“This offense is the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Devin McCourty on the Jets
Peacock Sunday Night Football Final Streams Exclusively on Peacock Following Cowboys-Steelers and Every Sunday Night Football Game During 2024 Season
STAMFORD, Conn. – October 6, 2024 – NBC Sports’ presentation of Week 5 of the 2024 NFL season continued tonight from Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa., with Football Night in America leading into coverage of Cowboys-Steelers on Sunday Night Football on NBC and Peacock.
Maria Taylor hosted FNIA from NBC Sports’ Studio 3 in Stamford, Conn. She was joined by former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, three-time Super Bowl champion Devin McCourty, former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, and NFL Insider Mike Florio. Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, and fantasy sports industry pioneer Matthew Berry joined co-host Jac Collinsworth at the site of the game.
Mike Tirico (play-by-play), Cris Collinsworth (analyst), Melissa Stark (sideline reporter) and Terry McAulay (rules analyst) are calling tonight’s game.
Tonight’s Football Night in America included Snoop Dogg joining Jac Collinsworth, Harrison and Dungy on the field for a pre-game interview, as well as Florio’s conversation with Commanders QB Jayden Daniels following their win against Cleveland and Dungy speaking with Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
Tonight’s game was delayed due to lightning in the area. Stark provided reports from outside the locker rooms and Football Night in America provided extended highlights and analysis of Sunday’s Week 5 matchups.
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Following are highlights from tonight’s edition of Football Night in America on NBC and Peacock:
ON WEATHER DELAY
Garrett on handling a weather delay: “The key is communication and telling the players what’s going on. You want to eliminate the anxiety that comes from the uncertainty. I say you should take the pads off, sit down, relax a little bit, listen to your music. It wouldn’t be surprising if Dak Prescott had a little hamper basketball going, just to keep everyone loose and relaxed.”
Simms: “You get all hyped up and ready to play...and then all of a sudden you have to calm yourself down, and then find that magic to bring yourself back up again. I always found that hard in the rain delays I was a part of.”
ON COWBOYS-STEELERS RIVALRY
Dungy on his experience of the Cowboys-Steelers rivalry as a Steelers player: “I can remember my rookie year [in 1977] playing a preseason game against the Cowboys. [Linebacker] Jack Lambert came to me and said, ‘Be ready, man. We don’t let these guys win any time. This is serious business.’ That’s what this rivalry is all about.”
Dungy on his favorite memory of the Cowboys-Steelers rivalry: “For me, personally, it’s got to be 1977, my rookie year. We had some DBs hurt…I was in the nickel rotation and Captain Comeback, Roger Staubach, tried to bring the [Cowboys] back, but no! I got the interception, big play early in my career to get things going.”
Garrett on his experience in the rivalry as the Cowboys head coach: “This rivalry is incredible. We went up there in 2016, Dak Prescott was our quarterback as a rookie and he was incredible and led two two-minute drives at the end of the ballgame. But the guy who was the difference-maker was Ezekiel Elliott…at the end of the game, he was the one who made the big plays. When you go into a raucous environment like Pittsburgh, you have to run the ball to quiet the game down.”
PRE-GAME INTERVIEW WITH STEELERS FAN SNOOP DOGG
Snoop Dogg on how he became a Steelers fan: “As a baby, watching them in the ‘70s, watching them do what they do. ‘Mean Joe Greene,’ that commercial meant everything to the kids that were inspired by him and by the team. Watching them go hard in the ‘70s and win back-to-back [Super Bowls], they won me over.”
Snoop Dogg on his all-time favorite Steeler: “It’s Mel Blount. Mel was a lockdown DB.”
Snoop Dogg on the coaching tactics he’s used during his role as a coach on The Voice: “Every artist is like each player. You have to coach them to their skillset. You can’t really be aggressive to certain people, you can’t talk to certain people a certain way, so those skills I took with me as a football coach are working on the set.”
Snoop Dogg on Rodney Harrison’s play against the Steelers throughout his career: “Hot Rod was a dog. Hot Rod was a dog at safety. He was hard to get past, get over, get around. We respect him. Real talk. I’ll tell you to your face, we respect you.”
ON COWBOYS
Dungy on injuries to the defense: “They’re missing two cornerbacks in DaRon Bland and Caelen Carson. That puts a lot of pressure on Trevon Diggs. George Pickens is the Steelers best receiver and we talked to Trevon, he’s going to be following Pickens and locked up with him tonight.”
Harrison on the defense: “I’m looking at the defensive line and Mazi Smith...he got pushed around and bullied against the Baltimore Ravens (in Week 3), he came back a week later and played extremely well against the Giants. He has to understand that he has to bring that every single week in the NFL.”
Dungy on the offense: “They have to run the football. They haven’t run it that well...they haven’t run it often. They can’t get one-dimensional and let this Steelers pass rush going, they need to be aggressive running the football.”
ON STEELERS
Dungy on the QB situation: “The Steelers are very happy with their situation. They’ve got two quarterbacks that Mike Tomlin loves. I’ll tell you this – I was at practice on Thursday and Russell Wilson was throwing the ball lights out. He hasn’t moved full-speed yet, but they’re very impressed.”
