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January 31, 2008

Crunch time

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- All three of New England’s Super Bowl victories this decade have been decided by a field goal.

Four of the Patriots games this season have been decided by four points or less. Patriots veteran safety Rodney Harrison said that the Patriots are able to win close games because they have veteran leaders who know what to do during crunch time.

“We practice a lot of situational football,” Harrison said. “Bill wants smart, tough guys that can play well under pressure, and that’s what I think we have. We have a bunch of veteran guys. They say we’re old. They say we can’t play defense but we’re fourth overall in scoring defense. We’re 18-0 but none of that matters. It’s all about what we do and how we execute on Sunday and that’s what it comes down too.”

Harrison said that it’s good to have fast players on defense like the Giants do, but being fast doesn’t always make a player a better defender.

“The common theme is speed, speed, speed, but if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re going to get there a lot faster but you’re going to be in the wrong spot,” Harrison said. “I think our guys are veteran players that are smart. That play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. We’re well prepared and we play extremely hard.”

Posted by Rob Lee  at 1:21 PM to Rodney Harrison | Permalink