What The Saints Said Following Their 13-10 Win Over The Seahawks

Head Coach Sean Payton Watch on www.neworleanssaints.comOn the outcome. “It was a good win. Obviously, always a tough place to play on the road, dealing with the noise. I thought our defense really played well after the one explosive [play] early on. We knew it was going to be one of those games that field position was going to be important, ball security was going to be important, and I think preparing in our mind for what we thought the weather was going to be like, maybe it wasn’t quite that . . . I never heard of a bomb typhoon, but that kind of gets your attention. For the most part I think we handled the weather. Kicker did a great job. I thought the special teams and kicking game, we did some good things, too.” On Alvin Kamara’s play. “Do you remember two years ago? Well, but two years ago it was kind of a back-and-forth, low-scoring, not much. And in the two-minute drill, we hit him on a screen that put us up, and that was pretty significant. It was Teddy’s first start, and, you know you’re always wanting to get the quarterback going a little bit. They play a lot of zone, and even in the single-safety zone they’re really going to be into the hook areas deep, and I thought Jameis (Winston) did a good job, especially in that two-minute drill. That was significant when you can score like that and then start the half with the football. But we got a lot of soft zone in that. I was asked at the end of the half, you know, why Alvin so much? A lot of that was based on the depth of the underneath coverage. So Jameis was smart enough to keep dumping it to him. Typically a good two-minute drill, there’s always an underneath throw or two to the runners, and this was no different. Then it tightened up a little bit more in the second half.” On the defense bouncing back after giving up a long touchdown early. “Yeah, listen, man, that, you know, they’re competitive. We knew kind of it was going to be that type of game. I thought, there were a couple drives where they got extended a little bit because of penalties. We knew that crew was calling the most coming into this game, by far, both on offense and defensive fouls. And sure enough, you know, I don’t know what the totals were, but there were a lot of fouls called. And that was kind of on par with where they’re at. They’re first of 17, so we’ll get a chance to look at that.” On if he got an explanation on roughing passer. “His was not roughing the passer. It was a helmet-to-helmet on the pass rush. So I don’t think anyone was looking for that, and Shawn [Hochuli] explained it, and certainly I wasn’t looking for it, either. But that’s what the foul was.” On if New Orleans tried to get Seattle to jump on a late field goal attempt. “No, no, no no. We were fortunate, though. But it wasn’t like a thar count or anything.” On if, because of the tight officiating, he was concerned by the flare-ups between D.K. Metcalf and Marshon Lattimore. “Yeah, because you don’t want to bring 140 people to Seattle from New Orleans and lose because it gets away from you. Everyone’s counting on everyone. And I get it. You want to be competitive. I think that’s a sign of a team that eventually you know how to win, and to win, and to win, and to win, and that becomes everything. That’s becomes everything. More important than anything else, it’s leaving with another win. You know, it’s a young team. We’re still preaching that message, but pretty soon you expect it. But then there’s certain things, you know, I’ve been in tight playoff games where personal fouls like that, I mean, everyone’s counting on you, no different than ball security, really. We’re counting on, you’re holding the ball. Everyone’s counting on you.” On his reasoning during the last drive for handing the ball to Kamara on third-and-10. “Yeah, well, look. We’re right outside the cusp of field goal range, and I knew we’d be getting a soft zone, and I knew we were getting kind of an edge rush defense up the field, and so it was a little gap scheme, a little power scheme, and the idea was maybe to get seven yards and get infield goal range. That honestly was what I was thinking. I knew it was going to be a soft zone, and we felt like the way the ends were rushing, that’s different than a screen play, just a gap scheme that would be in the gun. I think that was important, too.” On adjusting his game plan due to shifting weather. “We worked all week on a plan, you know, we worked all week on what we like in the run game, what we like in the pass game, and as you get closer to the game, I think you go through in your mind how the game might unfold. We had a playoff game here in ’13 where it was windy, wet, and so you just have to pay attention to the now and the present. I can’t speak for last night’s game, but that seemed damp and windy. This ended up being a little bit better than [that]. As a coach, you prepare for, you’re telling