The New Orleans official website has a Q & A article with Sean Payton in which he dicusses the upcoming game, Parcells, Romo and the Cowboys. Here are some of the highlights.
Sean Payton: "I don't know that you can say that there is just one thing. It would be hard to say because there are a number of things. He is tough and I think he has a great grasp of finding the right buttons within each player to get them to play their best game and understanding that those buttons aren't always the same. And it's not just the players, but the coaches, the trainers, the scouts. Those are things that you observe right away."
Sean Payton: "I have been encouraged and happy for him and the success he is having. He's worked hard at it. It hasn't been an overnight deal for him. The first job for him coming in was to find a way to make the roster. I think any free agent would look at it that way, then I think in year two you try to become the back-up. He spent a lot of his summers there in Dallas. He's worked extremely hard on his weaknesses and he takes coaching very well and he understands what they are trying to do in their system and he understands exactly what Bill wants from that position. To his credit, he prepared for the opportunity, not knowing when the opportunity was going to come. Here it has come and as someone who used to coach him, you get excited to see someone that you know has worked hard at this. His story of coming in as a free agent and then all of a sudden making the team and eventually becoming a starter is a good story. But he would say the same thing and Bill would say the same thing, it's still early yet. He's played in five or six games now and he's had some growing pains along the way, it wasn't an overnight thing for him. He played in preseason games. But each season his approach was to work on his weaknesses and to prepare and do all of the little things necessary. He is one of those guys that are always around a lot and that it's important to and those are the things that have helped him. He has a good arm and a quick release and all the physical things. He's playing well."
Sean Payton: "They have great balance. They are one of the few teams right now, if you look at them statistically on offense and defense that are pretty much atop the categories. I think they can run the football, they do a good job of setting up the play-action pass and I think defensively they do a good job of making you work for any yards. They are physical on defense, they have good cover people and I am familiar with a lot of those players because a lot of them were there when I was there. They have put together one of the better defenses in the league right now and that's a challenge in itself and then you complement that one of the better offenses in the league, that's a challenge. And then to go on the road to play in the game, we will have our work cut out for us."