New Orleans Saints 38, Oakland Raiders 17 | ESPN.com
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New Orleans Saints 38, Oakland Raiders 17 | NFL.com
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New Orleans Saints Knock Off Oakland Raiders, 38-17 | neworleanssaints.com
Game recap. After starting 0-4, the Saints have now won five of their last six games.
New Orleans Saints Postgame Notes | neworleanssaints.com
The Saints have now won 14 consecutive games in the month of November dating back to 2009.
Saints @ Raiders Pregame Photos | NOLA.com
Saints @ Raiders Game Photos | NOLA.com
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From the Saints Sideline
New Orleans Saints throttle Oakland Raiders 38-17, even up record at 5-5 | NOLA.com
Larry Holder
Saints Raid Oakland, Cruise to 38-17 Win | thesaintsnation.com
Andrew Juge - Just like that, the Saints are back to .500.
New Orleans Saints tackle Charles Brown injures knee in win over Raiders | NOLA.com
Nakia Hogan - CB Elbert Mack says he passed initial concussion test.
New Orleans Saints vs. Oakland Raiders: Grading the offense | NOLA.com
Doug Tatum - Four fleur de lis out of four.
New Orleans Saints vs. Oakland Raiders: Grading the defense | NOLA.com
Doug Tatum - Three fleur de lis out of four.
New Orleans Saints vs. Oakland Raiders: Grading the special teams | NOLA.com
Doug Tatum - 2.5 fleur de lis out of four.
New Orleans Saints vs. Oakland Raiders: Grading the coaching | NOLA.com
Doug Tatum - Four fleur de lis out of four.
New Orleans Saints can exorcise even more demons next Sunday against San Francisco 49ers: First take | NOLA.com
Mike Triplett - Saints' 38-17 victory over Oakland Raiders on Sunday sets up even bigger matchup against 49ers next week.
New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins huge factor in defense's revival | NOLA.com
Mike Triplett - 10 observations from Saints columnist Mike Triplett.
New Orleans Saints-Oakland Raiders recap: How the game was won | NOLA.com
Nakia Hogan - Defense came up with big plays.
New Orleans Saints-Oakland Raiders recap: Did you see? | NOLA.com
Nakia Hogan
Penalties only puzzling part of New Orleans Saints win vs. Raiders | NOLA.com
Larry Holder - Saints had 11 for 109 yards.
Drew Brees' assault on NFL record books continues in New Orleans Saints' win vs. Raiders | NOLA.com
Larry Holder - Marques Colston makes his 500th catch.
New Orleans Saints get their swagger back in 38-17 romp over Raiders | NOLA.com
Jeff Duncan - It's been a wild, wacky season.
Quick Take: Saints enjoy complete team effort in Oakland | sportsnola.com
Ken Trahan
Wrap-up: Saints 38, Raiders 17 - NFC South Blog | ESPN.com
Pat Y. - Thoughts on the New Orleans Saints' 38-17 victory against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.
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Raiders' Regatta
Oakland Raiders routed 38-17 by New Orleans Saints | San Jose Mercury News
Jerry McDonald - The Raiders are truly sorry.
Monte Poole: Oakland Raiders' latest debacle leaves Mark Davis fuming | San Jose Mercury News
Monte Poole - The Raiders' No. 1 fan walked out of the coaches room and into the locker room, standing up in the minutes after his team had let him down.
Raiders notebook: Wideout Denarius Moore has trouble against New Orleans Saints | San Jose Mercury News
Jerry McDonald - The Raiders' first touchdown Sunday was set up by a 19-yard pass interference penalty on Patrick Robinson against Denarius Moore in the end zone.
Wrap-up: Saints 38, Raiders 17 - AFC West Blog | ESPN.com
Bill Williamson
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Postgame Quotes
via neworleanssaints.com
QB Drew Brees
ON THE SEASON: "We're on our way. I think had you told us or anybody that after 0-4 we would be looking at 5-5 at some point, winning five of six with that schedule that we had in front of us, a lot of people might have looked at that and said that's pretty unrealistic. But here we are. We stayed the course; we didn't overreact. I think a lot of what was happening outside the building was the talk about just kind of waiting for the crisis. But the fact is we've got good players, good people, great character, great leadership, and we just knew that things were going to turn for us. If we just continued to do things the right way, good things were going to happen. And we did that, that's exactly what we did. And we've had some great team wins here during this run, five of six. Both sides of the ball really stepping up and making plays when called upon."
