Q. What got your offensive line rolling today?
CHIP KELLY: You know, I thought that was the key; we talked about being able to establish the run and then things can build off of that. But I credit those guys up front, I think they had a good week of preparation and they did a really nice job today.
Q. Everybody was a little worried about the two guys that were hurt all week, T Lane Johnson and T Jason Peters.
CHIP KELLY: Well, they both practiced Thursday, so when you've got Thursday, Friday, Saturday -- so we had three days with them.
Q. I mean they didn't show any signs of being hurt at all today. I mean they looked pretty good.
CHIP KELLY: Yeah. Well, I think, again, because we got a chance to get them full on Thursday, we felt like we would be good with them. And again, getting some continuity with the same five guys, I think, really helped us.
Q. You talked before about being able to run when the defense knows you're going to run the ball. I know a lot of your plays in the game came with Sam under center. What was the effect difference?
CHIP KELLY: Well, we can throw from that, I mean that's not just because he's --
Q. You didn't really do that--
CHIP KELLY: I know that, but we can. So it's not like I don't -- I mean, they didn't put 17 guys in the box because of it. But, I think, again, I give credit to our offensive line. I think they did a really nice job and opened up some things for our guys. And letting our running backs get started, I think with all three of those guys, if you can let them get started, they can be productive. It started up front. Those guys, again, had a great week of practice, accepted the challenge of going against a real tough defense that gives you a lot of multiple looks, and I thought they handled it really well.
Q. There's a stark difference between being 2-3 in the conference versus being 1-4 without a win in the conference, without a win in the division. Did you bring that up at all this week?
CHIP KELLY: No. We had to win a football game. It didn't matter if we were playing an AFC opponent or an NFC opponent. There's not more weight. I think at the end of the year, obviously, there is. But in our mindset as a team, we had to come out and we had to play on all three phases and win a football game, and that's what we were trying to do.
Q. To that point, you guys turned it over on downs twice, turned it over in the red zone twice early in the game. Did you feel fortunate, or at least tribute to the defense that that didn't really bite you early?
CHIP KELLY: No. I just felt like our offense had confidence, that we could move the football on them. We were open on the first one, [QB] Sam [Bradford] just kind of threw it on the line. If he just puts it up a little bit, and he'll tell you the same thing. And then really, just going for it on fourth down was just-- you know, I think one of them was going to be a 57, maybe a little bit out of [K] Caleb's [Sturgis] range. And then the other one was on the edge of 53, 54 with a little bit of slight wind. We knew going in, he actually hit two 54-yarders in pregame, but we were just right on that cusp. It just kind of caught us that way. So, I felt like I leave our offense on the field because I do have confidence in our defense. I think our defense has played well.
Q. Why not punt there?
CHIP KELLY: Because I have confidence in our defense. The risk/reward is if I put our defense out in the field in that situation, that I have confidence that they're going to get a stop. And that's the way I feel about our defense and how they're playing right now.
Q. DE Fletcher Cox has been dominating for a while, but the numbers started coming. Are you guys doing anything different to free him up, or is he just --
CHIP KELLY: No. You know, sometimes, and Billy [Defensive coordinator Bill Davis] says it, sometimes it comes in bunches. But Fletcher has played really, really well for us in the three years I've been here. You know, it's just sometimes it seems that some of those things, sacks and things like that, come in bunches. But he is playing really well for us right now, and we're really -- I mean, he played a heck of a game today.
Q. It looked like he really turned the game around with the three sacks and his two forced fumbles; really turned the game in your favor.
CHIP KELLY: Yeah. Again, he played really well today. And a lot of our guys on the defensive side of the ball played really well today, but Fletch had a heck of a game.
Q. It seemed like in your first three possessions, you passed the ball for first down in each of those possessions. Did that kind of help loosen up the running game as well?
CHIP KELLY: I don't know if it -- it was just kind of some of the looks. Some of it, [QB] Sam's [Bradford] got an option whether to hand it off or give it. So, it just depends on how they deploy their defense.
Q. The Saints have been having a lot of success throwing the football to their backs in a horizontal passing game. Could you talk about the job you did today defensively there?
CHIP KELLY: Yeah, I mean, we knew going in that part of their deal was getting the ball to [RB C.J.] Spiller and [RB Khiry] Robinson and [RB Mark] Ingram coming out of the backfield; they're three really talented guys. And Sean [Saints Head Coach Sean Payton] does such a good job of getting the ball spread around to different guys. But it was a big emphasis this week for us, more than any team we've played so far, to really contain the running backs in the passing game.
Q. How do you think QB Sam Bradford responded after throwing the two interceptions?
CHIP KELLY: I thought he did a good job. I think he--that stuff's going to happen, but a lot of it is your response after it. We're all going to make mistakes, and when you make them, do you continue to dwell upon them? Or do you learn from it? If he gets put in that situation, do you put the ball in the right spot? So, I thought he did a nice job, I thought he bounced back after those.
Q. You ran 79 total plays and that was a concern of yours before. What stood out today to allow that to happen?
CHIP KELLY: We ran the ball better. You know, when we run the ball better and we're balanced, then we have an opportunity to stay on the field, and that's what we did. We ran the ball better, and then we converted on third downs so we could stay on the field.
