jeffduncantp The Saints will play host to the 1st NFC Championship Game in New Orleans history next Sunday at 5:40 p.m. in the Superdome.
FletcherMackel Benson family on field giving congrats...no boogie though.
FletcherMackel Avery johnson nice hug for sean payton as payton left the field. Avery donning a nice black and gold suit.
wwltvsports Bush on bat: ""I brought the bat out it represented to me who we wanted to be and who we are and who we were going to be all day today."
wwltvsports Bush on Payton at the end of the game: ""I don't want to admit it but yeah, he kissed me."
jeffduncantp Payton's first words to assembled media afterward: "So much for being rusty."
wwltvsports Sharper: "The score and the way we played today reminds a lot of people what this team was earlier in the season."
wwltvsports Sharper on Bush: "We've been saying all week he had a chance to pop one, we just had to block on punt return."
wwltvsports Vilma on 1st-play TD: "We knew it was a long football game, a 60-minute game and you don't win or lose a game on the first play."
wwltvsports Vilma on CBs being healthy: "When we have those guys in ..., we haven't seen 2 many balls over our head. You don't see the long balls."
wwltvsports Brees: ""You can look at the 13-0 Saints or the ones that finished the season 0-3 and we know we are the 13-0 Saints."
wwltvsports Carl Nicks: "We re-focused, we got back to fundamentals and basics we were doing in training camp and look what happened."
wwltvsports Nicks: "I just hate hearing that, rusty or can you guys turn it on again. We didn't win these games in the beginning because of luck."
wwltvsports Nicks: "Yeah, we messed up the last three games of the season, but I feel if we have Drew quarterbacking and Sean coaching, we can't lose."
wwltvsports Nicks on fans: "Even the Cardinals were like, ‘You guys have the loudest fans we've ever heard."
FletcherMackel The new SDT commercial with the SDT bull and sir saint is excellent stuff!
BillyMiller83 I will be on the Plaza level today starting at 2 at the Dome signing autographs. Come find me!
reggie_bush Song of the day: Young Jeezy-Done It....here we go!
BillyMiller83 Ok, they have me at the saints store
BillyMiller83 Saints store in the Dome off poydras, come see me
BillyMiller83 Where's my tweeps? I'm at the saints store in the dome!
BillyMiller83 Can you say " We Are The Winners"
ChaseDaniel Who Dat! Saint's Nation was amazing today! NFC Championship next...
JeremyShockey New Orleans fans are the best Thank you!!! Im home just trying to get right!! We play for our city///////
reggie_bush 1-0 in the post season! Gonna enjoy this win tonight and back to work tomorrow! Ain't My Dougie so clean! Lol!
LanceMoore16 Feels great to be back in action and to be hosting the NFC Championship game next wknd. Who Dat baby!!!
LanceMoore16 At Rock n Sake with the fellas after the big game.
usama_young28 Thanks for the support in the dome yall. Dome field advantage was great!
Linkage
The New Orleans Saints defense mixes it up in 45-14 playoff victory against Arizona - Times-Pic
"Coach Williams really had a great game plan defensively," Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald said. "We knew by watching them on film that they change things up a lot. You have to tip your hat off to them they played a great game tonight."
-Larry Fitzgerald
"For us, it was about frustrating him physically and mentally," linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "If we can do that, we felt like we had a chance to win. I think it might have been pre-snap what we were doing. Kurt Warner's been around the league. Our big thing was pre-snap, disguising what we were doing and then running into our coverage."
-Jonathan Vilma
New Orleans Saints getting pressure on Kurt Warner was the key to undoing of Arizona's offense - Times-Pic
"For us, it was about frustrating him physically and mentally," Vilma said. "If we can do that, we felt like we had a chance to win."
-Jonathan Vilma
"Overall, I thought we did a pretty good job of that today," safety Roman Harper said. "We tried to hit Warner a little bit and rattle him." -Roman Harper "We put pressure on (Warner)," Smith said. "We hit him a lot. We only got a couple of sacks but we got to him a lot. We affected him because his throws weren't as accurate as they were in the past."
