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**Q: I assume you must feel pretty good after you team's last performance on Thanksgiving. Very impressive…

DW:** Well, we needed to at some point put it all together and it couldn't come at a better time. We needed a win.

**Q: The month of December and finishing strong, I guess you put some thing together, some conditioning, to change that?

DW:** That's been a topic here for 20 years as you know. You try to tweak a few things, but the reality is that last year…the games still come down to who is blocking and tackling and who plays the best football. That's not what the fans want to hear and that's not what the media wants to hear, but it is really the truth. I think you need to look at every year and every game individually. Last year when we came up to play the Patriots, it sure as heck wasn't effort on our team's part, it sure as heck wasn't the weather on our team's part. At the end of the game a few things didn't bounce the right way. All of the things that they might want to talk about as far as our team being tired or our team being cold, that's just not true.

**Q: One of the things that you do have, and it is kind of interesting looking at the stat, is that Ricky Williams looks like Mr. December compared to what he did last year?

DW:** Well hopefully that's a good thing. The one thing that we have done this year, we've changed a few things up with our Saturday routine and we've played better on the road. Last year on the road we were 2-6 and this year we are 5-1, so I think that has helped a little bit and we'll see. Where our team is at right now, it really doesn't make any difference where we play or who we play, we are trying to get enough wins to get into the playoffs and that is where our mindset is at right now.

**Q: [Jay] Fiedler looked very impressive the other day after coming back from his injury. Where is he now? And the offense seems to be rather potent?

DW:** Jay has had a game and a quarter really, he came in and was real good in the fourth quarter of the Redskin game. I don't know what happened, the rest might have done some good, his confidence, I don't know what clicked to be honest with you. But I know that he is confident right now. He is 100 percent healthy right now. And those are all good things.

**Q: As the seasons move along, teams change in terms of personnel. Some players get hurt other guys step forward. You look at the Patriots, do you see a change in them from the time you last played them and there are some changes in your ball club?

DW:** Well the only change from when we played them really the last time is Ted Washington being back. That's the biggest change. And them playing a little bit more 3-4 rather than 4-3 with him in there. The rest of the team is really the same and we haven't changed either. We've had a couple of guys out. [Rob] Konrad didn't play last time, he'll play this time. But no, I don't see a whole heck of a lot different to be honest with you.

**Q: Are the Patriots lucky or good?

DW:** Well I think you can win one game when the ball bounces your way or lose one game when the ball bounces your way, but to win eight in a row, you've got to be good to do that.

**Q: I was just looking at your press conference from Monday and you were asked about the Patriots game and you said, 'Yeah I watched it. Indianapolis had plenty of opportunities.'

DW:** That's the way I saw it.

**Q: Now in the reporting of it, maybe they misrepresented the way that you were trying to deliver it, it seemed as if you were tight lipped and very terse about it in some of the accounts I read?

DW:** I just really didn't want to. It was over and let's move on to the next topic. That was my reaction, but I did feel that way. Indianapolis had their chances and New England took advantage of theirs. They had several chances down there on the goal line and it just didn't happen.

**Q: You touched on your road record, 5-1 in this league, which is tied for the best in the league. That's hard to do on the road. That's a key element to making the playoffs and being a strong team in December.

DW:** Yeah, I think it is. We've had a couple misfortunes that we stubbed our toe in that opener and then miss a couple field goals in that New England game. Those two games were tough ones. We just didn't play well enough in the Indianapolis game, but we are generally a real strong team at home. So, I don't know, that's probably the NFL. Every week is a new adventure.

**Q: I remember we talked to a few years ago and you are a second-time around coach as [Bill] Belichick is, having learned from the first experience as a head coach, and you guys have had success. What do you notice that you are doing different, that he's doing different that has made life better the second time around?

DW:** It seems like our teams…everybody's personality is different. I can't really speak for Bill. He was a heck of a coach when he was with the Giants and I was with the Cowboys, so we've known each other for a long time. I don't know how much of the X and O part really is different. I don't know if I am doing anything different, X and O wise, now. My beliefs haven't changed from when I was at Chicago or Dallas. I think dealing with the players and the people and the day-to-day responsibilities, the ups-and-downs of being a head coach, I know I'm a lot better at dealing with those things and experience teaches you a lot. I am sure that Bill would agree. I can't respond for him, but I would bet that he would feel the same way