ON THE GAME: "Again today, great all around team victory; very balanced on offense, defensively coming up with a big turnover resulting in points, another one that took points away from them. Just playing good football; special teams coming up with the big return to start the second half. So as I look at our team and just the way that we're building and the way that we're winning, we're doing it the right way."
ON EFFICIENCY: "I'm all about efficiency; the yards don't matter, the number of completions doesn't matter. I want to be efficient. I want to be a good decision-maker. I want to just make the plays when I'm called upon to do that and take care of the football, just do all of those little things."
ON OFFENSE: "I think early on, that first drive, just tempo, getting in and out of the huddle, getting plays dialed up, whether it was the run game or the pass game; I think the balance of being able to run it effectively and throw it effectively and convert some third downs. We were 55% on third down, that's definitely winning football. Got the benefit of a big return there to start the third quarter and some turnovers. It felt like first half, we only had four possessions, like we were backed up quite a bit and still came away with 14 points offensively and our defense got one, but just kept plugging away with our plan and stuck with it."
S Roman Harper
On defensive performance: "I feel better than where we were and we're making plays now. We're making turnovers and big plays, and not allowing big plays. I hate that we gave up that last touchdown on the two minute drive. But overall, I liked our effort today. We got to eliminate these long drives that we have been giving up, and we are playing faster. We got to tackle better than what we did overall, we allowed some leaky yardage, but overall, I really liked our effort today."
On the season: "It's been a long grind, especially starting 0-4, but we never pointed fingers. We stuck together as a locker room and as a team, and we knew that we could achieve great things if we just stuck together, continue this grind and long season together. We are right back where we need to be, at .500, and we got to continue to grind and we will be in the playoff race."
LB Jonathan Vilma
On key element of the defensive performance: "I think it was just really execution. Guys really just executing. We have always had the effort. We have the right guys here and we strongly believe that. I think now we are executing better, focusing on the little things that we didn't get done and were doing those things now."
On the improvement throughout the season: "I continue to say the same thing. We go out now, we practice the right way, we prepare the right way, we watch film. We do all the little things that we need to do to find ways to win games. I think we are doing a good job of that now."
LT Jermon Bushrod
On improvement over last three games: "We've just got to continue to do all of that. It's not going to be easy. In the next six games we're playing some really good teams. We've just got to continue to pay attention to detail, to put the work in on the field and in the classroom. Then we've got to come in on Sunday and play as a team. We've got to make sure we know everything that we're supposed to do going into the game and make sure we're on top of our studying. We've got to make sure that when it comes to the game it just clicks that much faster."
On upcoming games: "It's never a let-down. We just got back to .500. Nobody thought we were going to get back to .500. Nothing's going to change. We're going to go into each week with the same mentality. We've got to get better, we've got to try to find a way to win more. Honestly, I wouldn't want to be any other place than with these guys here, sitting at 5-5."
TE Jimmy Graham
On bouncing back from early-season struggles: "Early in the season it was, literally every different play, one guy was missing a block, or one guy was doing the wrong thing and his guy would go make the tackle. Lately, we've kind of had the mentality of ‘No Excuses'. We've got to go in and do our jobs. We need all 11 guys, even the receivers blocking down the field to make those blocks. That's really what has happened. Also, getting Chris Ivory in the mix has been a big help."
On getting the run game going, and how it helps the offense: "It opens the play-action up. It really lets linebackers and safeties have to respect the run, so they have to jump on the play-action. It makes them play with a safety in the box, which gives you man-to-man coverage, man-to-man me versus the linebacker or the safety. Those are the kind of matchups that you look for. When we have the running game going, guys can't just sit back in coverage and wait for the ball."
