Transcript - New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton postgame quotes | Saints-Bears 2020 Wild Card

Get postgame reactions from New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton

Jan 10, 2021 at 08:03 PM

HEAD COACH SEAN PAYTON

On if the team was going to go for the fourth down with Taysom Hill at quarterback:
"It was basically a no-brainer freeze; and, actually, when we were on the field, we were just going to take a delay and then kick the field goal. It's a heavy run formation, a different cadence from a different quarterback. It worked pretty well."

On if changes were made at halftime that enabled the team to play better in the second half:
"I thought in the first half, it wasn't necessarily on third downs, we had some minus plays. It was the complete opposite in the second half. We didn't have a lot of possessions, but I know that we had two long drives, because when drives are over and you look at the pictures, when you get a heavy stack, you know that you were on the field for quite a while. I thought that the second half time of possessions were important. It proved to be important. Our defense played outstanding. Really, the one field goal came off of a turnover of ours on offense. It was a great team win; and, I thought in the second half, we got things clicking a little bit, relative to scoring touchdowns and moving the football."

On what Deonte Harris brings to the game:
"We got a lot of zone coverage. Some of it was two-deep high or quarter and some of it was single-high, but maybe a little bit more zone on some down and distances than we might have anticipated. Drew (Brees) did a good job of coming off to some players. Deonte's one of those guys in space that (can make plays). He made a number of plays today. That was significant. He's hard to tackle one-on-one. We tried to get him the ball on a few drive-starting plays. It's good to have him back in the lineup."

On if there were any reservations about allowing Drew Brees to leap over the goal line:
"No, we talked about that during the week, how he's feeling. He's feeling good. No, we just knew that a half-yard, we would be willing to do based on the type of goal-line front that we were getting."

On if he has concern about the kicking game:
"As a coach, you have concern 24-7 about a lot of things. You're focused on all of the specific details. I thought that from a kicking game standpoint, we did a lot of things well. We missed a field goal (though). Wil (Lutz) is someone that will bounce back. I think, believe it or not, we are fortunate to win a game; and, yet, we feel like there's a lot of things that we can do better. That's what we will get ready to get started on as soon as practices begin. I think that he (Lutz) will answer the bell."

On if he was concerned about a slow start today:
"As a coach, you're always concerned; you're wanting to operate efficiently. Look, I think that it's really focused on the things that you can tweak. We threw the ball a little bit more on first down. It's a good (Chicago) defense, a good front. We did the things that we needed to do. (It was) a good win."

On the process this week for Alvin Kamara:
"He is extremely smart, so he can pick things up right away. He was Zoomed-in for meetings. He was virtualled-in for practices. I think there are some players that it might have affected more, but he is one of those players that he understands what we are doing formationally, so it made that transition a little bit smoother. It was certainly good having him back in the lineup."

On what he liked about the play of the defense:
"I thought we tackled well in space. I thought our third-down numbers were good. Ultimately, I think that we forced them to become one-dimensional. When you are able to do that, you are going to win a lot of games."

Photos: Game Action #1 | Saints-Bears Wild Card 2020