Q. Who was called for unsportsmanlike conduct before the--
CHIP KELLY: On the sideline?
Q. Yeah.
CHIP KELLY: I was.
Q. Can you explain why that was?
CHIP KELLY: Yeah. I got a penalty.
Q. What did you say?
CHIP KELLY: Something that you're not allowed to do because you get a penalty for. [Laughs]
Q. Did you use more straight-ahead blocking schemes as opposed to --
CHIP KELLY: No. I mean, we did the same things we've done in the other three games that we lost, it's just we executed. That's what I said last week, we weren't executing. This week, we executed. But we didn't change up what we were doing from a schematics standpoint.
Q. What did WR Josh Huff show you today?
CHIP KELLY: Josh had -- you know, the one thing, and I told Josh before, he had a really good week of training. You know, he had been missed, he missed the Jets game; didn't practice full towards the end of the week, in terms of-- he was out there every day, but it wasn't like he was full speed killing everything. And then he started to have a good week of training. And obviously we believe a good week of training, you sink to your level of training, and your level of training allows you to play well on Sunday. He had a good week of training and that allowed him to play well. I thought he did a really nice job for us today.
Q. Did you have WR Nelson Agholor available to you when he came back, or did you just decide to hold off on him?
CHIP KELLY: I don't know that, I'll have to ask Bob [Wide receivers coach Bob Bicknell]. I just know he's rolling them at that point in time, so I know he was out for a little bit. Then, I don't know if they kept him out or if Bob kept him out.
Q. LB Marcus Smith played quite a bit; it seemed like he was active. I mean, he's the one who hit Saints QB Drew Brees on the interception; is that right? What did you think of his play?
CHIP KELLY: I'd have to watch the film on that specifically. I know Marcus did play. We had planned on getting him in there. It was good to get him back out on the field, but I couldn't tell you exactly. I don't remember that play right now.
Q. The tight ends, they had a big role in the offense.
CHIP KELLY: Just on how the coverage, how people are going to cover you and what they're going to do when they deploy their tight ends. The one thing with Sam is Sam will take what the defense gives him. So we felt like we could exploit that matchup if they were going to play us that way.
Q. It won't appear on the stats sheet, but they kept punting away from RB Darren Sproles. And sometimes they were bad kicks, so what did that do for the defense?
CHIP KELLY: I mean, it shows up on the stat sheet because the starting field position is where it shows up. So, that's part of Darren's ability is that, the same thing, when we had Darren in in the pass game, they were doubling him. So some of the things that-- we knew if they were going to double him, that's going to free somebody up, and I think Sam was pretty sharp at that. If they're going to double Darren, then let's get off of him and let's go to another receiver, making that our first read. I think he did a really good job of that.
Q. You used like nine different guys. That's pretty good, you got everybody involved.
CHIP KELLY: Well, I just think you have to take what the defense gives you. Everybody's good in this league, so you just can't say we're going to force it to 'this' individual. If we can get to somebody in a matchup, hopefully, because we have some skill players, how do you matchup with all five of them? And then for the quarterback, it's his responsibility to kind of process it and say, 'Alright, hey, they're playing man. Now the matchup is here'. And the next time they play dime, they were moving those guys around a lot so sometimes it was a matchup here; the next time the matchup's on another guy. So, that's what we were kind of looking and trying to take advantage of.
Q. WR Josh Huff opened the game with the 40-yard kickoff return. He really seemed to get some energy from that. Did you sense that that helped give him a little jolt of confidence?
CHIP KELLY: It's like deja vu. Did you just hear the last question about Huff? [Laughs]
Q. No, I didn't.
CHIP KELLY: That's okay. Hey, Josh had a great week of training. He didn't play against the Jets because, obviously, he had a hamstring and then didn't practice full. By that, I mean he practiced full, but he didn't really go full the week before in terms of getting ready for the Redskins game and he knew that, but he had a really good week of training. We talk about you sink to your level of training, and I think how he performed today is kind of what his week was like. So hopefully, for Josh, he can build upon it. But he's not going to run into the end zone with one hand on the football again. We have talked about that.
Q. There were several incidents where flags were thrown and then picked up. Does that do anything to the flow of the game, anything like that at all? Does it get you upset?
CHIP KELLY: I mean, it is what it is. I mean, if they discuss it and they don't think it's a penalty, then it's not a penalty.
Q. Did Bradford play better as the game progressed? He had two early interceptions and then it seemed like he was maybe a little bit, I don't know, more aggressive, more accurate. Or were those just aberrations?
CHIP KELLY: The interceptions?
Q. Yes.
CHIP KELLY: I hope so. As we move forward, I do.
Q. No. I mean, did he play well before the interceptions?
CHIP KELLY: Yeah, I thought Sam played a good game. But like all of us, you make mistakes. I called not a real good play on a screen play, you know, and then we didn't get much yardage and we got knocked back not in the red zone. I think everybody does that. But I think if you can continue to lay more good plays out there instead of bad plays, that's what we're trying to do.