Harrison: “Justin Fields should be the starter. The most dangerous thing about their offense is Justin Fields. They don’t have a ton of talent that scares you, so I’m looking at Justin Fields like he should be the guy.”
Garrett: “If they are winning, they have to keep playing Justin Fields. He fits perfectly with how they want to play. They’re playing great defense, they want to run the ball, play action…Fields is the perfect fit.”
ON COMMANDERS
Garrett on rookie QB Jayden Daniels: “Talk about keeping command. This guy is playing like a 10-year vet...to me, it’s his poise, his decision-making. The confidence that everyone around that Commanders team has is because of that quarterback. He is five games into his NFL career, it’s ridiculous.”
McCourty on Daniels: “I used to have fun playing against rookie quarterbacks. Watching this guy? That doesn’t look fun (to play against).”
ON BENGALS
McCourty on the Bengals’ 1-4 start: “The problem with getting off to a slow start is that sometimes you lose tough games, and this team has not figured out a way to win. It seems like they had it wrapped up, but in the end, they fell short...championship teams have championship habits. The way they study, the way they prepare, all of those things go into every single week. You don’t just wake up one day and say, ‘You know what? We’re going to turn the lights on and operate.’ It’s not that easy in the NFL and this team has kind of been coasting, different things happening in the offseason, and everyone expects them to just turn it on and win. I don’t see that happening this year.”
Garrett on QB Joe Burrow and the Bengals: “Joe Burrow said he had to be perfect in this game and he was near-perfect, but everything else wasn’t…They’re 1-4 right now and it’s an uphill battle.”
Simms: “The big problem is the defense. Burrow and the offense have been phenomenal three weeks in a row. I don’t see the defense turning it around.”
ON JETS
McCourty: “They have to be comfortable with being a little uncomfortable. This offense is the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I know you don’t like to shift in motion, but throw some of that in there, maybe put Braelon Allen out there a little more...they have to switch things up to get a different result...we saw a couple plays with Allen and Breece Hall out there at the same time...put them both out there, every ball doesn’t have to go to Garrett Wilson.”
Garrett: “In defense of [Aaron Rodgers], he’s one of the all-time greats and he’s been in this offense a long time and had a tremendous amount of success doing it. But I agree with what you’re saying. The biggest thing I have an issue with is his 54 [passing] attempts. You can’t have any quarterback throw the ball 54 times against that [Minnesota] defense. You’re playing right in their wheelhouse.”
ON BROWNS
Simms on QB Deshaun Watson: “There are a lot of issues and it starts with Deshaun Watson. It’s not good enough – plain and simple. We saw this offense function at a high-level last year with Joe Flacco. This year? There’s nothing to talk about...right now, his contract and the trade they made with the Houston Texans has handcuffed the entire organization. If it was any other quarterback in football, we would be talking about benching him.”
Garrett: “Your number one job as a head coach is to play the right guys, the guys that give you the best chance to win. You can’t watch the Cleveland Browns and say this guy gives you the best chance to win. You lose credibility in the locker room when you let other factors get involved – money, when he was drafted, how long the contract is. He’s got to sit back, take courage and say, ‘What’s the best thing for our team?’ Right now, I think you give Jameis Winston a shot, maybe there’s some new energy, maybe there’s a spark in this team. It doesn’t mean it’s a decision for the rest of your life, it can be a two-way decision...but they can’t go down the road they’re going down right now. They have no chance to win.”
McCourty: “We always talk about quarterbacks that always give the team hope...they don’t have that right now...I think this defense is coming into games saying, ‘It doesn’t matter what we do, they’re going to find a way to lose the game on the other side.’”
Simms: “Do you think that Stefanski even has the power to make that call? I think it’s an ownership/GM thing that’s getting involved here right now.”
ON 49ERS
Garrett on the 49ers’ loss to the Cardinals: “Since Kyle Shanahan has been the coach there, they’ve always been the team that does the things that allows them to win. Today, not so much. Three turnovers in the game in the big moments…It doesn’t look like the same 49ers team.”
ON BEARS
Simms on Bears rookie QB Caleb Williams in win vs. Carolina: “He was phenomenal today. They have found a way to get the run game going and get D’Andre Swift involved. He’s incredible in the pocket, buying time, running down the field and making people miss. And the throwing? He’s gifted.”
ON BILLS
Simms on the Bills’ offense: “I’m concerned about their offense a little. It’s two weeks in a row that Josh Allen had to carry the burden too much…are they going to have a receiver that they can rely on and become a real No. 1 target for their offense and be consistent all year?”
McCourty: “I think what Sean McDermott said is the problem in Buffalo. I don’t really think they’ve thought about that situation outside of, ‘We have [Josh Allen], he’ll make it happen.’”
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Peacock Sunday Night Football Final, an NFL post-game show produced by NBC Sports, streams exclusively on Peacock following every Sunday Night Football game during the 2024 season. The show is hosted from the game site by Jac Collinsworth, Harrison, and Dungy, who will provide instant reactions to each Sunday game along with highlights and interviews.
-- Football Night in America --