On the journey to get to 5-5 on the season: "It's been a journey. It's been an uphill battle to be .500. I never thought I'd be so happy to be .500 in my entire career. We're excited because things are moving the right way for us. Our leaders, Drew [Brees], and [Jonathan] Vilma, they've all done a great job of keeping us focused and making us work for a common goal."
On why the Saints had success today: "Our running game did well again. For us to be successful, for us to have good nights and win games, we're going to have to have our running game play like that every week."
RB Mark Ingram
ON THE RUN GAME: "I feel good. The running game's getting going, drawing up a lot of different looks for the running game so it's just a team effort. The line's doing a great job, coach is doing a great job calling the runs. Getting a few carries to get into a rhythm so it's been good these past few weeks. You look at the film, you see what other teams have success running the ball and you see what we do well and how we can attack certain weaknesses of the defense. We're just doing a great job of practicing the schemes, line's doing a great job of blocking, creating seams for us to run through and we're running hard making some big plays so it's good to have the run game going."
ON FAST START: "It's always good to get off to a good start. Whether it's me getting a good run or it's a big pass, anything. Just to get some momentum early in the game and the offense to get some energy going, that's always a good thing."
ON BACKFIELD: "You just have to stay in the game. We have a lot of great runners in our room and there's only one football. So you just have to stay in the game, stay focused in the game, and when your number is called, just go in there and do whatever you can to have success for the team, help the team have a successful play. That's my mindset going in; do whatever I can when my number is called to help this team win games. And you just have to stay focused; whether you don't know if you're going to get the ball this many times or what, you have to stay in the game, stay focused, stay ready, stay loose, and when your number is called, take advantage of it."
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Raiders Head Coach Dennis Allen
On the game: "Disappointing. We felt like we had a good week of practice. We thought we were ready to play and we got beat today. The only way I know how to fix things is we just have to go back to work, keep grinding. Those guys in that locker room, there's nobody that hurts worse than they do. We're going to keep fighting and keep battling and keep grinding."
On the team: "Obviously, we have to continue to work and continue to get better. That's always going to be the goal. Obviously, we've sustained some injuries and we knew going into this season that depth was a challenge. We're seeing some of that a little bit, but our guys are continuing to battle. They're continuing to fight and that's what we've got to do."
On if it's now a rebuilding year: "No. I'm not into rebuilding years. What we've got to do is we've got to continue to develop. We've got to continue to go to work and keep trying to get better every day. That's all I know how to do."
On any specific areas they need to improve on: "I think it's really the whole thing we've got to get better at. I think we've done a good job offensively of being able to move the ball, but we haven't scored enough points. WE have to do a better job of being able to score points. Defensively, we've played good in spurts, but the inconsistencies hurt us. I thought, obviously, in this game, the change in momentum in the game really occurred in the first half when they were able to get the touchdown on the double move. Then they came back out in the second half and opened up with a big kickoff return and scored on the first play. That was really the biggest difference in the game."
On the most disappointing aspect of the team: "It's disappointing that the guys put their heart and soul into it and we haven't gotten the results. That's the challenge that we face. It's going to turn and it's going to turn for the positive for us, but we have to keep working."
On why he thinks things will turn around: "I just watch these guys go to work every day and I know that if they continue to work the way they're working that it's going to turn our way. Those guys are fighting."
On if he thought they'd score more points: "Yeah, I thought we would be able to move the football on them and I felt like we'd be able to score some points. WE had those opportunities. We had the one opportunity down there in the red zone and we got the touchdown pass and unfortunately, bounces off Brandon's [Myers] hands and into the defender, but there was an opportunity there to score points. I felt like we had the opportunity to score points, I just don't think we capitalized on it like we needed to."
On if he interjects in the offense: "Yeah, I wanted to come in and be able to run the football in this game and that was one thing we felt like we were able to do. I think we did that in this game. But we've got to do a better job of being able to put points on the board when we get an opportunity."
On where he expected to be 10 games into the season: "I didn't put an expectation on it. Obviously, we're not where we want to be and we've got to realize that. We've got to face that. Like I said, the only thing I know how to do is go back to work and that's what we're going to continue to do."
