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Drew Brees Talks About Facing the Cardinals

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    <span style="">                 <span style="">Do you feel confident after watching how Green Bay attacked the Cardinals defense?</span>  

"With our offense and what we've been able to accomplish this year, the confidence we have, the attitude we play with, we go out with that mentality. Every time we touch the ball we want to score. That game that was just played, it was the most points in the history of a playoff game of all time. I'm sure after watching the film, those guys are going to say they need to correct these things. It seemed like every big play that could have been made in that game was made on both sides of the ball, whether it was great throws, great catches, broken tackles. It seemed like a perfect storm. Every good thing offensively that could happen did."

Do you think that could happen again?

"I'm excited, because the last two weeks have really been a lot of sitting, waiting, talking about what the scenarios are going to be, who's playing in that last game. How are we going to rest guys? How are we going to make sure we're ready to play? Make sure we're ready to play. Make the plan and establish the process for where we want to be when this week comes around. It's nice to have the plan in place. We're trusting the plan, trusting the process and we have an opponent now we can study and gameplan for."

Do you envision touchdowns being scored like Sunday?

"We have that mentality regardless of who we're playing. If the game last week was 13-10, we would see that as a challenge and great opportunity to up against a team that only gave up ten points this week and they get to face our offense, so like I said, I know they're making corrections. I know that's not their MO. That's not the type of defense they are. We know we have our work cut out for us."

Do you see a lot of yourself in Kurt Warner?

"With the exception of a Super Bowl ring and a lot of experience and lot of years in the league. He's been around a long time. He has played at a high level for a long time. To watch guys like him and (Brett) Favre and even Mark Brunell on our team, who's 39 years old, still able to sling it, and play at a high level, it's fun to watch. I think he's one of those guys too, the type of leader he is, the type of community philanthropist he is, I think he's your NFL model person and player. I definitely look at him with a lot of respect on and off the field. When we play an opponent we just played and get to see their offense, get to see him play. That's fun to watch."

Do you see similarities in how you guys prepare and manage and the game?

"I'd say our offenses are pretty similar in regards to the number of times we're throwing it. In order to do that, you have to recognize where your matchups are, which he does a great job of, get rid of the ball, attack pressure when teams try to pressure you and all those things. I'd say he's a guy that I definitely watch and try to grab things from, just little bits by watching him. I'd say he's a guy that inspires me to be a better player."

Did you see Antrel Rolle's comments and what do you make of all that?

"I think that's just part of the game. We've encountered that over the years. The fact is that doesn't affect the way I prepare."

They have switched to more of a 3-4 from the last time you played them. Is there any semblance defensively to the last time you played them?

"Some of the personnel is the same, Adrian Wilson, Antrel Rolle, Darnell Dockett. The other cornerback position's changed. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie wasn't there either, and they weren't running a 3-4 back then. I'd say it's different and just the fact that what I see from them now is that they're playing with a lot more confidence. They were the NFC champs last year. They went to the Super Bowl. They represented us, our conference. That being said, I think that's probably the biggest difference, the amount of confidence."

Obviously this is a team game and everybody has to play well, but as the quarterback to the offense that leads the league in a lot of categories, how much do you think you guys will have to do what you do best at your best to win this game?

"I definitely feel like we need our best game. You saw obviously what they were able to do last week and just the way that they're able to turn it on and when they're hot, they're hot. I feel like the mentality…There's those games you go in with and say we have to take advantage of every opportunity we get. I definitely feel like this is one of those games, not only from the standpoint of that we're trying to score points every time we touch the ball. It's even that much more important to take care of the football and not give them a short field to convert on third downs and keep drives alive, to chew up the clock and rest our defense and keep their offense off the field, all of those things that we talk about anyway, but maybe when you look at the statistics, it's even more important."

You've won some games by scoring a lot of points like the Giants game and the Patriots game and won some with defensive touchdowns and low scoring games. Regardless of the opponent, if you're not productive on offense, are you frustrated?

"In the end it's just about scoring one more point than they do. I know that everybody in here after last week's game where they won 51-45, everybody thinks this is going to be an offensive shootout. Obviously I hope that we score a lot of points, but in the end, you have two defenses that play with a lot of confidence and play with a lot of pride and I'm sure that they would have something to say about this. I don't care how you win the game, we're going to need our best to win, but we can go out there and win 17-16, just like we can win 41-40 and still feel like we played a great game for the opportunities that were presented to us."

Is it an advantage for the guys that were here with you in 2006 for the postseason experience you have?

"Yes, I definitely think it's an advantage. Anytime you have veteran players that have been in this situation before. We acquired veteran players in free agency last year, guys like Darren Sharper that have been in the playoffs with the Vikings last year, guys that have been around the block and know what it's about. Certainly there's some young guys always that haven't been in this situation. You just have to calm their emotions a little bit, because I think the tendency is to get caught up in the hype and atmosphere at times when it's just another game. It's just the next game. Obviously what's at stake is crazy. If you win you go on. If you don't, you go home. We didn't come this far to go home."

Is it motivation that people have been doubting your team as the number one seed since the Cowboys loss?

"That's obviously what's fresh in everybody's mind because all those teams played last week and we didn't. We haven't really put a complete game together here by chance, just the fact we locked up that number one seed before that last game. It's been three weeks before we got out there and really longer than that before we got out there with everybody healthy. We've had some guys banged up. That last week of the season, this bye week has allowed us to get a lot of our guys healthy and at full strength."

Why do you have confidence you'll play your best football of the season on Saturday, the way your season ended?

"I know what we're capable of. I know if you look at our track record and consistently you don't have one of the top three or four offenses…Three of the last four years we've had the number one offense in the league. That's a body of work. That's not just a stretch of games here, a stretch of games there. That's a body of work. We know how to play at a high level offensively. We did some things this year that were unbelievable as far as taking the ball away, making huge plays in critical situations. Those guys are going to be ready, just like we'll be ready offensively and the opportunity to get guys healthy. That was huge, just because we've been banged up the past few seasons. Like I said, it's a confidence thing. I can compare it if you want to go back earlier this season when we came out the first two games of the season winning 45-27 and 48-22, hard fought game up in Buffalo, 27-7, not our best performance, hard-fought win against the Jets at home, 24-10, not our best performance, then we go into a bye week. Draw the parallel here with this bye week, come out and play a huge game at the time. We're 4-0, they're 5-0, the Giants and have one of our best performances of the season. We've proven we can do that before.

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