-Will Smith
New Orleans Saints beat the Arizona Cardinals 45-14 in NFC divisional playoffs - Times-Pic
"I would definitely consider this my best postseason game," Bush said. "These types of games are the types you live for. This is what you work for, to get to this point. I knew I was going to get a lot of opportunities today."
-Reggie Bush
"(The NFC Championship Game) will be huge," Brees said. "It has been a season of firsts in a lot of ways. This will be the first NFC Championship Game played here, and this city deserves it. The Who Dat Nation deserves it."
-Drew Brees
Deuce McAllister's return 'a beautiful thing' for New Orleans Saints - Times-Pic
"That's crazy, " McAllister said. "Just to know they have that much respect for you is definitely special."
-Deuce McAllister
"Unfortunately with the knee injuries I have had over my career, I've been in that position before, " said McAllister, who earned a $21,000 game check for his role.
"But the biggest thing was I was a part of it. I wanted to be available to those guys as much as possible, whether it was just making adjustments or telling them what I saw, just keeping those guys positive. That's what I tried to do."
-Deuce McAllister
"To a man it was just a beautiful thing to have him back, " Saints offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb said. "He's been one of the best teammates that any of us have ever had at any level. Just to have him back in the locker room and the presence that he brings, it stuck with us all a little bit."
-Jon Stinchcomb
Bobby McCray's block on Kurt Warner 'game-changing' for New Orleans Saints - Times-Pic
"He hit me pretty good, " Warner conceded later. "You get that initial wind knocked out of you there and you kind of panic, you can't move, you can't breathe. It hurts when I breathe."
-Kurt Warner
"I told Bobby that was maybe the game-changing play, " Sharper said. "That was what we wanted to do was get after the quarterback."
-Darren Sharper
"Anytime you take a hit like that it makes you think twice about playing this game, " he said, laughing. "But something like that, or even this game, will not be the determining factor on my decision."
-Kurt Warner
"He did come up to me after the game and said he would say a prayer for me, " Warner said. "He just wanted to make sure I was OK. That was cool."
-Kurt Warner, on Bobby McCray
"We played with a depleted secondary today, and they exploited those matchups, " Whisenhunt said. "That was pretty obvious."
-Ken Whisenhunt
"When you lose two of your defensive starters who are really good players early in the game, then you run the risk you are going to expose the guys in there, " he said. "So that's a cat-and-mouse game you have to play, and he's a very good quarterback, and obviously we didn't have success."
-Ken Whisenhunt
"We never really got a chance to get into rhythm, " he said. "And they made some big stops, and offensively they got good field position and just capitalized."
-Early Doucet
"Anytime you have turnovers in a game of this magnitude it's going to be a big part, a factor in who wins and loses, and you don't want to be that team that has the turnovers, " Doucet said."We had them tonight, and we didn't get the win."
-Early Doucet
"We were kind of one-dimensional, " Doucet said. "But, like I said before, they made more plays than we did and they got the win."
-Early Doucet
Recapping the New Orleans Saints-Arizona Cardinals game - Times-Pic
"I was definitely happy, " Colston said. "Any time I have an opportunity to go up and get the ball that's what I look forward to. We knew going in that we had some looks on the outside that we could take advantage of. With Cromartie going out of the game early we were just able to get a lot of mismatches."
-Marques Colston
"I was pleased with my performance, " Ellis said. "We knew that that would be important because (Warner's) the heart of that offense. We knew if we could get him a little shaken up early it would make a lot of things easier as the game progressed."
-Sedrick Ellis
The bigger the stage, the more Reggie Bush shines: John DeShazier - Times-Pic
"There's no bigger venue, no bigger stage than in the playoffs, "
-Drew Brees
"It adds so much for our offense when such a dynamic player can have a great day, "
-Jon Stinchcomb
"We had him stopped (on the touchdown run), " Arizona Coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "He got in space and made a good run. It was the same thing with the punt return. We tried to punt it to the boundary to keep him (contained).
"You know that he's a threat, and you try to do the best you can to contain him. But when he gets in the open field, and you miss a tackle . . . he made us pay for that."
-Ken Whisenhunt
"He's as healthy as he has been, " New Orleans Coach Sean Payton said. "He was something (against the Cardinals). You saw it not only on the punt return, but on the long touchdown run. He played real well. He's a dynamic player."
