CHICAGO - Sean Payton's postgame press conference in the Soldier Field interview room lasted less than two minutes Thursday night. That was almost certainly in part because of a 27-24 overtime loss to the Bears and the tight newspaper deadlines that followed. The Naperville Central graduate hit on two big themes after Danieal Manning racked up 179 return yards and Devin Hester slipped by a Cover 2 package to draw the pass interference penalty that helped set up Robbie Gould's game winning field goal.
"It's a disappointing loss," Payton said. "We lost the battle in the kicking game and that was clear tonight. That cost us not only a touchdown but probably about 120 yards in field-position differential. You're not gonna win a lot of games by playing that way.
"We were poor (in) third-and-long with the ball getting behind us in a game that (we) felt like we had to keep it in front of us...including the last play, which was third-and-long in Cover 2 coverage but we let the receivers get by us.
"If you're gonna lose 100, 115 yards in field position in the kicking game, if you're gonna continue to let receivers get behind you, (then) you're gonna end up finishing around .500 and that's what's most frustrating."
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