New Orleans Saints Coach Dennis Allen
DENNIS ALLEN: Performance wasn't good enough really in all phases. We didn't play well enough. We didn't coach well enough. We have to do a better job. We fought ourselves back, got back into the game at halftime, felt like we were in a good position, and we really just didn't do anything in the second half. We have to be better.
Q. Late in the game, third down, fourth down, you were missing all the interior offensive linemen. Why did you guys do that there?
DENNIS ALLEN: Well, we felt like we could make a first down, and we didn't do it. We have to be able to make - we've got to be able to make, what was it, a yard and a half, I think? We have to be able to make that.
Yeah, I mean, we have got to make it.
Q. How frustrated are you with the penalties?
DENNIS ALLEN: Very. And look, I'll go back and look at all of them. I know some of them certainly looked legitimate. We'll have to go back and look at it.
But I think we had 10, I think they had three or four. Some of those that we had specifically on defense kept drives alive, gave them first downs. Yeah, it's disappointing.
Q. Did you expect to have this much trouble running the ball today?
DENNIS ALLEN: No. Look, we knew they were a good run defense, and we knew that they were going to have some juice coming back with having T.J. (Watt) back out there. But look, we felt like we would be able to run the ball better than we did. We knew it would be tough, but we felt like we could run it better than we did.
Q. When the team is kind of having the same sort of problems on a weekly basis, whether it's the turnovers or not forcing them or trouble stopping the run, what does that all Boyle down to?
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, I think we've got to coach it better and play it better. I mean, I just think we have to be better in a lot of areas.
Q. At this point were you thinking about a quarterback change for next week?
DENNIS ALLEN: I'm not going to get into that right now. We just came off the game. We'll have plenty of time to evaluate where we're at in a lot of areas.
Q. You said Jameis is healthy enough to play, though. Would his health, considering he's probably not 100 percent, impact that decision?
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, look, I know we're all looking for answers there, but I'm not going to go there right now. We'll evaluate where we're at, and we'll have a plan for the coming-up week.
Q. After a seventh loss, how does the message change in the locker room to the team?
DENNIS ALLEN: Well, look, when you get in situations like these, you have to fight your way out of it. There's no other way to get out of it other than fight your way out of it.
This is where you've got to lean on the leadership of the group, and they've got to pull us through.
Q. Why did you guys decide not to have Callaway down this week?
DENNIS ALLEN: We felt like that was the group that gave us the best chance.
Q. Do you worry about keeping the locker room together at this point?
DENNIS ALLEN: No.
Q. Were they doing anything in particular to limit AK in this game, especially as a passing target?
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, look, we struggled to get in much of a rhythm offensively, and so I think it all started with our inability to be able to run the football. I don't think they did anything in particular that took him away. We just didn't get him the ball as much as we probably would like to have.
Q. When you have someone like Alontae Taylor who has more than one penalty in a game, do you talk to them in the moment?
DENNIS ALLEN: Well, look, yeah. Some of the fouls are aggressive fouls, so no, I didn't specifically go over to each one of them and have a discussion with them about the fouls. We'll get them corrected.
Q. Did you see this as a good opportunity to kind of stay within striking distance of the division?
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, look, we've got to worry about winning games, and that's really where the focus is.
Q. You said you have to play better, coach better. What do you have to coach better in that equation?
DENNIS ALLEN: I think some of it would come down to some fundamentals and technique. I still think there's got to be some improvement there. The discipline aspect of -- we had a couple of false start penalties. There's just a lot of different areas that we've got to improve on.
Q. I assume you're not going to want to make an excuse, but when health is an obvious logical factor, how much do you equate that with what's going on?
DENNIS ALLEN: I mean, listen, I couldn't sit here and say that it's not a factor. But it's the nature of the beast that we're dealing with. We've got to find a way to get the guys out there that we have on the field and get them to play to their best ability, and then they've got to go out and execute.
Q. When you look at where this team is now compared to maybe where they were at the beginning of the season, do you feel like this team has improved?
DENNIS ALLEN: In certain areas, yeah. But we're not getting the results that we need to get. Certainly I think these last couple of weeks we've probably taken a little bit of a step back in terms of production. We'll go back and evaluate and keep working.
Q. When you say you're not worried about the locker room, why not?
DENNIS ALLEN: Because I think we have a good locker room. I think we have a bunch of guys that are fighters, and I think they're going to still fight and compete.
Saints quarterback Andy Dalton
Q. Can you just talk about today and how did you feel about the offensive line?
ANDY DALTON: At the end of the day, we didn't make enough plays. That's what it came down to. We weren't able to sustain drives, and that led to us not scoring enough points.
Q. How frustrating (indiscernible)?
ANDY DALTON: It's really frustrating. We know the potential of what we can be and what we can do. To have games go like this consecutive weeks, it's tough.
Q. Can you describe kind of what happened on that third-and-1, fourth-and-1, where you had a chance to still be in the game at that point?
ANDY DALTON: Yeah. We ran the ball both times and weren't able to get it. I think that's what happened.
Q. On that second interception throw to Kevin White down the sideline, what were you seeing there? What went wrong?
ANDY DALTON: It was a one-on-one play, just trying to give Kevin a chance. Unfortunately he didn't come down with it.
Q. Coach Allen says he believes in this locker room, the leadership going forward. You've been around this team for a while. These are tough times. How do you feel the core of this team can handle it?
ANDY DALTON: We have the right people in this locker room. We've got the right people on this team and in this organization. The only way we can do it is we've got to stick together and understand what we have to do. Everybody needs to look at themselves and say what can I do better.
If we do that, we'll get this thing turned around.
Q. Were they doing anything in particular to take away the run?
ANDY DALTON: Yeah, we just weren't able to run it. I think at the end of the day they made plays and we didn't.
Q. You mentioned the potential; what do you have to do to achieve that and be in it consistently week in and week out?
ANDY DALTON: I think we have got to put everything together and we've got to execute the plan that we have in place. We have to understand how teams are playing us and be able to make adjustments and do different things. I think it comes down to just everybody being on the same page.
Q. Do you feel like that's still in front of you guys and you can get there?
ANDY DALTON: Yeah, I do.
Q. From what you saw, different things you were watching, do you feel maybe they got a boost with Watt back in the lineup?
ANDY DALTON: When you get one of the best pass rushers in the league back, obviously that's a boost for your team.
Q. Did you ever really want to play without three of your regular offensive linemen? What kind of challenge is that when you incorporate three new guys in and they're having to all play together?
ANDY DALTON: Yeah, I think that's a big thing when you've got starting linemen out, guys that have played a ton of ball, and now you've got new guys thrown in there. It's something that we've still got to find a way to execute and make it work.
Q. (Indiscernible) shot to the face or something like that?
ANDY DALTON: Yeah, I'll be all right.
Q. The focus of the running game, how did you want to balance as an offense?
ANDY DALTON: Yeah, I think for us, you go back a couple weeks ago, I feel like that was the thing that we were doing best offensively. We had a good balance. The last two weeks we haven't been able to run the ball. That's hurt us. Put ourselves in unfavorable situations, 3rd and long, and the efficiency on 1st and 2nd down hasn't been good enough.
Q. How would you assess some of the struggles offensively, especially towards the end, the last drives whenever it was still close, one-score game, three-point game. How would you assess how it went down the stretch?
ANDY DALTON: We've got to make more plays.
