Game quotes The Tampa Tribune, published 14 October 2002 Jon Gruden (On today’s game against the Browns) “We’re very proud of our team. We had some guys really step up today. It was a very physical win for us.” (On Mike Alstott) “We had great production from Mike today. We’re creatively trying to utilize both of these backs (Mike Alstott and Michael Pittman). They (Cleveland) challenged us to run the ball.” (On whether he’s considering playing Alstott more in future games) “We’re not going to try to get controversial. I think Mike (Pittman) had some good runs also. He’s a good football player.” (On how he feels about the 5-1 start, tying a team record) “It’s great. I’ll enjoy it tonight. I always do when I win. But we have a difficult game next week.” (On whether his defense is comparable to the Ravens defense of 2000) “I’m not going to go there. I’m not going to compare. We have a different style of defense, but it is obviously playing extremely well.” (On Cleveland) “Cleveland gave us a lot of different looks. We adjusted at halftime and came out prepared.” Ronde Barber (On Bucs defense) “Is this defense confident? No doubt. We have no doubts in ourselves.” (On the Buccaneers) “We’re a physical team. Intimidation is a big part of this game. Right now the defense is the story. You’re going to be talking about us for a long time.” (On the game) “There’s no other way to win than we did. It’s a lot better than a shoot-out and putting up big numbers. We controlled the whole game the way that we like to.” John Lynch (On playing hurt) “It (his right knee) held up alright. As of Saturday night, I didn’t think I would be able to go, but I came out this morning with Coach Gruden and it (his right knee) felt better. I watched all week these things about Derrick Brooks and Brett Favre and playing so many games in a row and you begin to take pride in that. We have guys playing here with broken ankles, so the standard is pretty high. I’d feel pretty bad if I were to sit out. It’ll be sore tomorrow, but I’m sure it will feel fine by Philly.” (On the defense) “We have something special here. I thought we started to lose our composure in the second half. We then just told each other that they couldn’t move the ball on us. Then we just let the pads do the talking.” Warren Sapp (On the defense) “We’re making plays and that’s the only thing we try to do, and put ourselves in a position to win games and we did that today. Being back at home, it’s exciting! I love winning games. It’s just the best place in the world to play football.” Michael Pittman (On the running game) “It started clicking when Mike (Alstott) went in there. He just wore them down. The offensive line was blocking great for us today. As a whole, me, Mike and Steck (Aaron Stecker), we made the most of our opportunities today.” Brad Johnson (On the running game)“We’ve been kind of waiting for that running game to happen. It’s really special when you have two backs with 100 yards plus. It’s an incredible day for the running game.” (On the game) “We left a lot of points out on the field today. We got down in the red zone a couple of times, had to throw it away a couple of times, and had a couple mishaps on field goals. It’s great to have sort of an ugly day like we did and still win.” (On the Browns) “They actually didn’t do a lot of things we expected them to do. I think with Robert Griffith hurt, I think it kind of changed some of their coverages. They ran a lot of Cover 2 and Seven Man Box all day. You have to run against the Seven Man Box. I think with Griff (Robert Griffith) out, it made a big impact on their defense.”