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New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton

Press Conference Transcript

Monday, September 27, 2010

Opening Statement: “It’s a tough loss. To get into that position in overtime, we were still able to overcome the turnover disparity and that’s been something in the first two weeks we’ve done a good job with and didn’t do as good a job with yesterday, but nonetheless you watch the tape and see things that jump out at you without having seen any video yesterday and then you see some other things you want to get corrected and then you see some positives. Certainly with a division game like that going into overtime, it’s a tough way to finish. Guys will watch the tape today. We’ll make the corrections. We’ll spend time and once we finish that process we get on with Carolina. There is nothing updated on injuries. We’ll probably have a lot better idea on Wednesday with all these guys. It was a hard fought game. Both teams played well. Credit Atlanta. They did a good job on third down. They did a good job really responding all of a sudden in overtime and coming up with the final drive."

Did the status of Drew Brees and Pierre Thomas on that final drive affect your decision to kick for the field goal on first down in overtime? “No. We kind of had a similar situation in Washington (in 2009), where we might have run one or two more plays a year ago. I think when you get down to that ten yard line. You’re weighing the turnover (risk). I think more with Pierre’s (Thomas) injury. If we were going to do anything, we were probably going to hand it off. Once we got down to the ten, I think there’s certainly a confidence level where you say this is where we needed to be. Now if you’re in the postseason, that’s the first drive with the rule change, you might have to play that out, because if you make the field goal than the other team still gets a chance. If you score a touchdown, the game’s over. I think you’d play it out differently if that was your first possession. Of course it wasn’t. It was a second possession of overtime. I think that area’s right where we felt we should kick this thing right now and not risk a fumble or turnover.”

If you had run the ball with Pierre, would it have been mostly to put it between the hash marks? “Yes. We felt good about the right hash. All of that we would have done exactly the same. You have time to talk about it. Once you get to the ten-yard line, that area we felt pretty good about it. If we had run the ball, it would have been Pierre. Maybe it would have been Chris Ivory, but I think once Devery (Henderson) made the play on third down…It was third and nine I believe, he coverts. Once he converted that third down, I thought right away, we sent the unit out. I think that’s smart.”

What is the closest field goal you recall being missed ever? I don’t know. Last year in our win against Washington they missed a close one late in the fourth quarter that would have put the game away for them and we were able to come back. I don’t remember the distance though.”

Are you going to take a look at other kickers? “We’ll see. I think the thing you always have to be careful of is you turn around the day after and make decisions that maybe are the ones that aren’t well thought out. We’ll meet on it. We’ll visit. You know how we feel about him (Garrett Hartley). He’s a guy that has come up big for us. There were more wide lefts yesterday than just the kicker. There were other mistakes made in that game that maybe led it to overtime. We’ll start with the turnovers, which leads to the short yardage situations. We struggled covering (Tony) Gonzalez and third down and holding up in the run game later as it went on, so that one just becomes more apparent by the nature of the position. We’ll just see how we go here.”

Are you going to look at other options before making a decision? “We’ll see. I’ve seen some of them (reports). There hasn’t been anything scheduled and I’ve not talked to anybody. We’ll see.”

Did Drew Brees have his knee checked out after the game? “Yes. All of them do. It would be standard protocol.”

Is there anything serious? “Nothing serious.”

Do you think you maybe took the foot off the gas a little with Atlanta in the divisional race? “I think when you have a chance to win a division game against a team you feel is a good team in your division that counts more than just a game. I do think that part of the frustration with that loss is that you have a chance to maybe set them back to 1-2 and create a little distance. It didn’t happen. We obviously have a lot of football we have to get ready to play. We can’t play that one again. I think there’s something to be said for what you’re asking. You want to play well in your division, especially at home.”

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Payton's Monday Presser

papz

... better yet, a missed or blocked field goal. This is just my personal opinion but if you expect the kicker to make the kick, we should expect our running back not to fumble or our quarterback not to throw an interception.

MistaBigXXL

There is a risk factor with both options. The decision to kick when we did was less risky than trying to advance further. I would have done the same thing, it's just unfortunate that Hartley choked.

RaginCajun83

but at least try to score the TD and if that doesn't work then kick the field goal. IMO in the first 3 games I've seen them open and close and then open up the playbook, that rarely happened last year. After the Moore long TD, they would follow it up with more long passes. I know the defense is taking that away but they just don't look as aggressive as they did last season

darby

Would have like to seen a fake handoff to pierre, bootleg Drew and an easy toss to lance for 6. you know they were expecting run all the way

saintfan

Damn skippy. That play would have blown their minds, and why we gave up at that point is just beyond me. It's not like Drew isn't smart enough to throw it into the 3rd row if it isn't there. Jeesh...I hope like hell we don't start playing scared.