Colts 27, Panthers 13
SHANE STEICHEN: Just injury update. Tony Brown, concussion; Josh Downs, knee, and then Drew Ogletree has a foot.
Q. Was Josh Downs a new injury or is that just what he was dealing with?
SHANE STEICHEN: He was dealing with it during the week.
Q. What did you think of Kenny Moore? Obviously two huge plays, but just ball skills and the ability to make huge plays.
SHANE STEICHEN: Phenomenal. To be honest, there was no surprise there. The way he practices, the way he works, he shows up, he watches tape, he does it the right way.
When you do it the right way you're going to make plays on Sunday, which is what he did for us, which was huge. I mean, 14 points by him was phenomenal.
Q. What's the vibe like in the locker room after this one? Three game losing streak. Felt like these guys needed this one.
SHANE STEICHEN: It's huge. Felt like this was the week to do that and got it done. Now we got to get our mind right.
Q. Kenny has been an instinctive player. What role do instincts play?
SHANE STEICHEN: I think that is part of it. The best players in the league have great instincts. You coach them as hard as you want, but the guys that are really good with ball skills and good instincts, sometimes that takes over. He's got a great feel for that position there, the nickel position, and continues to show up and make plays.
Q. Is Kenny one of those guys you can lean on when you're on a three game losing streak, veteran in the locker room?
SHANE STEICHEN: No doubt. The veteran presence in there, him and Buck and Grove, those guys are legit players. When you have a tough time in this league sometimes you lose three in a row, how do you respond? You lean on those players in the locker room to bounce back and have that veteran leadership, and that's what they did for us.
Q. DeForest Buckner set the tone early with the pass rush.
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no doubt. It's huge. Buchner sets the tone week in and week out for us. I think when you can get pressure on the quarterback and play tight man coverage on the back end, those windows are small for the quarterback.
Q. In general, what kind of boost do you think this brings to the defense? They were kind of frustrated this week off last week.
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no, it's huge. In this league there is waves up and down. Offensively we got to be better than we were in the second half, but the defense stepped up this week and made plays for us. That's part of this league. Being consistent is the big process. We've got to be consistent week in and week out in all three phases going forward.
Q. They made it tougher on you offensively in the second half.
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no, they played some five down for us did some thing defensively. They didn't want us to run it, and hats off to them. We got to be better there.
Q. JT getting involved in the pass game, was that part of game plan or flow of the game?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, some of those things were. Some were happenings. Early on we threw him the first play of the game which was designed for him, and some of those check downs just happen.
Q. Do you feel that momentum shift during the game when Kenny makes a play like that?
SHANE STEICHEN: Oh, it's huge. That stuff is huge. You get a pick six you're going to feel the whole stadium, crowd, sidelines, I mean, it's a huge deal. Any time something like that happens it's big.
Q. The timing, too, late in the first half, trying to drive.
SHANE STEICHEN: Phenomenal. I mean, right there at the end to get that, it's huge. Go up 20 to 3 there. Trying get a two minute drive. We deferred, shoot, let's try to get the double dip without them touching the ball, and we get the score to go up 23. It's huge. Huge.
Q. When you've been in spots, Eric and Tommy helping out, what does that do?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no, it's huge. Like in this league I was talking about next-man-up. Segun gets in there and gets an interception there down the middle of the field which was big, and Tommy and Eric stepped up inside for the D-line today and the defense was phenomenal.
Q. What does it do for the quarterback when they can't step up?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I think that's big. Inside when you can condense the pocket from inside the pocket, the edge rushers are huge, too, but for a quarterback to try to step up vertically into the pocket with guys right there, it's hard to throw it. It really is.
You got to side step, move around. And Bryce made some plays you out of the pocket scrambling on the third down. That stuff happens. I thought our defense was great.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports