“I thought we played much better defensively,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “We were better on third down, we defended the run well even in our seven-man fronts, coverages were tight and we hurried the quarterback.”

“So that was the big difference from last week, I thought we played with some energy and enthusiasm,” he said. “You could see it on the sideline.”

“I thought we got sloppy at times in the red zone. I was disappointed we didn’t score more because we had a lot of opportunities inside the 30,” said Payton. “We had penalties, a fumble. Those things, we have to clean up. But it was certainly a better performance for us coming off last week’s game.”

- Sean Payton, The Advocate

“We needed a little redemption because we wanted to get not only physically ready, but get in the right mind-set for the regular season,” said Kaesviharn. “It’s important to build on everything, and I think we did that tonight.”

- Kevin Kaesviharn, The Advocate

“Tonight, it was about us executing and showing people how good we can be,” middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. “We felt like we did some good things last week that were kind of overlooked. People are going to say things, so it’s about us showing it.”

- Jonathan Vilma, The Advocate

“I felt like we moved the ball very well today, but we left some opportunities out there for sure — especially in the second quarter,” Brees said. “And that’s frustrating.”

- Drew Brees, The Advocate

"I think it was a big boost for us today," said safety Kevin Kaesviharn, who had 1¤1/2 sacks against his former team on two blitzes. "We had a bad taste in our mouth after last week. We felt we were a better team than what we showed. And we knew going into this game that we had to step up our game, especially being that this is usually the time (the starters are) going to play the most before you get into the regular season."

"It always feels good to play well against a team you used to play for," said Kaesviharn, who signed with the Saints before the 2007 season. "But like I was saying, it was more important for the team to go into this game and come away with a lot more confidence mentally, and we were able to do that."

-Kevin Kaesviharn, Times-Pic

"Honestly, I think having confidence coming off the preseason is important," Saints Coach Sean Payton said. "And I think certainly (defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs) and the defensive staff and the players felt like this was an opportunity where we were going to get more snaps for a longer period of time. And the situations, fortunately, we got them into some third-and-longs.

"So I'd say the one thing you saw tonight is we were ahead .¤.¤. defensively. We had them in third-and-11, third-and-9. It's easier to dial up your defense."

-Sean Payton, Times-Pic

"When you've got guys outside like Will (Smith) and Bobby McCray pushing the quarterback up in the pocket, that's going to help us in the middle," Grant said. "That's going to be a dominant package. A lot of people are going to feel that. You can't block all of those guys."

-Charles Grant, Times-Pic

'It is important to get ready for the regular season and get the confidence going," said Kaesviharn. "We were flying around out there and swarming guys and making plays. It was fun to see. The things that we worked on and the coaches were on us all week to improve is the result we came up with tonight. It's encouraging."

-Kevin Kaesviharn, New Orleans Saints official website

"I'll tell you what makes me angry: Seeing my quarterback get off the ground," left tackle Levi Jones said. "It infuriates me, especially seeing blood on his face."

- Levi Jones, Cincinnati Bengals, International Herald Tribune

"That's the thing that's hurting me right now, to see Carson getting hit," guard Bobbie Williams said. "It hurts me deeply."

-Bobbie Williams, Cincinnati Bengals, International Herald Tribune

"This was the (type of) game we kind of looked at as a unit," McKenzie said. "We wanted to have a good showing defensively. They obviously didn't have their top guns."

-Mike McKenzie, International Herald Tribune

"He had a good pregame, but I wanted to err on the side of caution," coach Sean Payton said. "I'm excited about where he's at right now, but I held him back. We didn't want to go through the scenario of him having a setback."

-Sean Payton, on Jeremy Shockey, International Herald Tribune

If the third exhibition game is supposed to be a dress rehearsal for the real games, then the New Orleans Saints undressed the scrappy local 11. It was thorough.

-Paul Daugherty, sportswriter, Cincinnati Enquirer

"There's going to be (heck) to pay for a lot of people,"

-Levi Jones, Columbus Dispatch

The Cincinnati Bengals made history Saturday night, Aug. 23.

Not good, memorable history.

Bad, forgettable and regrettable history.

For the first time in the franchise's 41 years, the Bengals were shutout at home in a preseason game.

- Chick Ludwig, sportswriter, Dayton Daily News