papz

Do you look at the wins that you’ve had recently over teams that are fighting to get into the playoffs as an advantage certainly with the head-to-head competition?

“I thought when we started the third quarter of the season, every one of us just on paper looked at four good football teams. When that quarter began, it was Tampa Bay who was playing well, Atlanta, the Giants, and Detroit. All four of those teams played or were playing good football. The goal was to see where we stacked up and where we measured. I like the way we responded to that. We still have a quarter of the season left. We have another important stretch of games here now with two being on the road and two at home. Those are good football teams and you get some confidence when you play well against a good football team and you’re able to win.”

Are you better than you were last year?

“We’ll see. We got on a run last year similar to what we’re doing now. We won however many games in a row. Ultimately, the great thing about our game is we get to see. In other words, we don’t finish with a how would you evaluate that performance. We finish with a tangible here you are and here’s what you did in the postseason and then we could just throw it up on the wall and it sticks. I think we’re a work in progress. I think we have some areas where we’re better. I think there are some areas where we’re not playing as well particularly, but I do think we’re playing with confidence and I think that time will tell. We’ll have a chance here to see how this team stacks up to not only last year’s team, but to team’s prior period. That’s the great thing. There’s a turnover element to our league every year. The teams are different. There’s turnover with the staffs. This team this year gets to make its own mark. That’s exciting.”

Would you like to see your team play better on the road?

“We’ve been a good road team. Let’s step away from the home wins. We’ve been a good road team. We’ve won on the road. We’ve lost a tough game at Green Bay and we’ve lost a tough game at Tampa and St. Louis, but what’s more bothering is just the areas regardless of whether it’s home or away that we just need to focus on. I like our road routine. I like this team in regards to how we travel and what wins when you travel. To answer your question, I would lose more sleep over some fundamental things that happened to us both home or on the road as opposed to the overall record. Some of our tough losses happened on the road this year, but I think our history shows that we can travel. More importantly, it’s the specific things within the framework of a game that I think lead to winning and losing regardless of whether you’re at home or on the road.”

Full interview.
Payton Recaps Lions Game, Previews Titans Contest

Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

All little common sense goes a long way.