-Sean Payton, on Reggie Bush
"These types of games are the types you live for, " Bush said. "This is what you work for, to get to this point. I knew I was going to get a lot of opportunities. "I think the quote is true -- big-time players make big-time plays in games like this."
-Reggie Bush
New Orleans Saints in midseason form vs. Arizona Cardinals - Times-Pic
"You can look at the 13-0 Saints, or the ones that finished the season 0-3, and we know that we're the 13-0 Saints, " quarterback Drew Brees said. "And we played like that today."
-Drew Brees
"It's going to be the biggest game in franchise history, no question about it, "
-Scott Fujita
"Hey, we were tired of hearing (the questions about rust), just like you guys were probably tired of asking it, " Brees said. "And we were chomping at the bit and just wanting to get it going.
"This is why we fought so hard in the season, this is why we worked so hard in the offseason. Just to give yourself an opportunity to be in the playoffs, to succeed in the playoffs and in the end win a championship. That's been our main focus the entire time."
-Drew Brees
"He said, 'You know your team better than anyone, ' " Payton said. "That bye week for us was critical, getting guys healthy and rested for this game."
-Sean Payton, on Bill Parcells
"We knew it wasn't going to be a 7-0 game."
-Darren Sharper
"Hey, our mentality is we're going to try to score every time we touch the ball. There's a confidence level there that is unique, but that's the way we play, " said Brees, who finished 23-of-32 passing for 247 yards. "After they got that first touchdown, all we're thinking is, 'Respond.'
"We went down and got that score to kind of calm the jitters a little bit, then we got that turnover and went down and scored again, and it was off to the races from there."
-Drew Brees
"That was vintage Reggie Bush, "
-Darren Sharper
"I don't know who was predicting all those 37-35 scores and all those points, " Sharper said. "You forget sometimes how good your defense is when you lose . . . but we knew we'd come out to play. With all our guys back, we're a different team."
-Darren Sharper
"I just think all the way around we were ready to play this game, " Brees said, "and that showed."
-Drew Brees
Saints vs Cardinals Game Story - New Orleans Saints official website
"So much for being rusty," Payton succinctly said to start his post game press conference. "Obviously, I’m pleased with the way they played. I thought in all three phases that we did a good job. That’s a good team we played today. I have a lot of respect for what they’ve been able to accomplish this season and last year. I’m just really proud of our team. I’m excited for our city. We’ve got a home game again."
-Sean Payton
"I did feel we were ready," Payton said. "The week off helped our team from where we were at the end of the season. We had a handful of guys that we were able to get ready. I thought we were tired at the end of the regular season. I thought the down time and the padded practices we had against each other were very important."
-Sean Payton
"That was vintage Reggie Bush that you saw out there today," said S Darren Sharper. "He has the ability to make those big plays and he showed it today. It was something else to watch."
-Darren Sharper
Kincaid: Bush stole the show - WWLTV
"Big time players make big time plays in games like this," said Bush, following his first memorable game in some time. "These types of games are the games you live for – as a football player, as a competitor, this is what you work all year for."
-Reggie Bush
"He played like a slugger,"
-Darren Sharper
"I challenged him, as far as being healthy in the postseason," said Payton. "He’s as healthy as he’s been in some time. He was something today."
-Sean Payton
"We talked about being the most aggressive team for 60 minutes. Coach Payton handed out bats to everyone on the team and on the bat it said ‘Bring the Wood,’ and what that meant was be aggressive and be the most physical team on the field today for 60 minutes and I tried to do my part."
-Sean Payton
"We had said all week that we thought he had a chance to pop one if we just blocked on a punt return and this was just vintage Reggie Bush,"
-Darren Sharper
"He played well for them today," said Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt. "You know he’s a threat and you just do your best to contain him, but when you get into the open field and you miss a tackle – he made us pay for that."
-Ken Whisenhunt
Handwerger: Payton's decision to rest team turns into 45-14 victory- WWLTV
"That term expert is used real loosely (now)," Payton said. "That bye week for us was critical, getting guys healthy and getting rested for this next game. I think the numbers are really high for a home team No. 1 seed. It was important for us."
