Here's a few excerpts from the Monday press conference of Colts coach Tony Dungy as his team preps for the Patriots on Monday night.

"I saw (the Patriots) play on Sunday and they demonstrated a lot of what makes them champions-the ability to come back and win down the stretch when things didn't really appear they were going their way. But that's what they do and they do it really well."

(ON THE COLTS' TRADITIONAL STRUGGLES AGAINST N.E.)

"I guess you can't ignore it because it is history, but it's not going to have an affect on what happens in this game. We'll look at the games and obviously study them and learn from them and see the things that they did to attack us and vice versa, but it really won't have an impact. A lot of the people aren't even playing. People that were here in the game that we lost here (in 2003), there's probably only about 15 guys that are still here on our team."

(ON THE COLTS WANTING TO "PERFORM")
"You have to channel it the right way. People that win big games are people that can function in a pressurized environment and do the same things that they do in a training camp practice, and that's what we have not done against New England in the past. We've gone up there and false-started on the first play of the game when we haven't had a penalty in four or five weeks. We've done those kind of things, which you can't do, because it's hard enough to beat a good team when you do everything right. A lot of it is understanding the moment and playing in big games and playing with a relaxed attitude knowing that you have to play well, but you still have to play relaxed."

(ON WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN)

"It would probably do more from an outside standpoint. I think it helped us when we beat Tennessee a few years ago. That helped our guys with some confidence, but I don't think we're at a point where we need a confidence builder right now. We've played a lot of big games and we've played against good teams, and it's one game in the middle of the season. Last year when we went up there, it was opening day and we pretty much knew that if we didn't win the game, we were going to have a tough time getting home-field advantage from those guys. That may or may not be true this time around, so it's a big game from a standings standpoint. For us, it will let us stay three games ahead in our division at the halfway point if we win it. It will do a lot from a standings standpoint, and I think that's more important to us right now than any symbolism that's going to come out of it."

(ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GAME)
"Who knows how this is going to play out? This is Week 8 and we have to feel like we'll see them again somewhere down the line. Really for us, it's a big game in that it's going to be on Monday night, it's against the defending Super Bowl champions, but it's still Week 8 and it's still one game. If we win the game, we certainly don't want to feel like all of a sudden we've arrived or we beat the New England Patriots so our season's over, we can just wait for the playoffs. That will get us in trouble."

(ON TOM BRADY)

"It's the same. He's playing very well. He's actually having to carry the team a little bit more. They've been in situations where they've been behind a little bit more than the last couple of years. Their running backs have been out, so he's actually thrown more. He's doing an excellent job as usual."

(ON HYPE)

"It's going to be big hype because of what's happened in the playoff games that last couple of years and the fact that we're undefeated and Monday Night, there are a lot of story lines, and Tedy Bruschi coming back, all of which I think is good for the game. But what we have to do is focus in on what's really important, that's just preparing for the Patriots like we would anyone else and getting ready for this game and treating it like a big game, but not a monumental, winner-take-all, do-or-die game. I think we've been pretty good at that so far this year, and hopefully that will continue."