New Orleans Saints 10 @ Carolina Panthers 23: Who Dat Say!?

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NFLprguy Despite putting up only 10 points vs Carolina, Saints still scored 510 pts this season. 2007 Pats hold record-589

jeffduncantp   Updates from Saints locker room. Payton reported few injuries. K.Eckel had a stinger. Others just had "bell rung." No word on M.Jenkins.

jeffduncantp Payton, Brees said decision to rest starters was made on Tuesday morning, after Vikings lost to Bears.

jeffduncantp To a man, Saints said club is confident despite 3-game losing streak & not worried about "momentum." Brees: "We know what it's gonna take."

jeffduncantp Saints expected back in Nola around 7 p.m. 

NFLprguy In case u were wondering, we finished season w/ just 8.6% of games blacked out in local market. Projections were 10 to 20%. Great fans

jeffduncantp Saints' 2010 sked is now set: Home: CLE, MIN, PITT, SEA, ST.L, ATL, CAR & TB. Away: ARIZ, BALT, CINCY, DAL, SF, ATL, CAR & TB. Dates TBD.

LanceMoore16 Glad to get out of the game mostly healthy. Now its time to rest up and get prepared to make this super bowl run.

ChaseDaniel #chasedanielwatch Thanks for the support! Much love

reggie_bush Tough loss! But we rested most of our starters! Gonna enjoy this bye week! Spa Treament everyday!!!!

Pierre_Thomas Playoffs are around the corner! Road to the Ring, domefield advantage baby!

JeremyShockey How you climb the Mountain is just as important as how you get down the Mountain. And,so it is with life , which for many of us becomes a

JeremyShockey gigantic lesson. In the end it all comes down to one word. Grace . Its how you accept winning and loosing,Good Luck and Bad Luck,

JeremyShockey The Darkness and the Light.

reggie_bush I'm excited for the playoffs to start! Time to put up or shut up!

Linkage

New Orleans Saints 'comfortable' with position after third loss - Times-Pic

"I'm comfortable because it was the right thing to do," Payton said, explaining that there is "absolutely no data" to suggest whether it affects a team to enter the playoffs on a winning streak or losing streak.

"What's most important is your team, and knowing your team," Payton said. "And I like where we're at. I like this team a lot. I like the fact that we put ourselves in this position. And we'll be ready."

-Sean Payton

"Hey, would I have loved it if we came out here and scored 41 today? Yeah, sure. But is it worth the risk?"

-Drew Brees

"Certainly we did not want to lose the Cowboy game or the Tampa game," Brees said. "But coming into this one, really it was all about what puts us in the best position to succeed in the playoffs. The most important game of the season is in the Superdome in two weeks."

-Drew Brees

"There is no doubt in my mind that this team is going to be prepared for the next game that we play," added offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb, who was pulled from the game at halftime. "This is one of those situations where hindsight will (judge). If we win (in the playoffs), these past three games are going to be quickly forgotten. So it really depends on how we perform in the playoffs.

"At the end of the day, that's how we're going to be measured."

-Jon Stinchcomb

"We had plenty of chances, we just didn't have enough completions,"..."If we hit a couple of those, it's a different ballgame."

-Mark Brunell

"Once the playoffs start, all bets are off," Vilma said. "It doesn't matter what your record is, it doesn't matter what happened during the season. You just have to go out and play, execute and go out and win the game."

-Jonathan Vilma 

 New Orleans Saints right where Sean Payton wants them - Times-Pic

"While the media and the fans may want to harp on us about the last three games, we are looking toward the future," linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "We are not going to linger on the past three weeks. The fact of the matter is that we are the No. 1 seed, with home-field advantage, and we are excited about the future."

-Jonathan Vilma

"I know what we can do," running back Mike Bell said. "It is a loss and every game is important, but the end result is the most important thing. But I think when we go out and accomplish what we want to accomplish, this game is going to be irrelevant."

-Mike Bell

"If we don't win in the playoffs everybody's going to point to these last three weeks," right tackle Jon Stinchcomb said. "That's how we're going to be judged. If we go into the playoffs and win some ballgames, these last three weeks will be all but forgotten. If we go in and we stumble around and we don't play good football, then everybody's going to bring up these last three games and us not playing our best toward the end of the season."

-Jon Stinchcomb

"There is no data to suggest one way or the other," Payton said. "I'm more concerned about our team, and I think I've got a pretty good handle on this team. More and more each year, you see a lot of outside opinions, and we try to ignore those. ... I'm not really worried about what Brian (Billick) thinks."

-Sean Payton

"I like where we're at," Payton said. "We'll be ready."

