Thursday, October 12, 2000

Q- What is it like going against Phillippi after facing him in practice for a year?

KC-I don’t know how much it will really help, you get certain coverage’s and they do different things and his role I think is different in that defense than it is here. I think he is a good corner. He has good cover skills and I’ve never played against him in a game type situation but from what I know from practice I think he is a good corner.

 
Q- Defensively, what type of challenges do they present?

KC- I think they have one of the better safeties in the game in Darren Woodson. I think he’s just all over the field; he’s a real smart guy and kind of the quarterback of their defense and just a real good player. They’ve got a lot of real good players and at times people move the ball on them but I see a lot of real good football players over there. You got to be impressed with a guy like Dexter Coakley and he stands out. He’s a smaller guy but I’m real impressed with him and the way he plays the game. Just got a lot of good players and at times haven’t played collectively but I think they have a lot of good players.

 
Q- Do you look ahead to the season with Dallas, the Bye, Philadelphia, Cleveland; you’re in a stretch where you can make things happen…

KC- I don’t think you can deny that you look and see what is ahead but at the same time that is a bad trap to get into because the moment you start looking ahead that is when the present will jump up and bite you. I think we just need to take it one game at a time, I know it’s a cliché but I think it’s very true. Because if you ask any team in the league anybody anything can happen on any given week. We just need to concentrate on what’s at hand and continue to think that way throughout the rest of the season. I think that will give us our best chance to do what we want to do.

 
Q- Is it easier to think positive or negative?

KC- It’s easy to think positive. It’s one of those things where you know you can do it and you’ve done it and you know you have the potential. But it’s a matter of playing well enough to have the kind of games we had earlier in the season and I don’t think we’ve been doing that the past few weeks. So, you realize the potential is there but at the same time you need to go out and execute and you got to kind of put the blinders on and just keep working. I think that is they key to it and I think we’ve been working hard. I think our practices have been good; week in and week out they’ve been good. I’m convinced that good things will start happening.

 
Q- As good as your numbers were when you look at them now what bothers you more than anything else?

KC- The interceptions definitely, three against Tennessee. Two last week, that is too many.

 
Q- When you look at the two last week do you say well they could have been completions or…

KC- It’s kind of the same thing at the end of the half or the end of the game and those things happen and I’m convinced that those kind of things don’t always happen when you’re throwing the ball real well, for some reason, it’s just one of those things. Those things are going to happen we had two in one game and maybe it could have been caught. But at the same time I always think, well, I could have put it right on the money. That is kind of my mentality when I think about it. So that is part of it.

 
Q- Big Game, Division game going into the Bye week….

KC- Any division game is important and we’re in a spot now where we’re 2-1 and certainly to go 3-1 in the division at this point would obviously put us right where we want to be. I think everybody realizes the implications on this game and I think we’re preparing accordingly. It’s funny, I don’t think there is any time of the year where you don’t see a game and place a big amount of importance on it. This definitely has that.

 
Q- How much has losing Deion exposed their defense because he takes away half the field?

KC- You play ten on ten. They do different coverage’s, I don’t think they do the same kind of things that they used to do. They used to roll everybody to the strong side and just leave Deion one-on-one backside. Teams wouldn’t throw over there and now… Deion is in a class by himself, so they got to be a little more balanced. So it maybe keeps them a little more honest as far the kind of things they can do to you. Overloading certain sides and certain formations. But at the same times you have to prepare the same way each week and I worry about the things that we’re doing. I think that is my biggest concern right now.

 
Q- Is beating Dallas in the playoffs your fondest memory in the NFL.

KC- Yeah, it’s probably up there. Hopefully there will be more to come but up to this point that was the high point of my career. It was a special year and it seemed like everything came together and it was a great win for us.

  Q- Even though they were not considered a great team they were a notch below their greatness.

KC- As the game kind of transformed Deion got hurt, Michael got hurt so I don’t know if we saw them full strength. Even though they weren’t playing at a level that they had in the past in the Super Bowl years. Still, it was still the Dallas Cowboys and they were certainly still a very good football team.

 
Q- Is that the first time you played against them? The fact that it was the Cowboys…

KC- Yeah, it’s so funny though, that whole season it was like we were unconscious. We were beating a team and we were like next, you know what I mean. So we really didn’t have time to think. You didn’t want to think about it much you just wanted to keep the momentum going. It was just kind of a special year, it was a special atmosphere there and certainly to beat the Cowboys added to it, being that they were the Cowboys definitely added to it.

 
Q- How does that translate to Sunday?

KC- I definitely think the rivalry. You think about Giants- Cowboys, I mean how many games did I watch as a kid. Watching Roger Staubach play against Joe Pisarcik or whoever it was. For me it holds a special thing because these were the games I watched when I was a kid and to be a part of it know really means a lot.

 
Q- Does it matter that the Cowboys are riding low as opposed to riding high?

KC- Honestly, I’m worried about what we’re doing. I think at this point if we concern ourselves with anything but what we’re doing and the way we’re playing it’s going to do nothing but hurt us. Right now I’m worried about the New York Giants and how we’re playing in this offense because we struggled the past few games and that to me is the biggest thing.