HOUSTON TEXANS COACH GARY KUBIAK
"We had a chance to score more. We had a lot of opportunities in the red zone. I look at the game, and I told the guys that if we would have played better in the red zone, we probably would get out of here with a win. If we would have played better defense late in the game, we get out of here (with a win). If we cover a little better, we get out of here (with a win). They (the Saints) are a great football team. It's got to take a special effort. I thought our effort was tremendous. There were a lot of great things going on in the game, but when it mattered most in the end they made the plays and we didn't. It's very disappointing because they left it out on the field, but that's part of this league.
(on if the team had trouble defending the Saints' empty backfield) "It looked like to me that they just put the game in Drew's hands. They spread the field and let him go to work. We got them in some tough third down situations, but they just seemed to convert them all. They were over 60 percent on third down. When that is happening, it's going to be tough. They made some big plays. We had ourselves in good shape as a football team (to win).
(on the struggles converting in the red zone) "We design plays down there for certain coverages and certain things. We got the things we wanted. We didn't execute like I think we need to, but at the same time, as a coach, I think you have to be hard on yourself …We were down there five more times (today). I think we've been down there more than anybody in football. We are struggling down there. It is a nice problem to have, but obviously we have to get better down there. It goes back to somehow running the ball a little bit better down there. I stayed aggressive today. I thought that our quarterback played very well. We wanted to stay aggressive in the game because you knew you had to score some points against this team.
(on if they planned to get the ball to James Casey that much today) "We came in here with two running backs and four receivers, and two of those guys were nicked up, so I had to have a plan that could get me a lot of variations of how we were going to go about moving the ball. I didn't know how we were going to hold up or what we were going to do. James became a big part of that plan and he tends to respond all of the time. He is a fine player and is getting better every week."
(on missed opportunities) "They (the Saints) moved the ball in the second half much better than they did in the first. The key was late when we had a chance to make a play or two to close the game out, and we just didn't do it. You have to give them credit." HOUSTON TEXANS PLAYERS
QB #8 MATT SCHAUB
"We had more than enough chances in the red zone today, and when you do that you've got to come away with sevens and not threes. And when you're playing against a team like that, scoring down there even becomes more important. We just settled for too many field goals today and we've got to figure out a way to come away with touchdowns.
"We have a lot of confidence as a team across the board. We have a lot of pride as a team. Now looking at them, they are a great team. We have a lot of respect for them but we think we're pretty good too. We had a good chance to be a great team today. We have to learn to continue climbing the ladder as a club.
"As far as the red zone was concerned, we made a lot of adjustments after the second and third time down there. But it's all about execution. You can't compare last year to this year. Losing is losing. And whenever it happens on Sunday it's hard to take. But our guys battled until the very end. We played hard, but we just didn't make the plays at the very end."
WR #80 ANDRE JOHNSON
"This is really tough. We did not want to come in and lose this game. We knew that they are a great team. But we came into the game wanting to know where we are as a football team. Everyone battled and left it all out there on the field. But we just didn't score seven points when we needed to score seven points. We ended up kicking too many field goals. And playing against an offense like that, you have score seven instead of three, and that was the difference in the game."
"The Saints changed things up when they covered me more with the safety instead of playing me man-to-man. But I setill felt the difference in the game was us not scoring sevens instead of the threes we got."
FB #86 JAMES CASEY
(on 4th quarter TD) "The coaches told me to be alert as we installed that play just this week. And when their linebacker blitzed I found myself open. I really didn't look until the final moment but he (Matt Schaub) put the ball in a perfect spot for me to catch it. I have to give Matt a lot of credit on the throw.
"It's tough. We feel like we had them on the ropes. But we just didn't make the plays in crunch time. The game went back and forth, and in the final analysis we just didn't respond to the last score they made."
CB #24 JOHNATHAN JOSEPH
"At the end of the day I've got to make the play, and on their last touchdown I just didn't get it done. They made the play when they had to, to win the game, and I didn't. There's other way to look at it."
CB #25 KAREEM JACKSON
"We had plenty of opportunities to make plays and for most of the game we did that. But hey, in the very end, if we had made the final play, then we would have walked out of here with a victory."
"There's nothing to be ashamed about with this lost. Hey, we didn't get it done. But we can take a lot of positives out from this game and move on."
