’t in sync. Offensively, I don’t know what happened with them, but it seemed like they couldn’t stop us on offense. So when we got out there on defense, we just let them get too many field goals. Two little third downs, if we would’ve stopped them a little bit further back, maybe things could’ve been different.”

(on if it was tough to get any pass rush going at all) “At times, it seemed like it was, but for a while, our defensive line was doing really well. (Drew Brees) couldn’t see over the line. And he did make some good passes, but there were some passes that were kind of shaky that he made and he was doing a good job on the pressure at first. But they adjusted, they made good adjustments, they did what they had to do to win the game.”

(on the onside kick to start the second half) “The onside kick was huge. As a special teams captain on the team, I feel like we kind of didn’t do what we were supposed to do. We always talk about the little things, and that was a little thing that was huge. If we would’ve got the ball right there, maybe on the 40-yard line going in, the game could’ve went a totally different way. We would’ve been up by, what, 14 points, almost 17 points, so that was a huge turning point in the game. They scored on that drive immediately, and we just didn’t capitalize on defense. We just couldn’t stop them in that second half.”

(on what worked with the Saints’ game plan) “The short passing game. They didn’t go deep. They can’t throw it deep. We had a lot of speed on defense. We were moving around fast, they would dump it off short. We knew they were going to try to go deep, but they didn’t. They adjusted and dumped it off short and got four or five yards here and there, and it worked out well for them.”

(on if they were prepared for the onside kick) “We had been prepared for that all season. But they caught us off guard. They did a great job. The special teams coach made a great call. It was gutsy, and it’s the Super Bowl. I mean, what do you have to lose but this last game? You might as well go for it. And you see what happened. They got it. The defense didn’t go out and stop them. All the credit goes to them.”

(on if they were prepared for the onside kick) “We’re always prepared for an onside kick. You always prepare for that. You know your assignments. Our guy, he tried to make a great play on the ball. He just didn’t get it. And it goes like that sometimes. And special teams-wise we just didn’t finish, defensively we just didn’t finish and then on our offense, we just didn’t finish. It’s just one of those games that we did not finish. We finished all season so well, and to come here and not finish the game is not like us. It’s not like Colts football.”

(on DE Dwight Freeney being able to come back and play) “He worked his tail off. He did everything he could. He was in treatment three and four times a day. I knew he was going to play. Like I told everybody before, there was no doubt in my mind that he would because that’s just the type of person Dwight is. Big game and he came up with a big play at a crucial time for us. And you know, it’s hard that we couldn’t get the win for him with him coming back so soon off of an injury like that. It’s very disappointing, but they get all the credit. They beat us tonight. They were the better team.”

(on their defense’s goal-line stand) “That was huge. You could see their shoulders drop. You could see that they were like, ‘What can we do to get in this end zone?’ They scored one touchdown offensively. Their kicker did a great job kicking field goals, and like I said, man, it takes all three aspects of the game to win games: offense, defense and special teams. And we didn’t finish those three aspects, so we come up with the ‘L.’”

(on how Drew Brees completed 21 of 24 passes at one point) “A combination of pass rush and coverage. We didn’t play the way we normally do. You never see that happen to us. We’re usually flying around, knocking the ball loose, and it just didn’t happen for us tonight. I don’t know what it was. A lot of them were dump-off passes. We had the guys covered, we had them covered deep and we would hit Reggie Bush out of the backfield. He would get four or five yards on third down, and next thing you know, they’ve got a first down.”

(on the Saints’ play-calling) “They played pretty conservative for a while. Especially after that goal-line stand, they got conservative. They didn’t throw the ball deep. You didn’t see any deep balls on our defense. Every pass, just about, was a dump-off pass. But Drew Brees did a great job. He knew that we were going to key on the deep – they’ve been doing it all season – so he changed it up. And all respect to him and their whole organization because they deserved it tonight. They were the better team.”