A couple of interesting questions following the Bucs loss

Saints coach Sean Payton entertained plenty of interesting questions in Monday's presser following the probable season-ending loss to Tampa Bay. Here's two I found quite intriguing:

Why should fans be encouraged or hopeful you would go on a four game win streak when two games is all you have pieced together this season?

“It’s that optimism that the time is now. We have two home games left. We’re never going to stop playing hard or not trying. I think we have good character in the locker room. I think guys understand the importance of putting together a good work week and going out and playing with great effort. We have to focus on eliminating the mistakes and doing a better job of coaching in that aspect and coaching and detailing the assignments. I said to the team today, you just played a team that may end up winning the division and it’s a team we had success against in week one and here we have 20-20 in the fourth quarter. That’s the fine line in winning and losing. Unfortunately there have been too many games this season where we have been unable to win in a close game.”

If you don’t make the playoffs but you have a winning record, how would you feel about your season?

“We have high standards and high expectations and goals. That starts with winning your division and it starts with playing in the postseason. Anything short of that is disappointing. When the season’s over and you look back and reflect – and we’ll have plenty of time to do that after we’ve played all of these games – you hope that you finish in a position where the season has continued into the postseason. That’s how we feel and look at ourselves. I think that the players look at themselves that way and that partly is from the experience of ’06 and the understanding of what it takes to win. When the season starts, though, you don’t set the goals as improving on the win-loss record of a year ago. When the season starts, your goals are to win the NFC South and to get into the postseason tournament and see where it takes us. That’s where we see our goals. Obviously it would be disappointing.”