WhoDat!656

The New Orleans Saints defensive secondary managed to successfully guard the Carolina Panthers receivers Brandon LaFell, Steve Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. while the Saints opened up an 24-6 lead.

QB Cam Newton only reliable target was TE Greg Olsen as the Saints went on to a 31-13 win.

The performance by the secondary came six days after Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson and his receivers shredded the Saints.

"I think we were confident last night, had a sense of swagger about us," Saints veteran safety Roman Harper said, via Terrance Harris of NOLA.com.

"We played together."

"I talked to the guys earlier about last week. We seemed like we played sometimes for ourselves, and when you are playing defense it's about playing for the guy next to you, it's all about being together. The tightest group is the group that wins on defense. We have to be able to do for each other."

"It goes hand in hand," said Saints coach Sean Payton.

"I thought we did a good job of keeping the players in front of us, No. 1. The big plays Carolina has the potential of hitting you with (are) where they get behind your defense in the passing game. They do a good job running the football and you can all of sudden getting consumed with forcing the run and then there is a Ted Ginn, or LaFell or Steve Smith splitting your secondary, but I thought we kept the ball in front of us. We contested a lot of throws and broke up a lot of passes, and that was pleasing.

"Overall, it goes hand in hand, and I think there are coverage sacks just like there are hurries that help the back end."

Saints secondary say they are now gaining a 'swagger about us'

"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."