Quick takes from New Orleans Saints quarterbackDrew Brees'Wednesday news conference with local media:
- For the Saints offense, there is a level of familiarity with the Lions defense. Sunday's game will be the third consecutive season that the teams have played. But there's no expectation that the Lions will be an easy read defensively. "I'd say there's some carryover in regards to personnel and scheme," Brees said. "But each time you play them…I think there's always variables. I think the scheme might have changed slightly; they're going to have a gameplan for us just like we're going to have a gameplan for them. Maybe from a personnel standpoint, there's some similarity. But it's still a whole new game from a timing standpoint within the season."
- New Orleans scored 49 points and totaled 555 yards in its last game, a 28-point victory over the Rams. Bottling that production and duplicating it isn't easy. "I guess it'd be nice to score 49 every week. I guess we'd set every record known to man and we'd probably win every game. I think it would be easy to say that for any good game that you play, 'Why can't you replicate it every week?' There are so many variables throughout the course of a game. I feel like we've got a system in place here and a process in place here that's conducive to going out on gameday and playing our best. We've put together a lot of performances like that – a lot of them. We strive for consistency and we strive for great execution every time we go out there. There are some times where maybe the ball doesn't bounce our way and we've got to battle back, there are times where we just didn't play well (and) just didn't make enough plays. But I feel like we have the ability, through great execution, to be a really good football team, a really good offense."
- The Lions have trailed in the fourth quarter of all 11 games this season, and have rallied to win seven. Brees knows the Saints have to score early, and be prepared to score late. "Start fast, finish strong. I don't think it's ever out of reach. It wasn't out of reach for us last year when they were up 28-3 at one point (the Saints pulled to within 28-20, but Detroit won 35-27 in the Superdome). Both of these offenses can be quick-strike offenses, can score points, and both of these defenses can rally and make plays."
