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 Week 4 victory over the Detroit Lions.
"This was a unique situation relative to the amount of starters that were out for the game," Payton said of the short-handed Saints. "Look, it's not one player that has to be Superman, but ultimately the whole team steps up and those guys at corner made plays. Patrick's (Robinson) interception was significant. Tre'Quan's (Smith) receptions, Emmanuel (Sanders) the same way. That was one of the cooler things about the postgame, every once in a while you have one of those gut-check games and I felt like our players responded. And going forward, I think that gives you confidence as a team."
The Saints' rushing attack featuring Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray tallied 147 yards on 33 carries and three scores. Payton praised the offensive line play that sparked the dominant performance on the ground.
"I think those guys up front did a fantastic job," Payton said. "It's a heavy front, much like New England's front when you play a 2-gap type of defense inside. And I thought we had good balance both with Latavius and Alvin. That was obviously an important part of the plan. We felt like we had to win the time of possession and then also we were planning on playing more of a four-down game cross the 50 (yard line) and we were going to be aggressive. That balance really helped us when it came to the play-action and movement throws. Those guys up front really responded."
The Saints ended any hope of a Lions comeback when Drew Brees connected with Tre'Quan Smith on a 19-yard completion, allowing New Orleans to run out the clock on its last offensive possession.
"That last drive was huge," Payton said. "The third down conversion with Brees to Tre'Quan puts us right at midfield. That was a big play because in every game in every weekend that's close, you need to convert a play like that."
The Saints (2-2) host the Los Angeles Chargers (1-3) on ESPN's "Monday Night Football" on Oct. 12 at 7:15 p.m.
