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Q: What's it going to take to beat this Ravens team?**
A: Well, it's going to take for us to go out there and play our best football. That's what we expect, that's what we're working on and they're a good team. They're talented, and they've got some injuries, but they might get some guys back. We don't know what that circumstance is, but we've got to have a great plan, go out and play the style of football we know we can play.
Q: Why do you guys seem to play your best football when your backs are against the wall? Do you expect that this week?
A: You hope for it and you prepare to go out there and play our best. That's all you can do. We know what we're playing for. We know what's on the line and all you can do is prepare for the future, go out there and hopefully, we can take our practice and what we're doing with good plays and take that onto Sunday.
Q: What is it that Ed Reed has done so well for so long to get so many picks?
A: He's just a tremendous athlete and a guy who, if he sees something or he gets a feel of how a quarterback is working in a certain way, he's going to fly to the ball. Sometimes, he'll leave his area, but he makes plays and you always have to have an eye on him. Pre-snap, you have to see where he is. Post-snap, see where he's going and what he's doing, because he's a tremendous player.
Q: How much of a difference could Ray Lewis make if, in fact, he does show up? Obviously, he's an emotional boost for them if he does.
A: Right. He's a guy who has so much knowledge in football. He's played in so many games and he's just a tremendous player, tremendous leader of that team. So, if he's playing, we'll have to prepare for that and understand that he's going to get his team ready to play.
Q: The fact that you guys were 7-7 last year and were in a similar spot, can you draw from those experiences, even back to the Super Bowl XLII win?
A: No. I think you have to prepare for this year and understand what our circumstances are, who our players are. Different teammates, different guys and it's a new season. Our confidence will come from the players that we have in this locker room, our character, our preparation, our coaches giving us a great game plan and the fact that we know we can go out there and play at a high level.
Q: Can you talk about the personality of the team? Who are the New York Giants right now?
A: We're the New York Giants. We're going to be ready to play and that's all you can do. No one said that we're going to go out there and win every game and play your best football every game. You hope you do that. That's always the plan. Sometimes, it's not going to work that way. This week, we're going to prepare to go out there and play our best. That's all we can prepare for.
Q: Last couple of weeks, you've thrown a couple of interceptions. When you look back at the film, do you say, 'Am I telegraphing anything?' How do you look at that? Is it that they made good plays?
A: Every one of them has its own story. You look at every play, analyze and see what you're doing well, what you can work on and just try to make good decisions and throw the ball accurately.
Q: A lot of people say that Eli Manning has got to lead them out of this into the playoffs. Do you feel that responsibility and pressure at this time of year?
A: No. I think every game, you go in wanting to play well. As the quarterback, you have the ball in your hands on every play. You've got to make good decisions, you've got to convert on third downs, and you've got to throw the ball well, get completions. When we get in the red zone, make good decisions, have good plays and get good production. So, a lot of the things are going to be what I can do, what our teammates can do, it all comes around to everyone doing their own responsibility. Everybody's got to play well and do their job. All you can do is understand the game plan, understand what my responsibilities are, what my reads are and go out and make them.
Q: Do you feel like you've played well? As well as you can recently?
A: Yeah. I feel like I can go out there and play well. Each game, you're going to have some good plays, you're going to have some plays you wish you had back. Hopefully, you have more good plays than bad plays.
Q: Do you know (Joe) Flacco at all?
A: No. Not really.
Q: Can you relate to the situation he's in from afar? He's a guy who has taken a lot of criticism, even though they're 9-5 and in the playoffs already?
A: I haven't heard any of the criticism, so I don't really know what's going on in Baltimore right now.
Q: You've played well in December. You've obviously had two great playoff runs. What is it about this time of year that brings out the best in you?
A: You hope the best comes out and it's just a matter of, hopefully, just playing well. Hoping that the team understands the circumstances and everybody's just having a great attitude, being confident, but being relaxed. Just ready to enjoy this opportunity, enjoy a chance to play in big games, enjoy a chance to extend our season and we know exactly what's ahead of us, what's at stake and we need to go out there and play our best football. Hopefully, we'll get that.
Q: You won the Super Bowl last year, but now you're back in the same situation and Tom Coughlin says that it's baffling that we keep doing this and there's a lot of panic outside. You're still calm and focused.
A: I think when you go through this, you sometimes feel like you're the only team in this situation. There are a lot of teams in this situation that are very similar to us. They've got to win out to make it to the playoffs. Maybe they won't make it to the playoffs. We're in a good position and I think you have to be excited about this position. We could always be better and we could be a lot worse, too. I think we have to be proud of where we are right now, what we've done. We've won some big games, we've played some good football, and we've got to make sure we're playing our best football at the end of the season.
Q: Are you confident? Last week's game can't be good for building confidence.
A: Whether you've played your best game or your worst game, each week you go in confident. You know you have the ability and you know you can make plays. Even from last week, you can draw from the good plays, you can draw on the good drives that you had. We didn't make the big plays in the game. This week, hopefully it's different. Hopefully, we'll be ready and go out there to make those plays.
Q: Are you frustrated with some of the accuracy issues?
A: No.
Q: Did you expect that you would have had a better season statistically before the season started? Or, is that something that you're not worried about?
A: No. You try to play each game and figure out how to get wins. That's the only thing on your mind and hopefully, you throw it well, find completions and everything goes smoothly. Sometimes, it doesn't always work out as perfectly as you want it. You've just got to try and make things work and put your team in a situation to win games.
Q: Sports Illustrated named you one of the inspirational people of 2012. Did you know that was coming?
A: I knew they were doing an article. I didn't know what it was on.
Q: It was about the fact that you're the guy they most want in a situation like this. Do you like how your reputation has become the guy who is going to win these games?
A: Yeah. If they're going to say something about you, I guess you'd rather them say something nice. That's always good, but as everybody knows, someone in my position, it's always, 'What have you done lately?' I've got to make sure that I'm playing my best and that the Giants are winning big games.
Q: Do you agree with the assessment?
A: I don't think it really matters if I agree with it or not. It's not something that I'm going to worry about right now. I have to go out there and hopefully, I'll make the statements true this year.
