NFL Network analyst Michael Irvin sat down with Denver Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey, running back Willis McGahee and defensive end Elvis Dumervil to discuss the season for the AFC West champions and to preview this afternoon’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
On his thoughts when he heard about Tim Tebow being named the starting quarterback:
Willis McGahee: “You don’t ever know when it’s going to be your turn, and it was Tebow’s turn and we couldn’t do anything but wait and see what he can do. When he brought us back for that Miami game and won, it felt like we might have a little shot here. And then we won another one, and we just got on a little roll.
On the six-game winning streak:
McGahee: “It was crazy. I was never a part of anything like that. But the good thing about it was everybody was having fun; in the locker room everybody was happy. We were just loving it.”
Champ Bailey: “It was a good experience. It was obviously what put us in the position we’re in now, but we did a lot of things that caught up to us. I feel like we weren’t hard on ourselves enough [in the games before the winning streak]; people were running the ball pretty effectively on us sometimes and we were giving up plays here and there. We were pretty much a big part of why we were winning, and when we don’t play well on defense we’re not going to win games.”
On how much pressure the style of play the offense runs puts on the defense:
Bailey: “It all depends on how well they execute it. If they’re moving the ball down the field, it’s great for us; that clock is ticking and ticking. And if they’re not converting third downs and this and that, it puts pressure on us. That’s when good defenses rise up in adverse situations. If that’s what it calls for, that’s what we have to do.”
On the reason for the three-game losing streak:
McGahee: “Starting out with that New England game, I didn’t finish the game because I had a little injury that just kept nagging with me and I really couldn’t run the way I wanted to run, and I went out. It just sort of went downhill so I blame it on me. The past two games, there was a difference in the whole offense that we really couldn’t move the ball like we’re supposed to.”
Elvis Dumervil: “We just have to tackle better, we have to get to the quarterback – we have to do a better job of that. And we have to create turnovers.”
Bailey: “Turnovers. Absolutely. It’s not just us giving it to them; it’s us taking it away as well and we haven’t done that either. It goes both ways.”
On who the real Denver Broncos are:
Bailey: “We’re going to find out this week. We lost our way and we’re going to correct those things, and we’re going to prove to everybody that we do belong in these playoffs. I don’t like going in like this [on a three-game losing streak]. You don’t want to depend on anybody else to give you another shot: you want to earn your shot yourself. We’re in it and we did some things throughout the year to earn this, but I just want everybody to know we have to pick it up.”
On why the Broncos can defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers:
Dumervil: “We’re a tight team and we’ve been through a lot of adversity. We’ve been prepared in a lot of close battle games, and at the end of the day I feel like we have some solid players to compete with anyone.”
Bailey: “If we get better at what we do, the sky is the limit. But every guy has to believe in it and keep getting better as well.”
Watch Irvin’s interview with Bailey, McGahee and Dumervil here.
Tags: Champ Bailey, Elvis Dumervil, Gameday Coverage, Michael Irvin, Pittsburgh Steelers, Wild Card, Willis McGahee
Let go broncos !!!!!!!!!!