New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton joined Bobby Hebert and Zach Strief on the Saints Radio Network on Monday night to discuss his team's dominating Week 11 performance against Atlanta on Sunday in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
"I think we're playing a real good complementary game right now," Payton said. "Time of possession, field position - you know, all those things that you hear all the time are actually happening."
Taysom Hill, who earned his first career start in place of the injured Drew Brees, completed 18-of-23 passes for 233 yards, adding 51 yards and two scores rushing in the 24-9 victory.
"We've been fortunate to have, I think, really good depth (at the quarterback position)," Payton said. "You know, guys that work at it. They get that opportunity to work under Drew and watch the preparations. And then it's up to us as coaches to build a plan around the next player in the game.
"And look, there's stress at that position. And when you're coming in for the first time, whether it was Taysom yesterday or Teddy (Bridgewater) last year, you want to give them some things early on that help them get comfortable."
Running back Alvin Kamara made history in Sunday's game, becoming the first player in NFL history to amass at least 500 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in each of his first four seasons.
"When you go back in the draft and you're going through the process, it's easy to select players and you really ask yourself, 'Hey, is this a potential second contract player?'" Payton said. "That means there's an appetite for football just beyond the financial element of it. I think Alvin loves playing. He's a fantastic teammate. He has provided great versatility."
With Brees out, New Orleans' defense was called upon to step up.
The defense delivered.
The Saints sacked Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan eight times, with two of those takedowns coming from defensive tackle David Onyemata.
"He's having an outstanding season," Payton said of Onyemata. "When we lost Sheldon (Rankins) here a few weeks back, his snap count has gone up. All he does every week is just go out and play football. He reminds me of the defensive lineman version of (former Saints guard) Jahri Evans. You know, Jahri's a Hall of Fame guard, but my point is, it's not that you take him for granted, but week-in and week-out, you get the same type of performance.
"He's someone that's gotten better every year. He's 1,000 snaps behind most of his peers because they've all played high school football, and he kind of walked in the building up in Canada and said, 'Hey, I'd like to play.' And it's a great story."
The Saints (8-2), who won their seventh consecutive game, travel to Denver to face the Broncos next Sunday at 3:05 p.m. on Fox, the first of three consecutive road contests for New Orleans.
