Head Coach Sean Payton
(Opening statement)
"Obviously, it's a disappointing loss and credit Baltimore, John (Harbaugh), his staff and their team. They made the plays tonight in the end that were necessary. It's a tough loss and we are going to have a short week and have to get ready to play Pittsburgh."
(On being surprised at struggling at the point of attack when facing their defensive line)
"When you play a team like that you have to keep pounding it, we knew it was a physical front. To credit our guys, in the second half all of the sudden we started finding some creases on some of the zone schemes. We knew we didn't want to make it a one-dimensional game."
(On the decision to go for it on fourth down on the opening possession)
"I thought it was an important time in the game for us maybe to send a message and one of the reasons why not only did we go for it, but we ran it. Listen, that's two times now, two weeks in a row we are not able to get it, but then we are not able to defend it from that position on the field so it was a gut feeling and I think our approach going in, and our players knew it, that we were going to be aggressive in this game. We could obviously look back and kicked it, but it's something I decided."
(On safety Kenny Vaccaro's personal foul)
"I don't have the angles on that [personal foul]; I don't have the angles on the holding call on Jahri (Evans). That was a critical call so I won't get into that."
QB Drew Brees
(On what's not going right)
"I would just say there is just not a large margin for error on both sides of the ball right now. We're just not quite doing enough to get the job done right now. When I look at us offensively today, I felt like we moved the ball well. We certainly put up a lot of yards."
(On the interception)
"It's really just bad luck. You get wrapped up just as the ball's coming out of your hands and it kind of deviates the throw a little bit, it's behind (Jimmy Graham) and it's intercepted. This is a game of inches and split seconds. Unfortunately, a lot of those haven't gone our way this year, especially the last three games."
(On the start of the game)
"On that first drive, you're down there inside the 1 ... and you'd like to be able to get a touchdown right there. You'd certainly like to walk away with points but you'd like to get a touchdown. That really sets the tone for the game. There were two throws in the red zone that if I had made better throws, we would have had touchdowns instead of field goals."
S Kenny Vaccaro
(On the loss)
"I've got to give credit to Baltimore. They played well. I am looking forward to watching the tape."
(On the penalty against him after his altercation with Steve Smith Sr.)
"He's just a competitive player. I made a tackle. He stiff-armed my helmet off. I am not going to back down, but at the same time, I can't get stupid penalties. It was a thing where I am not going to back down. It's just the way that it is. He is a grown man. I'm a grown man."
