Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New Orleans Saints postgame quotes

  SAINTS HEAD COACH SEAN PAYTON

(Opening Statement) "With Patrick Robinson it was his ankle, we will see how he is feeling tomorrow and get a report. The guys played hard with a lot of effort. When you get nicked up like that all of the sudden you are down one corner defensively, but we came up big all night. The turnover was big. I thought we were patient in the second half offensively and got some things going. It was a good team we were playing and our guys hung in there and battled and it was a good win for us. The kicking game was the same way, we came up with a big play there covering that last kickoff. It was good for us to get a win. We recognize it is what it is and we have a lot of things to work on and improve on."

(On the win) "Its one game so we just go back to work this week; you just keep trying to get better."

(On the challenge of the Steelers TD in the second quarter) "It ended up being just short. I was surprised at how obvious it was and fortunately they were able to go under the hood and we were able to catch it. The defense did a great job with the three goal line snaps and forced them to kick a field goal. That was a good turn of events there."

(On the goal line stand after the challenge) "It was worth four points. Certainly, when you can come up with a stop like that its pretty significant."

(On Chris Ivory) "He got nicked up and we couldn't put him back in so we played both the other guys."

(On the passing game) "At the half it was a tight 3-3 game. We knew we were going to be playing a real good defense and we just hung in there and some guys came up with some plays early on, but we had a couple drops in the first half. He (Drew Brees) found his rhythm and I think it was important to still have the ability to rush the ball and we were able to do that in the second half. Although it's a challenge and you look down at the numbers, I still think its important that you make those attempts and be patient against a very good defense."

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS PLAYER QUOTES

16 WR Lance Moore

(On staying consistent) "You always have to take a look at the things that you are successful with and the things that you aren't. We have to make sure that we keep going in the right direction. We knew what we did poorly against Cleveland and we will know what we did poorly tonight against Pittsburgh."

51 LB Jonathan Vilma

(ON if it was the defense's best performance of the year) "I don't like to break it down by offense, defense and special teams. I go by team victories. I thought today we did a good job as a unit in offense, defense and special teams against a very good opponent and we came out with a victory."

(On if they were hungry tonight) "We always play with a lot of effort and play hard. I thought that we had a really good week of preparation. We were really locked in and focused on our opponent. We really made sure that we understood our man-to-man match-ups."

(On the significance of the goal line stand) "It thought it was huge. We have been doing that all season. We really focused on that in OTA's and mini camp. It's really showing up right now. The effort and attitude is really prevalent."

42 S Darren Sharper

(On the goal line stand) "It was huge. That was one of the turning points of the game. It was huge for them getting so close and us not allowing them to get a touchdown. We have done that extremely well this year. We have had a lot of goal line stands. Our defensive line has been getting a great push of not letting teams in the end zone."

(On the fumble recovery) "It was just me being around the football and getting close to the ball. It was a great play by Marvin Mitchell to get the ball out. That's something that we practice each and every day at practice. I was just at the right place at the right time and it happened at a big part in the game. We have had forced a lot of fumbles this year that we haven't recovered, so it was nice to get one."

9 QB Drew Brees

(On if it was the toughest defense he has faced this season) "Yes, thus far. They are stout and physical. There is a reason why they are the number one rush defense in the league. They are very talented. They have the ability to bring pressure and give you all kinds of different looks. They make plays on defense and they have a great defensive coordinator. We knew that we had our work cut out for us. I felt like we had four great drives in the second half. We talked about winning the fourth quarter and we did that."

(On tonight's win after last week's defeat) "We have built a reputation around here. We have high expectations. Obviously, we are disappointed with the 4-3 start especially since a couple of the losses were uncharacteristic of our brand of football. We were turning the ball over, having a lot of penalties and making stupid mistakes. It was really just about sticking together. Everyone outside of the building has wanted to question us and ask what's wrong with the Saints. We knew in our locker room it was all about staying together and continuing to fight. We were going scratch and claw and take one game at a time. We knew what a big game this was. We were playing the Pittsburgh Steelers who are arguably one of the best teams in the NFL coming in here Halloween night on Sunday Night football. It couldn't get any bigger. It was a way to get back on track by beating these guys. We played as complete of a football game as we have played all year."