-Sean Payton
"I think you can see the difference out there," middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "It’s like night and day out there when you have both your corners back, you have a safety back, your linebackers, your d-line."
-Jonathan Vilma
"When we have all our guys and we’re hitting on all cylinders, we’re going to be a team to be reckoned with,"
-Sedrick Ellis
Saints dismantle Cardinals 45-14, earn berth in NFC Championship game - WWLTV
"Obviously with the personnel we have, we’re going to try to spread the ball around," Brees said. "We’re going to try to exploit the things we see. The bulk of our production came in the first half. All the way around, we were ready to play this game and I think that showed."
-Drew Brees
"For us, it was really about affecting Kurt Warner, not really physically, but mentally," Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "Making him go to his second and third read, make him pump the ball. If we could do that, we felt we had a good chance to win."
-Jonathan Vilma
"We just had to settle down and be able to make tackles in the open field," Saints safety Roman Harper said. "I don’t even think we slowed Hightower down."
-Roman Harper
"Running that play, the hole was wide open, I just tried to hit is aggressive possible,"
-Reggie Bush
"It will be huge," Brees said. "It’s been a season of first in a lot of ways. This will be the first NFC Championship game played here and this city deserves it.
"The Who Dat Nation deserves it."
-Drew Brees
Saints regain momentum, slam Cardinals in NFC Divisional Playoffs - NewOrleans.com
"Hey, give (Hightower) credit,’’ Saints strong safety Roman Harper said. "He made some guys miss, including me. But we knew the game wasn’t going to end 7-0. This isn’t the first time a team bounced us for a long touchdown to open the game.’’
-Roman Harper
"There was never any sense of panic,’’ Saints linebacker Scott Shanle said. "Everybody was so excited and ramped up. But we settled down.’’
-Scott Shanle
"It was great to score on that first drive,’’ Warner said. "But they came right back and responded to score right away and get the momentum back.
"We tried to go back and forth with them but that’s what good teams do. They keep the pressure on you and that’s exactly what the saints did to us. When they did that, we never got back on track.’’
-Kurt Warner
"It’s been a while since I’ve felt this rested and this good,’’ Bush said. "I was nursing a (knee) injury for the first part of this season. Our plan was to kind of get me to the postseason and make plays. These types of games are the types you live for.’’
-Reggie Bush
"I felt like we were playing at a different speed,’’
-Scott Shanle
"The onus was on us,’’ Saints right tackle Jon Stinchcomb said. "Coach Payton shows a lot of respect for the men in this locker room and we had to prove him right.’’
-Jon Stinchcomb
"I know a lot of Saints fans probably want us to play Dallas,’’ said Shanle, alluding to the Saints’ 24-17 loss to the Cowboys on Dec. 19 in a primetime game at the Superdome.
"But it really doesn’t matter to me. We’re going to have to play well regardless who we play. "We’ll be ready whoever it is, I can promise you that.’’
-Scott Shanle
Saints vs Cardinals Game Notes - New Orleans Saints official website
Analyzing the New Orleans Saints' offensive performance - Times-Pic
Grading the New Orleans Saints vs. Arizona Cardinals - Times-Pic
Saints rout Cardinals 45-14, reach NFC title game - WWL
Does Cardinals' loss signal the end of an era? - AZ Central
Video
| Saints Video: Reggie Bush post game remarks |
| Saints Video: Drew Brees post-game remarks |
| New Orleans Saints running back Pierre Thomas' postgame comments following the Arizona game |
| New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith's postgame comments |
| New Orleans Saints linebacker Scott Fujita's postgame comments following Arizona |
| New Orleans Saints lineman Jon Stinchcomb's postgame comments following the Arizona game |
| New Orleans Saints defensive back Jabari Greer's postgame comments following Arizona |
| Jeff Duncan's Cardinals-Saints Vlog (Jan. 16, 2010) |
Audio
Here are your WWL audio clips. In order you've got Sean Payton, Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, Carl Nicks, Darren Sharper, Scott Fujita, Jonathan Vilma, Bobby Hebert, Hokie Gajan, two episodes of The Point After and an episode of First Take. Whew!