New Orleans Saints vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Saints Head Coach Sean Payton
Opening Statement:
"We did not do well. Number one, third down numbers were not good again. They were not last year when we lost to them in Tampa. Obviously, the two turnovers we had, and zero takeaways on the other side (were a major factor). That's not the type of game that suits us and that's the type of game we've played in years past as a .500 team. We have a lot of work to do and a lot of things to correct. We had way too many mistakes, and we struggled with explosives (plays on offense) that they had and we have to get cleaned up. Obviously, it starts with me and our staff and we didn't do a good job. We will look at the tape tomorrow and start again next week."
On defensively what didn't work:
"Take your pick. We did not hurry the passer. Guys were open. Third downs were awful. They had over 500 yards. We didn't disrupt the timing to any element of the passing game and too many penalties. I can't think of any positives."
On the Michael Thomas play where it appeared that he might be untouched:
"That's not the frustration right now. It's not going to be a perfect game."
On anything being able to happen in this league on any day:
"That is true, and you just say it happens, so there isn't any buts after it. You have to come ready to play in this league, period. And I give credit to Tampa where their quarterback played especially well. I thought the offensive line played well and I don't know how many times on third downs he was able to get out of the pocket, even on that last drive."
On defense playing better last year against Tampa at home:
"Nothing from last year carries over to this year, I've said it a million times. There's not a single thing that carries over."
On the disorganization in communication:
"Listen, there were guys playing their technique. At times, technique was poor and we got beat at the line of scrimmage. They have some talented players, but I wouldn't equate it to that. I thought the quarterback for the most part was pressure-free, and that's going to be tough. If he's pressure-free then the receivers are running through the defense and that makes it doubly hard. Somewhere you have to disrupt the timing of the pass."
On Tampa having big plays:
"Listen, just giving a good quarterback in this league time to throw and (then) you have talented receivers is not a good combination."
On some of the plays in the third quarter and how thing went quickly then:
"I'm thinking of our time of possession which went by pretty quick. Obviously, we will check the tape. We had one series that was a run, then a screen, and then it was a third down so we punted. I'd have to go back and look at it to be specific. You want to avoid a game that becomes one where you are calling it like you have to score each series. That becomes difficult, but sometimes when you're in those games that's what you have to do. We didn't score enough."
On Ryan Fitzpatrick having a late third down conversion:
"He played well. The stop was difficult, especially that last one."
On pass defense not coming together as well:
"It's not like we're taking last year's group and (last year's) numbers. Tampa Bay came ready and they put it to us. They put it to us good."
On players being professional and insulating them from talk about being favorites and talk about winning big:
"I think that this is part of being a professional. We still have focus on the job we have to do and we're playing good teams. It's different from college football and this is each week a battle and we know that."
On Ryan Fitzpatrick catching them off guard with his ability to run:
"He's done that pretty much his whole career. He's been pretty effective to climb and get a first down. He's not exceptionally fast but someone who is willing to run, especially when he sees the right coverages. We have to do a better of job of keeping them contained in the pocket."
