NEW ORLEANS – Observed and heard in the locker room after the New Orleans Saints' 34-27 loss to the Baltimore Ravens:

Brees on pick-six: After throwing for 420 yards, three touchdowns and one extremely costly interception that was returned for a touchdown, Saints quarterback Drew Brees said, "There's just not a large margin for error ... and we're just not doing quite enough to get the job done right now."

Brees said his throws in the red-zone weren't good enough on the drives that fell short, and he said his pick-six was "really just bad luck -- you're getting wrapped up just as the ball's coming out of your hands, and it kind of deviates the throws a little bit. ...

"This is a game of inches and split seconds. Unfortunately a lot of those haven't gone our way this year."

Brees later added, "It's the team that makes the least amount of bad plays that wins, not necessarily the team that makes the most amount of good plays."

Saints vow to keep working: The Saints didn't try to sugarcoat their performance, but there were also no signs of frustration boiling over in the locker room. Coach Sean Payton said the team remains "together" and "tough-minded." Cornerback Keenan Lewis said, "If you're down at this point, you find a way to fix it, not walk out." And offensive tackle Zach Strief said, "If there's one good thing I can say about this team is there's been a constant elevation in work."

Payton, who took an extra-long time addressing the team before meeting the media, kept his message in-house. Brees' message was that they just need that one win to start turning things around. "Winning cures a lot of things," Brees said.

Vaccaro on personal foul: Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro got the raw end of the deal on a personal-foul penalty after he retaliated against Ravens receiver Steve Smith for shoving his helmet off after a tackle in the third quarter. The penalty had Payton incensed on the sideline for several minutes. Neither dwelled on the penalty after the game, though.

"He's just a competitive player. I made a tackle, he stiff-armed my helmet off, and that was it," Vaccaro said. "I mean, I'm not gonna back down. At the same time, I can't get stupid penalties."