On the improvement in the run game: "I think we felt like against this team we had good matchups in the running game and we were able to use Tony Bergstrom some as a tight end, which I think helped us some. I think Khalif Barnes back helped us in the run game. So there were a few factors involved in that."
On the defensive breakdowns: "I don't think it was a communication issue today. I think they executed a nice double move. Both defenders kind of went for the double move; it wasn't a communication thing, it was more of an execution thing."
On the 3-7 record: "It doesn't make you feel good. I know we're better than that and I know we can play better than that and we'll continue to work and we'll get better."
On WR Denarius Moore: "I wouldn't say lack of development. When you look at Denarius Moore, he's a young player. He missed a lot of time in OTAs and training camp and that's valuable time to grow into a new offensive system. I think he's had some inconsistencies, just like the rest of us. That's the thing that we're trying to get corrected."
On if the team is improving: "Yeah, I think in areas we are improving. But obviously we're not seeing the results we need to see."
On how they can fix the inconsistencies on offense: "I don't think you go through and make a lot of wholesale changes. I think we've got to really worry about the execution in practice and repeat plays, whatever the case may be. We'll go back, we'll look at it, and if there is something we need to do to make it better, we'll make it better."
On SS Tyvon Branch and other injuries: "We didn't come out with any other injuries as of right now. Everybody was able to finish the game. Tyvon practiced some on Friday, but Saturday we kind of realized he wasn't going to be able to go."
On TE Jimmy Graham's touchdown: "It was a situation where on the goal line they gave run-action over there. Miles [Burris] has got the tight end and it was rookie mistake. It's something that hopefully he'll learn from."
On the fan base's discontent: "Hey, listen, we're all frustrated and I understand that and I can appreciate that. But what I will say is that there's nobody that's going to work harder than we are to try to get it corrected."
T Khalif Barnes
On FB Marcel Reece: "Reece was a soldier, man. He went out there and did exactly what he's been doing basically all season long. He presents a nightmare for those guys [the defense] because he played receiver in college so he has speed, and there's really no linebackers that can match up to him when you have a situation where a linebacker has a man-to-man situation. He has good vision at running the ball too, so he presents a threat for a lot of defensive coordinators throughout the league."
On his first game back from injury: "There was a little bit of rust but I shook it off, I think, during practice. I still had some rusty things going on out there but, for the most part, overall I was pleased. I didn't have any pain; I was moving pretty good and I know they had some good rushers out there in [DE Cameron] Jordan and [DE Will] Smith and I didn't give up any sacks to them so all-in-all I feel pretty good about that. I'm just bummed overall about the whole situation but physically I felt pretty good."
FB Marcel Reece
On the offense's problems: "If I knew what it was, I'd fix it. We're going to go in there and watch the film, try to fix the mistakes and try to get some wins right now."
On the game: "I think we progressed pretty well as the game went on. We didn't get the fast start that we wanted but we started to get some yards. We made a few key mistakes that we definitely have to cut out in any game and the Saints are a great team. They capitalized on them and we got down on them."
On his performance: "Stats are really irrelevant when you don't get the W. The bottom line is if you don't win the stats are irrelevant, the numbers are irrelevant. I don't even know what they were, I don't care what they were and I don't want to know what they were. I want to get in, watch the film and get ready for Cincinnati."
On the team's goals for the rest of the season: "Rebuild? There's no such thing as a rebuild year, this is a business. If you rebuild it you get out. We're going out there trying to win. We're shooting to win out the rest of the season, that's the bottom line to it."
QB Carson Palmer
On the outcome: " [It was] very frustrating. [It was] a very painful loss. We knew that we had a hot team, a team that was on a roll and a team that is a Super Bowl contender coming in our place in front of our fans. They were a great crowd, they were really into it and we let ourselves down and we let them down by not playing up to our potential by getting beat the way that we did."
