Opening Statement
"Real quick, two injuries. Lance Moore had a shin bruise in the second quarter; he didn't return. With Jonathan Goodwin, he's got a knee contusion, so that's good news for us. Obviously it was good to get the win. We did a lot of things well, yet we did a lot of things that made it close at the end and we have to get those corrected. We have some ball security issues that are obviously a concern, but third down was a good down for us on both sides of the ball. I thought we operated pretty well in the red zone. I thought we came up big on defense when we needed to after we turned the ball over. I'm excited to win this game and get to 7-0. It was an important game against a division team. It wasn't perfect; it wasn't clean. We have to get better this week."
Q: On offensive-defensive balance.
A: "When you can rush the ball that helps with your time of possession. We won the third down battle tonight, but one thing we didn't win is the turnovers. That being said, we try to as best we can play a complementary game. There were portions of tonight where we were able to do that and there were other times when the ball came loose and it was sloppy, but that can be corrected.
Q: On overcoming four turnovers and a missed field goal.
A: "I thought defensively we answered, we responded in the short field. We gave a sack-fumble for a touchdown, an interception, two more fumbles in the second half, and we missed a field goal. We did a lot of things that will get you beat and we were still able to get the win."
Q: On defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
A: "I think certainly he (Gregg Williams) is a big reason why we are 7-0. I don't know that when you start off you envision exactly what it is going to be like. We set goals as a team to win the division and reach the playoffs. The way we've been able to turn the ball over and score defensively is a big reason that we are where we are right now. They defended some short fields tonight and did a real good job."
Quarterback Drew Brees
Q: On the game.
A: "This is a huge win. We knew obviously coming in, you win this (division game), it's worth two. It wasn't the prettiest win at times, but we did what we needed to do when we needed to do it."
Q: On the catches.
A: "Marques Colston, he's no stranger to those kinds of catches. You can get some of those defensive backs in an off-balance situation, or even when they know it's coming, he can go pluck it out of the air. Jeremy had a nice one. Devery had a nice one."
Q: On being undefeated and what the team needs to correct.A: "The fact is, yes we're 7-0, and we're happy to be 7-0, but there's some things last week and this week that will get you beat. First off, turnovers. Four last week and four this week. I thought we had that figured out for a while, then all of a sudden, the last two games have been horrendous."
Cornerback Jabari Greer
Q: On his interception for a touchdown.
A: "There was a drag in the slant on an out route. We were in a coverage where I was playing deep. The line did a great job of getting pressure and allowed Matt Ryan not a lot of time to throw the ball. Fortunately, they had ran that route a few times to my side. I broke it up the first time they threw that play, but I knew that wasn't going to be good enough against this offense. Fortunately, I was luck enough to get another opportunity. I was able to go out there and catch a ball. The defensive guys created a lane with their blocks. I got down the numbers and took it in."
Tight End Jeremy Shockey
Q: On the team balance.
A: "Balance is playing lights out the whole game. We did it on the offensive side the first half and the defensive side the second half. It feels great anytime you get a win. We would do some different things if we could do it all over again. It was great to get a win. We have been sneaking by with these penalties and turnovers. It is going to catch up to us if we don't correct them."
Running Back Pierre Thomas
Q: On overcoming adversity during the game.
A: "It was a struggle in that game. Atlanta put up a great fight. We bounced back from all the turnovers – the fumbles, the penalties – we have to eliminate that. In order to be a great team we have to eliminate that and we'll have to focus on that after we watch the film tomorrow. If we can eliminate all the penalties and all the turnovers, we're going to be a tough team to stop."
