New Orleans Saints Linebacker Curtis Lofton
Conference Call with New Orleans Media
Monday, November 04, 2013

Coach Payton said one of the most frustrating things about yesterday knowing that the Jets were going to run and not being able to stop it. Do you have a sense of what went wrong or what they gave you trouble with?

"What went wrong was – I'd say it was a couple of things (such as) misalignment, not being lined up, not having people in the right spots, and just missing tackles too which led to big plays and getting gashed. That's something we haven't done in the previous games and it reared its head this game. We've got to get back to the basics and get ready for Dallas this weekend."

Was part of it just Chris Ivory having a good game against you guys? Your former teammate seemed to be running very well.

"I wouldn't say that. He had great numbers stat-wise, but there wasn't anything in his way most of the time he ran. That's more so (our fault). We didn't do our jobs or execute the way we should execute. (Our) hats go off to them. When it comes down to it, they made the plays and we didn't do that."

Was there a consistent problem with the run defense or did you feel like it was just those three big plays that really killed you?

"We just weren't consistent. We gave up a couple of big run plays. We did do some nice things and some good things, but the bad definitely overweighed the good."

You used the term 'creased' yesterday in reference to the big plays. Can you explain what you meant by that?

"We got creased. We weren't sound and we didn't execute. In the previous games we have had a person in each gap or crease to stop them or at least slow him down for the other guys to come back or turn it back to the blitz. This game we didn't. It was just open for them to run through and, when it came down to it, guys kept missing tackles, and we gave up some big plays."

How are you feeling about the mentality of this team right now, having lost two out of three after a 5-0 start? Carolina is surging and is only one game behind you. Where do you go from here?

"Well we don't care what any other team does. We don't care where Carolina is at or what they're doing. We care about what we can control, and that's how we play. If we go out and take care of business, we don't have to worry about any other team. November and December is the time where the real teams start to separate themselves. The great teams separate themselves from the good teams. We know that, and that's what we're going to do. We've just got to get back and work hard, continue to do what we've been doing. The team, we're not down. We know what kind of players we have in this locker room and what kind of coaches we have. When we do play efficient football and execute, there's not too many teams that can play with us."

New Orleans Saints Wide Receiver Lance Moore
Conference Call with Local Media
Monday, November 04, 2013

What are some of the things you guys can point to offensively that need to be improved on from yesterday's game?

"Too many plays left on the field. There's a bunch of different instances where we had chances to make plays and we just didn't make those plays. It's unlike us to do that, but for whatever reason yesterday we just didn't make enough plays."

After the Buffalo game, Coach Payton said that if you guys didn't fix some things such as penalties and pre-snap issues, it would lead to defeat. Does this loss kind of help drive that message home?

"It's not just the penalties. We did have nine penalties yesterday but we also had two turnovers. You play a team that is very successful running the football against you, you're not having much success running the ball, you throw the penalties in, then you throw two turnovers in there, (and) it's almost impossible to win those games. We still had a chance at the end, and that's encouraging. That's a positive. Unfortunately, we didn't go down and score."

How frustrating are these continuous slow starts on offense?

"It's frustrating. It's not really one specific thing that you can point to that's the reason for that. I just know that yesterday we didn't make enough plays, and that's something that we kind of hang our hats on here. We've got to do what it takes to make sure that we right that ship and then make more plays this week."

Sean Payton talked about fundamental errors that kind of went through every position group quickly. In the passing game, where did fundamental errors affect you guys?

"Dropped balls. That's the thing that really, really hurt us yesterday. We had some drops out there and, if you watch the specific plays, two off the top of my head could've been touchdown plays. I don't know. We've got to keep working. It's not something that we're going to watch the film and say, 'It's not going to happen again.' It's something we are going to address every time we're out there on the field and do what it takes to make sure that it doesn't happen again."

It seems as if the offense was not a crisp as you are at home. Is there anything like weather conditions or not being at home that affects your passing offense in certain situations?

"I would say there's a comfort factor with playing at home. Yesterday, maybe you couldn't tell from the sideline or from watching the TV, but the winds were kind of swirly, which can affect the passing game. But that's not an excuse. They had to play in it too. They did a good job on offense with their game plan. We put our defense in some tough situations yesterday a couple of times, and it's not like us to do that very much. When we're winning, everything is all good and great. When we're losing, it's a crisis. We're 6-2. We're still first in the division. We've got a huge game this Sunday. It stinks right now, the day after, but we've got a big game to look forward to this week."

Do you feel like you guys are in a good position to hit this back half of the season?

"We're in a decent position. We're not where we would have liked to have been, but we're 6-2. Dallas is coming here this weekend – Sunday Night Football, (a) huge game. It doesn't get much better."

Did it surprise you at all that Robert Meachem was able to come in and get back into the fold this week?

"No. That doesn't surprise me because Robert is making the plays that he has made for a long time (in New Orleans). He's kind of been a big play guy. I'm not really sure what happened in San Diego because I wasn't there so I can't really speak on that very much. When he came back here I knew exactly the types of plays that he was capable of making and the types of situations that he was going to be in here. He's stepping up for us and making plays."

How much did the offense miss Darren Sproles once he left the game?

"You obviously miss a guy like that, that's a matchup nightmare for most defenses. Not to say that we were scrambling to try to replace him, but you don't always game plan for 'OK if this guys is out, what do you do?' It's something that you kind of have to adjust on the fly. Pierre (Thomas) made a couple of plays and Mark (Ingram) had a couple of good runs in there, but it definitely hurt us."