On why the offense unraveled: "We just couldn't keep up. They scored pretty quickly and we tried to stick with the run game and we did. We were doing a good job. With your fullback playing tailback, to run the ball like we did in the first half was really good to see. [It was] good to see the way we moved the line of scrimmage with our offensive line. But when it came down to it, we got beat by a better team today."
On Saints QB Drew Brees: "It's a very good team and obviously he's a very good quarterback. They played well. Special team-wise they had some nice plays in the kicking game and obviously they scored 38 points, moved the ball effectively and Drew played like Drew does."
On the goal-line interception: "We had our opportunities, we had our chances and great teams finish when you have your opportunities like we've had in a number of games, in every game this year. We capitalized on those and we haven't done a good enough job of that and that's something that, the only way you can fix it. Is to continue to work, continue to grind. This team does not turn it down; this team does not shy away from competition. What this team needs to do is continue to work and we've got to work offensively, defensively, special teams and find ways to get better. I believe this team will."
On misreads with receivers: "There was a little bit of miscommunication between Brandon [Myers] and I and that's something that can't happen. He did a good job of jumping inside on the route and I should have done a better job of placing the ball. He made a good play but obviously that's one [play] that I'd want to have back."
On what the offense needs to work on: "A lot of things. We did some good things in the run game, we had some good stuff in the [pass] protection as far as that's concerned. Especially on third down and in the red zone we've got to get better. There's no magic that's going to come and save us. [Head] Coach [Dennis Allen] said that to us. You've just got to continue to work and in a new offense, a first year offense this late in the season we need to be making better strides than we were today. We improved as we came into this game and we wanted to take another step forward. We did some good things but it was kind of a lateral step. We didn't get better on third down and we expected to today."
On the team's future goals: "To win. You look at our schedule, which guys have and we've [also] talked about it. Right now we're shooting for 9-7. Win all of the games and see where the chips fall at the end of the year. The AFC is still pretty wide open for the most part. We need some things to bounce our way but we believe, if we look at the schedule we know that they are some of those teams that we've already played [that remain]. We going to come in and work and try to find a way to get to 9-7. Let's see what happens."
On the miscommunication with WR Denarius Moore: "[It was] just a number of things. I need to look at the film and see what happened and we need to sit down and talk about it. He's our go-to-guy. He's our number one receiver, he's got a lot of plays [made] for him and we haven't had a ton of time [to be] on task and that's why some of the miscommunication things come up. The guy had a bad hamstring injury all off season and training camp there are times when it shows and it's my fault. He's a second year guy and I need to do a better job at getting on the same page with him - seeing things the way that he sees them and I need to improve in that aspect."
On FB Marcel Reece's versatility: "We weren't going to change our game plan, avoid the run game or but in different run [plays], or run different protections because he was [playing] a different [position]. We went about this game plan as whether [RB] Darren [McFadden] was there or he was back there. We were going to stick with the run and try to grind it out. But he's a football player. He just makes football plays over again every week. You feel [as if] you can't get the guy the ball enough. But there are other guys that you want to get the ball to, but Marcel is special."
DT Desmond Bryant
On the game: "Obviously anytime you step on the field the goal is to win the game. We didn't get that accomplished. There is a lot of things that we left out there that we hope we could go back and get again. You have to give respect to our opponent. They played a hell of a game. They made plays when they needed to and we didn't do that so we have to try to look at the film and think about it."
On whether the score of 21-7 at the end of the half had an emotional effect on the team: "You try to remove yourself emotionally as much as you can from the game. Obviously they are going to make some plays during the course of the game and you have got to be prepared for that and respond accordingly. When they make a play you have got to be able to just come back out and try harder and make a play for yourself."
On whether it is easy to overcome mistakes being made: "For me personally, it's definitely easier. It is kind of a motivating factor. To watch someone else go and do something and I possibly could have had something to do to stop that play. I am going to go out there and try even harder the next time I go out there to be able to stop the play."
On the mindset going into Cincinnati: "We really, really have to take a look at ourselves deep in the mirror and look at what we are doing and see if there is anything at all that we can do better to help prepare for the game and then be able to go out and execute during the game time."
