LB Chris Gocong
On the emotion of winning tonight's game against the Dallas Cowboys:"It just showed how much pride we have. No matter what, we're going to play our hearts out. It turned out things did fall in place and there you have it right there."
On whether the team knew the other games' outcomes prior to the start of the game: "Yes, I knew but once you get into your warm up, you just shut everything else out. Once you're in the game, you forget about everything. I think we did that, we just played football."
On whether there was any scoreboard watching during the day: "No, there was no official announcement but everyone just knew the situation that if we win it, we're in it, and well, we did it."
On the defensive effort in getting pressure to QB Tony Romo and getting turnovers: "That's a combination of (Coach) Jim Johnson and the defensive line. They were just getting on (QB Tony Romo) and the secondary was covering everything and it was a great combination."
On the team being able to bounce back and take advantage of the opportunity to make it into the playoffs: "It's been that way all season. We just knew we had to get the job done. We had a challenge and we stepped up to it. I'm proud of the team and our effort tonight."
CB Sheldon Brown
On whether the team feels renewed with the new life they have entering the playoffs: "The postseason is a new and full season in itself. You have the preseason, regular season, and then the postseason. Anything goes once you get into the postseason. We have a great opportunity ahead of us. There are still things we need to work on, I know that. But this has been a magical season with everything that has happened."
On FS Brian Dawkins' leadership:"There may be some 'nay-sayers' and people who don't think he deserves this award but he's been doing this his whole career. Not a better time, against a better team, in a better place."
On the team's thoughts towards the Minnesota Vikings: "Brad Childress, we're coming to town."
On the defense's ability to get turnovers tonight: "I haven't seen a season like this; turnovers or anything. This game is one of those rivalries where you think it's going to be a close game at the end, but for it to go in the manner it did. Just the season alone. I guess a tie is better than a loss after all."
On whether the team is in shock at all: "I'm so shocked; I actually came in and got dressed fast."
DE Darren Howard
On the defense's ability to get pressure on QB Tony Romo: "It's a lot easier when you stop the run and put up a lot of points like that, that's our kind of defense. We stopped the run early, then you get a team into a third and long, or second and long situation, you just pin your ears back and go. And that was pretty much the game plan, was the second half so if we get anything like that, we have a good chance to everything we did today."
On DE Chris Clemens' fumble recovery for a touchdown:"I wasn't watching him, I was running in front of him and then I went straight to the oxygen tank after that."
On FS Brian Dawkins' emotional leadership: "Dawkins is just a constant in this locker room. Whether it's a preseason game, or a huge game like this, he's always pumped up and he's always trying to get everyone motivated. It was no different tonight. He goes out there and he says what's on his mind and he expects everybody on this team to give what he has given.
On how scary it is to play the Philadelphia Eagles heading into the playoffs:"If we keep playing the way we've been playing the last couple weeks, except for the Redskins game, we have a good shot to go far. Chances are we go deep in the playoffs and we'll see the Giants again. I know they still have a sour taste in their mouth from the last time we played against them, but we have to go to Minnesota now. They have a great talent on their team so we have to focus on that right now. Start from scratch, it's a 0-0-0 season right now, and you win you keep going. That's the beauty of this league."
SS Quintin Mikell
On how he found out that if the team won, they were in the playoffs: "My position coach came by and told us that everything was falling into place for us and that we had to go out there and handle our business."
On the luck that was needed today for the team to make it into the playoffs: "You know, coming in a lot of things had to happen. We try not to listen to what everyone was saying, but we knew one thing was that we were going to come out, play hard and we were going to give it our best and let everything happen. Our coaches did a great job of making sure we stayed focused on the game and everything was a bonus. I'm just loving life right now."
On what point in the game he realized they were going to win and go to the playoffs: "Really, not until there was five or six minutes left in the fourth quarter. We were scoring touchdowns on offense and defense, but they're a good team. We never really relaxed because at any moment they can chuck one up and score in ten seconds so we stayed on them all throughout."
On the team bouncing back from last week's loss against the Redskins: "You still have to have faith, but we thought it was pretty grim. But we always believed."
LB Stewart Bradley
On the affect FS Brian Dawkins has on the team:"It's a testament to him as a player and his tenacity, mentality, and love for the game. He's really an inspiration to us."
On the defensive changes since the first matchup against the Cowboys this season: "We're a much more experienced defense now, and we've come into our own. We've been playing the kind of defense that we have the ability to and we knew coming out of camp that we were that talented and there were some bumps, up and downs along the way but we're really hitting our stride now. When everyone is playing at this high level, it makes it easy to play defense."
On how much fun it was playing tonight: "It was a lot of fun out there. When I came out of the game in the fourth quarter, Coach (Bill) Shuey told us how many points we scored; he said they would need six touchdowns to come back. When you expect such a close game, you're mentally geared up for it and then you come out of the game before the fourth quarter starts, it's a surprise."
