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In the postgame locker room following Sunday's disappointing, yet emphatic 31-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the New Orleans Saints talked of missed opportunities and poor execution.

Some racked their brains trying articulate what had just happened inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. A few spoke in crackly, somber voices. Others shook their heads in disgust.
Nearly all, though, spoke about bouncing back.

"The good thing is when you come off a loss like that, you just can't get back on the field fast enough," said Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who had two costly interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. "In this case we get back on the field about as fast as you can."

With a short week and the hated Atlanta Falcons awaiting their Thursday night arrival at the Georgia Dome, the Saints have little time to get over the physical beating that was handed out or the mental anguish suffered by failing to move into the sixth spot in the NFC playoff race.

"It was a tough loss for our team to swallow and a tough loss for our coaching staff to swallow," Saints interim coach Joe Vitt said Monday. "But the reality of it is this, we have a 24-hour rule around here and that rule has been cut to 12 hours. At 7 o'clock this morning with put this behind us and we are on to our next games.

"I feel no differently about our football team right now than I did yesterday morning when we woke up and had won five of six games. This team has worked hard, this team is together, this team does not point fingers. And we are moving on to the next game."

Read more: New Orleans Saints don't have much time to get over loss to San Francisco - New Orleans Saints Football NFL News - NOLA.com

SaintsBro

These Thursday night games suck. Concerned about player safety, my -ss.

Rugby Saint II

"You just can't get back on the field fast enough."

Is Thursday fast enough?

Marlboro Man

Strange day today and strange season too. In all my years watching Saints football and that's since game 1. I have never turned off a Saints game during the game. Never. I've seen a lot of terrible football from this team, but at least they were trying. They had terrible coaching. Terrible ownership. Terrible scouts and terrible talent for most of those years, but at least they put their hear into it and really tried.

This season, I've been so frustrated with this team and this coaching staff, that I didn't even watch one game due to their stubbornness to continue to run Ingram with no results and I mean NO results and we just kept losing. For a while I just thought it was Kromer not wanting to rock the boat and keep the team together and focused along with his inexperience. I just got so sick of watching Ingram run the ball that I just could not sit through another game of watching him.

Later, during the season, I turned off the Denver game at the start of the 4th quarter. It just made me sick to watch this poor excuse for a defense play as well as watch this offense play without purpose and passion. Now, I've turned the game off in the 4th quarter of last weeks game against the 49ers. Can't diss them because they come to play, not talk, like the Saints do. They come to play, not read their press clippings, like the Saints do. I turned it off because I couldn't watch any more of the hard headed, bone headed coaching of this staff. Refusing to run the best back again in such an important divisional game that would have us in at the #6 seed today as I write this. Refusing to give help to the RT who we just signed off the streed days ago with a TE and allowing our QB to be hurried and harassed
all game long, and to watch our team play hesitant, scared and intimidated. It just made me sick, so I chose not to watch any more of it.

Now, here today, a day when I would have re-watched the game and studied our new RT, the o-line in total, the RB's and our defense. I find myself not even wanting to record the game. Not even feeling like watching this team embarrass themselves, their city and their fans. While some may take offense to this statement, tell me that after you face co-workers who are maybe 49ers fans, Cowboys fans, Falcons fans etc. then think about why you were offended by this post.

The thing that I think makes me so sick after this game and this season as a whole is the fact that even without Sean Payton, even without everything that has transpired throughout the offseason. This team is too talented to be playing like this. I know it, and you know it. We are too talented to be taking teams like Washington with a rookie QB for granted, too talented to be taking a team like the Panthers lightly, too talented to completely lose our composure to a team like Kansas City and basically ruin our season even before it started.

Now, trying to dig ourselves out of our self inflicted hole, we play marginally better. Just good enough to get to 500. Then, when the time comes to put up or shut up, to fish or cut bait, to show the world what you're made of, you come up with this effort? This game plan? This team is better than this, this coaching staff is better than this, and New Orleans Saints fans deserve better than this half hearted play and coaching. Saints fans have been there for this team through it all. Through thick and thin. We've seen every type of football that a fan can see and we know without a doubt that this team is better than what they've shown this year and what they've given us. Saints fans have filled the dome and made their voices heard to give this team an advantage, to help this team win games. They've made the effort, they've shown their heart and it's time this team did too. It's time this team represented it's fans the same way it's fans have represented them.