them, and so I think overall it was a little bit less of a factor that I would have thought based on what I saw on the weather forecast.” On the play of Demario Davis. “Man, I just love the way he leads and plays with enthusiasm. He’s really developed into not just run but pass as well. You know, he’s someone who has good instincts, can close the cushion on a run or a play in space. He tackles well. He’s playing well, and I’m sure when we look at the tape tomorrow, we’ll see a lot of good efforts. That was a good hard-fought win. It’s tough.” On the last defensive sequence. “Obviously, when you get a sack in a final drive like that, it’s significant. I don’t know what the numbers are, but as soon as they’re off-schedule, and you can sit at the sticks, it’s tough to be a quarterback. It’s one of those things you’re always wanting to avoid. I thought it was going to be a low-scoring game. We thought about going for it early on. We kicked our first field goal, I think they did the same thing. Points were going to be at a premium tonight. I don’t know what the charts say. We just felt like points were going to be important.”Quarterback Jameis Winston Watch on www.neworleanssaints.comOn if the game played out the way he thought it would. “Yeah, we wanted to win and that’s what happened. It played out just like we wanted.” On how nice it is to lean on running back Alvin Kamara. “I can talk about how great of a player he is and how helpful he is to this offense just in general. (Alvin) is one of the most dominant players in this league so it’s always exciting when you put the ball in his hands and watch the things that he does.” On finding Alvin Kamara open on the touchdown pass after he initially dropped the snap. “It was a great call and I’m happy that he was able to get in there.” On getting offensive linemen Terron Armstead and Erik McCoy back in the lineup. “It was good to get in a rhythm and get (Erik and Terron) back. Those guys are leaders on that line so it’s good to see them have a great game and stay healthy.” On the weather conditions. “It wasn’t that bad. It was just a great game. They played good football and we played some good football so it was definitely a tough game.” On if they were trying to get more deep passes in this game. “I wish we could’ve hit a few. Like I said, we’re going to continue to get better. I was happy to have Kevin (White) up. He was open on a few of them. Like I said, we’re going to continue to get better and get healthy in that receiver room and just keep working.” On getting Mike Thomas back soon. “Absolutely. Absolutely we can’t wait for Mike to get back. But it was good to have (Tre’Quan Smith) back out there playing at a high level. I’m happy that he was able to get in the groove a little bit.” On if it was just heat of the moment between him and Tre’Quan Smith on the sidelines. “No, just communication. We had to get on the same page and that’s it.” On if there was something that happened on a specific play that led to that interaction between him and Tre’Quan. “No, we were just communicating. Everyone gets to talking. I just wanted it to be me and him. That’s all.” On when he decides to run with the ball rather than pass. “I’m always trying to pass. I’m always trying to look down the field and get a completion. It’s not really second guessing, I’m just feeling the situation and assess the coverage to see if I can get the ball down the field and then take off and run.” On if he wants run to be the last resort. “Absolutely.” On if it takes awhile to get back on the same page with a receiver if they’ve been gone for a while like Tre’Quan Smith has. “I think it’s a feel. This is his first game back. Tough environment to play. Just making sure that everyone hears the play correctly and everyone is on the same page. In terms of talent and execution, he’s just an incredible receiver, so it’s good to get him back. It’s good to get him good experience against a tough defense.” On the Seahawks double teaming Alvin Kamara in the second half and if that means other guys will have one-on-one opportunities. “Yeah, we just have to win on the outside and we will. They had a great gameplan in the second half of doubling (Alvin Kamara) and we’re going to have an answer for that.”Running Back Alvin Kamara Watch on www.neworleanssaints.comOn if he thought he would have as big of an impact as he did. “I didn’t know what to expect. All I know is what we game planned for and what we did during the week. Every game has a life in of its’ own self and the flavor of this week ended up getting a lot of touches.” On if he enjoyed playing in Seattle. “It’s cool, it’s definitely a nice environment. Every time we come up here, the weather is bad but other than that, it’s cool.” On the Seahawks’ effort to stop the run. “They are a good front, don’t get me wrong. They play hard, the whole defense played hard, but we knew up front that it would be a tough game to run the