STEELERS COACH MIKE TOMLIN

Opening comments: "Let's start with a tip of the hat to Coach Payton and company. They made sufficient plays. (They made) enough to win and we didn't. We accept responsibility for our performance, both players and coaches. It was a tough environment for us tonight. We better get used to these kinds of environments. It comes with the territory when you're trying to be world champs. We've got to play good people in their place and play better than that moving forward. We'll get more opportunities at it. We've got to learn from this. I'm sure that we will. We'll take that approach to it and hope to get better."

On the environment related issues tonight: "It was a hostile environment for us. The fans were into it. We struggled a little bit on possession downs because of it, but that's no excuse. They (the Saints) did a nice job. We knew that this was going to be a tough place to play coming into it. I was hopeful that we would perform better than we did."

On the Saints pass rush making a difference: "I thought it was. They did a nice job. They provided us with a myriad of looks, but it wasn't outside of their personality. Coach Williams does a nice job. They do a nice job of pre-snap looks and so forth. We talked in the top part of the week about how it would be significant to deal with those circumstances and the way that they use disguises with your silent counts and so forth. They did it extremely effectively tonight."

On applying pressure and preventing the deep passes downfield: "They did a nice job. Along with applying pressure, they kept (the ball) in front of them."

On the defensive effort from the Saints: "They made some nice plays. They won the line of scrimmage, but again, we knew that it was going to be tough to play down there (at the goal line). When you talk about silent counts and short yardage, they took advantage of the home field advantage and were able to get penetration and hold us off."

On going for it on fourth down in the third quarter: "I thought our team needed that at that point. I wanted those guys to know that we came down here to compete and to win. I thought it would be a shot in the arm for our group."

On if he thought about going for it on fourth down early in the game: "No, I didn't. I just wanted to put the points on the board at that point. I don't know what the score was, but I wanted the offense to experience some success there and get some points on the board and kind of move on. It was still an early juncture of the game."

STEELER PLAYER QUOTES

86 Hines Ward (Wide Receiver): "There's no need to panic. We have a terrific football team. This is just one lost and now we have to prepare for Cincinnati. I thought we moved the football well against their defense."

51 James Farrior (Linebacker): "We came down here to win a football game and it didn't happen. This was a real loud place to play and their offense is tough to read. But we have the majority of the season in front of us. And at 5 and 2, we will be okay as we start to play more and more teams in our division."

25 Ryan Clark (Safety): "You have to give credit to the New Orleans offense. Drew Brees put the ball where you had to put it and they made the plays when they needed it. They are a very good football team."

"When you play a team like ours, you can't always go for the deep ball and they were patient and took what they could get. I thought Brees and the Saints showed a lot of resolve. Maybe coming off a week like Cleveland when he (Brees) tried to force some things, I think he showed a lot of patience against us tonight."

"It was real loud out there tonight but these fans have always been like that. Their crowd is a tenacious crowd. I know that because I used to cheer for the Saints when I was growing up here. It was an awesome atmosphere and I was glad to be a part of it. It was a tough visit but a good visit. I just wish we would have won."

7 Ben Roethlisberger (Quarterback): "You have to give them a lot of credit. This was a tough place to play; one of the loudest places that I have ever played a game in. They are the champs for a reason. But you can't make excuses. We just have to play better."

(On the Heath Miller fumble): "I don't have to say anything to him. He's the best tight end in the game. Him fumbling there is about as freaky as Jerome Bettis fumbling at Indianapolis at the goal line. There's nothing to say. He was hurdling the defender and trying to make a play and you can't criticize a guy for that."

 "We just never got into any rhythm tonight. This is definitely a gut check for us. We got knocked down a little bit tonight and now it will be interesting to see how we will bounce back. We'll just have to evaluate things, but I don't think there's any reason to panic."