On trouble with third quarters: "Like I said, it's just more the adversity of the game. They are going to make some plays and you have just got to be able to have a short memory, forget the last play and then come out the next play. Play even harder, play even faster, more physical so that way it doesn't happen again."
On whether this is a time of the year when you have to fight to get out of the funk: "In terms of we lost three games in a row, absolutely we are in a funk and we need to do something to get out of it. Obviously this season overall hasn't gone as well as we would have like to have seen. Now is the time to do it, not tomorrow, not after that, right now is the time to get things fixed and get things back on the right track."
LB Philip Wheeler
On whether the score at half time had an effect on the team: "I feel like we always say next play, next play. I think we moved on to the next play. If something unfortunate happened we moved on to the next play. I don't feel like we got down about it. We have just got to play better the next play."
On whether the long kickoff return had an effect on the game: "It had an effect on the game because they got yards and then they moved the ball, but I don't think it had a mental effect on us. We kept playing and playing. Whenever we are out there we want to play harder."
On getting in the mindset of achieving a victory against Cincinnati: "Like [Head] Coach [Dennis Allen] just told us, the only way we can fix something like this is to just go to work and just to grind. You can't look at it and hold your head down on it. You got to keep your head up. At the end of the day it's a game. We want to win, of course, but all we can do is go to work, just go to work."
On how important it is to you to go out and finish a game: "I mean everybody gets hurt in this game, you have just got to push through it. I like to think that I am a strong willed person. I have played football all my life and I feel like I am going to be on that field no matter what."
S Mike Mitchell
On what he sees in the team that makes him believe they could turn things around this season: "Everybody's got to look at their self in the mirror. You want to win games but it's got to mean something to you. Coach has been saying it, ‘Just do your job', that's everyone. Everyone has a play or two they want to take back. Just do your job. It's got to mean something to you."
On if the next six weeks will be a good test of their team: "I think it will be. I definitely wasn't saying that people don't care. I think we're a committed bunch, but you've just got to be spot on. We have to be spot on. It's the National Football League. Like I said, everybody probably has a play today they want to take back, but you can't take it back. We've just got to play better."
On Saints QB Drew Brees' 219 yards, 3 touchdowns: "I don't know if that means he got off today, but he's a good quarterback. He did a very good job. The situations in the game, they had the ball in good scoring positions, but we've got to hold them to field goals not give them touchdowns, defensively. I think that's a big thing for us. Drew Brees is an elite level quarterback, one of the best quarterbacks doing it right now. I think he's leading the league in passing. He's got a touchdown streak going. We didn't stop that, which was a goal of ours. He had a great game. We've got to play better, we've got to execute, do a lot of soul-searching and figure out exactly what we're supposed to do and do that every time."
On having a short-term memory after a loss and preparing for the Bengals next week: "Like I said, especially a guy like me, but a lot of these guys, football means something to you. Obviously it hurts really bad. It's going to affect you for a couple days, but this is why they pay you. It's a professional game. You're a professional football player so you've got to put it behind you and when Wednesday comes we've got to be ready to go to work and prepare for Cincinnati. Obviously we're going to look at this film tomorrow; you can't just look at it, you've got to really diagnose exactly what's happening and get it corrected and then come out and play and execute on Sundays. The margin for error in this league is so, so, so small; it really is being a step off. We've just got to hone in those things, don't shoot ourselves in the foot. I feel like that has happened a bunch on every facet: offense, defense, special teams. It's not one guy or one unit, it's everything. Everybody has just got to be spot on and we've got to do our jobs."
On how frustrating he is with the loss: "It's extremely frustrating. I want to win games. I want to win so bad, especially this was my last year. [What] Mr. Davis has done for my family, it means something to me to win here, for this organization. You never know what the future holds. You want to win now really bad. I'm doing my best not to cry on camera, but it hurts when you don't win. No one wants to lose, that's how I feel."
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V-Roll Roll Call
Video: Saints Postgame Press Conference | neworleanssaints.com
Vitt, Brees, Harper, Moore, Jenkins and Ingram talk about Sunday's win.
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