-Sean Payton

 Incentives wouldn't sway Sean Payton's call to rest starters - Times-Pic

"I think that is something that teams earn," Payton said of the No. 1 seed. "So the idea of getting a draft pick and having your quarterback not healthy for a divisional playoff game doesn't sound real appealing to me."

-Sean Payton

"I think what was said by the commissioner is that they were going to look closely at the end-of-season games," Payton said. "I haven't heard anything more than that. I think each team has got to pay attention to what is best for the team. When you put yourself in position for the No. 1 seed, that's why you work so hard to get that spot, so you have decisions like this.

"We made the same decision in '06, and probably more attention has been brought to it because there was a (Colts) team that was 14-0. This has gone on every year. This isn't anything new. ... We have good leadership in the league office, and the commissioner does a great job. But that's why you win as many as you can to put yourself in this position."

-Sean Payton 

New Orleans Saints come out of loss 'pretty healthy' - Times-Pic

"It's not too much I remember," Roby said. "I remember the hit, and everything else was moving in slow motion. But I'll be fine. It's just one of those things where I've got to do what the doctors say. I'll be fine."

-Courtney Roby

"We will see where they are at (Monday) from a treatment standpoint," Payton said. "But by and large we came out of it pretty healthy."

-Sean Payton

New Orleans Saints-Carolina Panthers game recap - Times-Pic

"I felt good today," Morstead said. "Contrary to most guys I don't mind punting outdoors if the wind is not too ridiculous. I think the wind actually helped because I tried to get the ball to sail into it."

-Thomas Morstead

"A couple of third-down plays with the direct snap and on one of them Lynell made a pretty good run on," Saints Coach Sean Payton said. "It was really nothing more exotic than that."

-Sean Payton

"It was good to get back out there," Greer said. "It was important to just get out there with my teammates and get out there and play with my guys. For me that was the main objective, just to get out there and play football and have fun and hold my end of the bargain."

-Jabari Greer  

New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees breaks another NFL record - Times-Pic

"It's a huge record," Brees said. "That just says a lot about our team and our offense and what we are doing. Everybody has a hand in that."

-Drew Brees

Grading the New Orleans Saints vs. the Carolina Panthers - Times-Pic

New Orleans Saints fall to Carolina 23-10 in season finale  - Times-Pic

Slideshow: New Orleans Saints-Carolina Panthers - Times-Pic

Saints at Panthers Game Notes - New Orleans Saints official website

Saints at Panthers Game Story - New Orleans Saints official website

"I thought Thomas Morstead was outstanding and the defense held its own," said head Coach Sean Payton. "It was the cleanest game but we fit the run well after that big run early in the game. The key right now is for us to get ourselves physically refreshed and ready to play on the postseason."

-Sean Payton  

New Orleans Saints look ahead while wrapping up regular season in loss to Carolina Panthers - NewOrleans.com

"It wasn’t the cleanest game,’’ observed Payton, perhaps, stating the obvious. "Our focus quickly now shifts to our game in two weeks.’’

-Sean Payton

"It’s full speed ahead, all hands on deck,’’ Saints SLB Scott Fujita said. "It’s still out there, right in front of us.’’

-Scott Fujita  

Saints limp into playoffs with 23-10 loss to Panthers - WWLTV

"For us to both reach a goal like that says a lot about our team," Stewart said. "Our offensive line was real content on getting that."

-Jonathan Stewart

"I don't want to play for anybody else,"

-Jon Beason, on John Fox

Minutes: Jarrett finally hits paydirt - Carolina Panthers official website

"I was like, 'Oh, come on,'"..."It definitely felt like the monkey off my back -- and it was a heavy one, too," Jarrett said. "I just kept believing in myself, because as a person, if you don't have that faith, you can get down on yourself."

-Dwayne Jarrett

"It was the best feeling. We're a band of brothers here," Jarrett said. "We go through winning together, losing together, camp together. I think they knew how much it meant."

-Dwayne Jarrett

"Sometimes it takes game reps to really have the light come on," head coach John Fox said. "He's had moments; I remember the Arizona game here a regular season ago where he had two big-time third-down plays that probably saved us the game because it kept them (the Cardinals offense) off the field."

-John Fox 

Panthers-Saints Postgame Notes - Carolina Panthers official website

Panthers Report Card - Charlotte Observer 

Key Moments - Charlotte Observer

Photos - Panthers 23, Saints 10 - Charlotte ObserverKey Moments - Charlotte Observer

Saints vs Panthers Recap: Moving Along, Nothing to See Here - Chicks In The Huddle

Video

Audio

Here are yesterdays audio clips from WWL. They include Sean Payton, Scott Fujita, Jabari Greer, Jermon Bushrod, Bobby Hebery, Hokie Gajan and three clips from The Point After Show.