Dennis Allen speaks with the media following the Saints win over the Panthers on Monday night.
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00:00 Good win for us. Obviously starting off the season at 2-0, getting a divisional win, I think that's huge.
00:07 Certainly it wasn't as clean as we still would like it to be.
00:12 But yet at the same time, I saw some improvement in a few areas.
00:17 We're just going to have to keep working and keep grinding to continue to get better.
00:24 As we do that, to be able to get wins going along the way is a good problem to have.
00:30 I thought we ran the ball better in this game. Overall I thought we ran the ball effectively.
00:37 I thought we were again able to get some explosive plays down the field, particularly there in the second half.
00:43 I thought defensively, probably with the exception of the last drive, I thought we played pretty well.
00:52 Chris Jones got bowled out but obviously made a big effort.
00:56 Tony Jones. Yeah, look it was awesome. It was great.
01:01 He ran the ball effectively. I thought we blocked it up front. He made the right cuts.
01:06 We had two touchdowns on the game so I think that was big for him and big for us.
01:11 You went into the game with just two tailbacks, kind of envisioning that Taysom could play tailback.
01:18 Yeah, we figured we had a couple of options there that could get us out of the game.
01:23 Of course, I don't think we were anticipating Jamal going down early in the game like he did.
01:29 I thought Tony Jones stepped in and did a really good job.
01:34 Clawley's catch kind of seemed to open it up for him.
01:37 Yeah, well look, we had a couple of explosives really down the field.
01:41 One to him, one to Shaheed.
01:43 I think that's something that both those two players provide that element to our football team.
01:48 That play's always sitting there in your back pocket, which is a good feeling to have.
01:55 When things aren't quite going exactly how you want it to, you really just want explosive play from making something happen.
02:02 Did you see a common theme in the last two games where your offense has had slow starts and eventually found the way all in the third quarter?
02:10 Look, probably the biggest common theme is we hadn't done as good a job protecting the quarterback early on in the game.
02:19 As the game goes on, I think our guys have gotten better at that and improved on that.
02:24 Look, we've got a lot of new pieces on the offensive side of the ball.
02:29 We've got a new runner playing back there.
02:33 We've got Mike Thomas coming back, a new quarterback.
02:40 There's just some new left tackle.
02:43 There's some growth that's going to come with our football team, and here's the deal.
02:49 Look, these games are all – they're won as a team and they're lost as a team.
02:54 I thought these last two weeks we've been able to put together two good team wins.
03:00 Was that the biggest issue you saw with the passing game today?
03:03 It felt like explosives were almost the only thing.
03:05 Well, I didn't think our execution early on in the game was good in terms of guys being in the right spot and doing the right thing every single play.
03:16 Obviously, that got addressed at halftime, and I thought we were much better in the second half in being able to do that.
03:23 I thought we ran the ball better in the second half, which I think opened up some things too.
03:27 You said when your front is able to do what it's been able to do these last couple games defensively, how much does that free you up as a play caller?
03:36 Yeah, look, it makes a big difference.
03:41 I thought overall I was pleased with really the way we played the run today.
03:47 The longest run really was the quarterback scramble, and they had a 16-yarder early in the game, which we just misfit.
03:56 But other than that, I thought we did an effective job in the run game.
04:00 Then in the passing game, I thought rush and coverage worked together.
04:04 There weren't a lot of big windows that I could see to throw the ball into, and so therefore it gave our rush an opportunity to get around the quarterback.
04:15 I thought we affected them.
04:16 How impressive to hold the team two games, one minute and 16 seconds away from no touchdowns in two games?
04:24 How impressive is that?
04:25 Yeah, well, I think it should have been two games, so I'm not satisfied.
04:32 But yeah, I think defensively we're doing some good things, and I still think there's a lot of things that we can do better.
04:41 We're not going to sit around and powder-soil on the back.
04:43 We're going to go back to work and try to correct the things that we didn't do as well and try to keep doing some of the things that we did well.
04:51 But yeah, I thought front and coverage worked well together today, and I thought we did a good job, particularly up front, stopping them off.
04:58 Dennis, you mentioned contested physical catches in your postseason presser last year, a lot this offseason.
