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Transcript: DE Michael Strahan

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October 8, 2006

Q: After two weeks of hearing all the negative stuff, how good was this win?

A: It's good. It is something to build on, it is something to get excited about and it's about time that we came out as a team and defensively played the way we are capable of playing. Our playmakers made plays and we were dominant against the run, against the pass and we just went out there today and played good football.

RE: Were you surprised at how efficient you guys were out there?

A: We just simplified it, we just played. Just go and don't think too much; just go out and just play. We studied hard. We knew what to expect because everybody put in the extra time studying. The coaches did a great job in the meetings asking us a lot of questions, making sure we knew what we needed to do and challenging us to do that this week, because that is important, and I'm sure they're going to challenge us to do the same thing against Atlanta next week, because it's a lot different when you can understand what the other team is trying to accomplish, and when they are trying to accomplish it you can play a lot faster, and today was an indication of that.

RE: What about the crowd? It seemed like they were behind you guys today.

A: When they said they were going to introduce the defense, I said, 'Why this week? It's the offense's week.' The crowd is great, they are fans through and through. They're going to be there and the crowd this year has been the best probably in my fourteen (years) outside of the playoffs, so the regular season this crowd has been incredible and it's good to have them there. We love playing at home, we realize at home you have to win all your games and they definitely make it a little bit easier for us.

RE: Can you talk about having the two week break and then having a mistake/turnover free game like this?

A: We had so many turnovers the last few weeks, we had so many easy points the last few weeks and this week that was our focus. Trust me we all know that coming off of a bye we have not been that successful as far as winning games and all those things, but everybody is focused and said that's not a guarantee, we are not going to win because we had a bye week. Everybody took it as an opportunity to rest and get away from football for a little bit. I don't think most guys even stayed around, and guys took a chance to get away and reflect on what they needed to do individually to help us win collectively, and came back with the right attitude and today is one of those days that we just refused to go down easy, and we are just going to go out there and fight and see what happens at the end.

RE: You're not a stat guy, you don't put much of a premium on stats, but you sure did seem to enjoy that one sack.

A: We've been close so many times and when you get there, of course, you are excited, because they are not easy to come by and I am glad that we were able to just go. You know guys were getting back there, Fred (Robbins), Osi (Umenyiora). I mean we were flying around and trying to just disrupt (Mark) Brunell as much as possible, so trust me when you get a sack, you just don't get it and stand up. I know they say act as you've been there but you don't know if you'll ever get back so enjoy that sucker when you get it and we all had a good time with each one that we got.

RE: There is a big difference between being 1-3 with a loss in the division and being 2-2 with 2 wins in the division.

A: Yeah, I mean it is very easy to be 1-3 and 1-1 in our division, which puts us really behind the eight-ball. Especially losing at home against this team, because I just look at Washington last year and think that they gained momentum as the season went on, they didn't start out great but they gained momentum. You have a lot of teams in this league that are hot now and probably will fizzle and that's just the way it is. For us I think it's important to just be consistent and just go out there and play and be competitive and if you're competitive on the road or at home you always have a chance to win, but consistency is the key in this league and week in and week out we have to show that in order to get what we want to get, and if we don't, then we are not going to win many games in this division, because this is a very tough division.

RE: They came off of a big win last week, how important was it for the defense to have a good start today?

A: We didn't want to come out and the first five times they touched the ball give up touchdowns and make our offense come out and start throwing and try to catch up. It was great to see Tiki (Barber) rush for over 100 yards today and kind of grind it out, because he hasn't had the opportunity the last few weeks because defensively we haven't played up to our caliber to allow them to run an offense. They then have to pass when they shouldn't have to pass. So it's just great to give them the opportunity to let them grind the ball out. We have one of the best offenses in the league in terms of weapons, so it's just a matter of letting those guys make their plays by giving them time.