ball. Sometimes you get teams where you line up and you feel like you know what they are doing. Those are the teams that play the hardest because they do what they do so well. They have Bobby (Wagner), Carlos (Dunlap II), Poona (Ford) in the middle, and a gang of guys. Jamal (Adams) is out there, and they are making plays, coming up, and hitting. You have to stay true and try to stay ahead of the chains. You can’t be discouraged when you get two yards and three yards, it’s going to come.”Linebacker Demario Davis Watch on www.neworleanssaints.comOn defensive performance. “We take a lot of pride in our defense. We’ve got to be able to play complimentary football. We have a very high standard for our group and there’s no other way that we would take it. Defense on the field with the game on the line. We get excited and we play with a lot of energy in those situations.” On the defense getting sacks. “That’s a credit to the cover guys. We can take away the first read, and he has to hold the ball. Credit to the D coordinator and the d-line having a good rush plan for us. And then guys just executing their job. It’s fun to play on defense when you know that all you have to do is do your job and it’s going to work. Guys did their job. I think we were getting pressures early on, but we weren’t getting them to the ground, we’ve got to find a way to get him on the ground. They have a good offensive line. Geno (Smith) was making his reads and doing a good job, we just have to execute there.” On guys getting chippy with players on the other team. “Well, first of all, we want to be fundamentally sound. Penalties in between the whistles that’s one thing. But sometimes guys want to be tough on the field and talk after the play, and this is the most physical sport there is. You got seven seconds to be as physical as you want to be, you got to prove it between the whistles. I’m never going to be the guy to talk after the whistles and doing extra because at that point you’re just trying to bully someone. I’ve always been the guy that’s going to bully the bully. And teammates appreciate it when you have their back like that. I try to stay pretty level headed between the whistles and while I’m on the field but I’m always going to have my teammates back, and I think they appreciate it, and it gives them motivation.”Defensive End Cameron JordanOn closing out close games. “I think that a game like this, where things are close, things get a little uppity towards the end, it builds confidence to close it out the way we did. In my mind it wasn’t as close as it was, I think that our defense played with a lot of speed, intensity, and the right mindset all game, albeit that one play, or explosive, that they had. DK Metcalf.” On getting Marcus Davenport back. “As we get healthier and healthier every week it’s going to become even more abundant. Yes, Marcus (Davenport) came back I was excited. We’ve had enough adversity, I’m getting more and more excited for the next d-lineman coming back. I don’t want to talk about it until it’s there. It’s like trying to open a Christmas present too early, you’ve got to wait your turn.” On what this win means going forward. “I hope it’ll just be the win. Other than the confidence we get for the defense finishing out like this. As we get further away from here I hope it tallies up more and more wins. At the end of the year it doesn’t matter how close we came, it matters about the win column. As we try and get to our goal, we have to get more and more W’s (wins).”Kicker Brian JohnsonOn his thought process with this being his NFL debut. “Not to think about those things. Not to overthink things. I’ve just got to go out there and do what I’ve done plenty of times before. That was kind of my mentality coming into this game.” On what it was like pregame. “It was tough trying to see what the wind was doing because it was changing constantly throughout pregame and the game itself. Just sticking with my plan that I had going into it, and really focusing on hitting my ball and hitting good contact that will cut through the wind that’s giving to be whatever it’s going to be out there. Rain, I’m not as concerned about rain as I am wind. I’ll focus on the wind more than the rain.” On if it makes a difference going from one end zone to the other. “I didn’t really notice too big of a difference in one end zone or the other because it was a pretty consistent wind pattern across the whole field. It wasn’t anything too crazy.” On how he feels knowing Will Lutz will most likely return. “I’m looking to take advantage of the opportunities. Some rookies, especially kickers and punters, it takes a year or two to really get into the league. You kind of find your niche. I’m just looking to take advantage of the opportunities I’ve been given.”

What The Saints Said Following Their 13-10 Win Over The Seahawks

Interviews, transcripts and press conferences from Seattle's Week 7 loss vs. New Orleans.