05:05 I know some of those downfield throws aren't exactly what you're talking about, but the physicality and the concentration on Olave's catch and Mike's catch early in the season,
05:13 I mean, guys just sort of winning and hanging out at the same time, a huge element.
05:17 And you're going to have to do that in our league.
05:21 There may be a few times where you get some wide-open targets, but for the most part, you're going to have to be able to make catches in contested environments.
05:32 And so I think that's been something that we've probably been a little bit better at this year, and certainly, hopefully, we can continue that.
05:44 Chris's growth in that area in particular has been a big one.
05:47 Yeah, look, I mean, play made today was to help play.
05:51 One, I thought he might have kind of been interfered with a little bit in terms of holding that arm down and not allowing him to really get that second arm up.
06:03 But I thought his concentration there, focus all the way through the catch point, all the way through the ground, maintaining possession, I thought was really big.
06:12 I think that's a step forward for him.
06:14 Dennis, having in the red zone, Derek Hart talked last week about getting the timing down on his teammates, still coming.
06:21 Is that something that just eventually clicks in or is it time to do that?
06:24 Yeah, look, it comes with work, you know.
06:27 It comes with repetitions.
06:30 And, you know, we're not there in passing game where we need to be quite yet.
06:37 But I feel confident that we're going to end up getting there.
06:41 It's more of a consistency issue in our passing game right now than it is ability-wise because there's some really good things we're doing.
06:50 And yet there's a lot of things we can do better.
06:54 Defensively, how important was it to keep Bryce from getting any comfort level, getting comfortable in his first home game?
06:59 Yeah, look, it was part of what we planned on doing.
07:04 That was part of the game plan was, you know, obviously, you know, be able to stop the run and make it where, you know,
07:15 he was going to have to be able to beat us, you know, throw in the ball and felt like maybe, you know,
07:20 we might be able to get some pressure and kind of make him uncomfortable a little bit.
07:25 So that was part of the game plan.
07:27 I feel like you were pretty confident about getting pressure with the front four or front three, depending upon your front,
07:32 and then having more coverage on the back end.
07:35 Was that part of the disguise and trying to confuse the pass?
07:38 Yeah, look, I mean, you know, obviously, we've got a significant number of pressures that we have in our back pocket to run,
07:46 but, you know, we felt like we were doing a pretty good job of being able to get a little pressure on him with our front four,
07:54 you know, or odd package on third down and things of that nature.
07:57 So didn't feel like there was a need to, you know, blitz a lot.
08:01 How does that change things for you or for a defense?
08:04 I think any team that, you know, can rush the passer with four and commit seven to coverage
08:12 and be effective getting pressure on the quarterback, that's a recipe for success in our league.
08:19 It always has been.
08:21 Dennis, just for the defense, two weeks in a row to kind of make that offensive push relevant, you know,
08:26 by holding the team down in the first three quarters, what does that say about that unit and just kind of the way it's coming out?
08:33 Yeah, I think, you know, it's a unit that expects to go out there and perform at a high level,
08:39 and they've proven it time and time again that they're capable of going out there and doing that,
08:43 and so that's kind of the expectation, and, you know, those guys want to be great,
08:50 and they hold each other accountable, and we've got a lot of great leadership in that defense room.
08:56 Kind of bridging off that, the two games you've had the offense kind of go out and have that kind of killer instinct late in the game,
09:01 not just win a game but close the game.
09:03 Yeah, it's awesome, isn't it?
09:04 Yeah.
09:05 You know what I mean?
09:06 Like, just awesome how we were able to do that in two weeks in a row.
09:12 You know, obviously I don't feel like we should let it get to that point, you know,
09:18 but--and look, I thought our offense, you know, they kicked the field goal there, you know,
09:25 in the--it was the third or fourth quarter, and the offense responds right back
09:30 and goes down with a score of their own, you know, so that's kind of the way this team's built,
09:34 and there's some ebb and flow to the game, and, you know, when defensively--when the defense needs to be picked up,
09:41 the offense has been there to, you know, to take over, and certainly the defense has done its part to help the offense.
09:48 All good?
09:50 Okay, guys.