Dennis Allen speaks with the media on Friday ahead of the Saints-Colts game.
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00:00 -This would be a nice outfit.
00:04 -You're the first person to say that because everybody else thinks it's a bad
00:08 outfit, so I appreciate you saying that. Thank you.
00:12 -I noticed it. I just didn't say it.
00:16 Will this be the stiffest test for your run defense so far this season? -Yeah, absolutely.
00:20 I think they run the ball exceptionally well.
00:24 The last couple of weeks against a couple of pretty good run defenses they've been able
00:28 to run the ball effectively. I think they stick
00:32 with it like I talked about earlier in the week. I think they're really good up front.
00:36 They block it well. I think the runners are
00:40 patient and yet explosive. I think they're violent runners.
00:44 It's going to be the stiffest test we've faced.
00:48 -Is Quentin Nelson back to playing as good as he ever has? -Well, look,
00:52 I don't have a lot of experience with the player,
00:56 and yet when I see him on tape I'm impressed with what I see.
01:00 I don't know where he was at before, but he looks pretty good to me. -Of course you played against
01:04 Gardner, mentioned before, but how is this offense going to be a bit of a different
01:08 challenge compared to what you faced when he was with Philly?
01:12 -I think it's a similar scheme.
01:16 There's some different ball players, but I think it's pretty much a similar scheme.
01:20 I think it's going to be a tough challenge
01:24 for them. I think they're operating at a high level
01:28 offensively. They're one of the better offenses in our league. I think they're
01:32 a top ten offense. They're doing a good job of scoring points.
01:36 Run the ball effectively. They pass it efficiently.
01:40 It's going to be tough. -Did they win the matchup
01:44 last year? -I don't
01:48 think a ton. Each and every game
01:52 is one in and
01:57 of itself. I don't really take too much of it. Obviously we
02:01 go back and we look at that game. I think that's more about
02:05 how they tried to attack us more than
02:09 particularly against Gardner-Minch. -Dennis, how do you
02:13 feel like the team has responded throughout the week? -I think
02:17 we've had a good week of practice. I don't think that's been a challenge.
02:21 We just got to go out and perform on Sunday.
02:25 -Dennis, I've heard a couple people say that you're close offensively.
02:29 You can see the plays there. Do you have a similar sense
02:33 of where the point seems at? -Yeah. I think there's some of that.
02:37 I think it's time to do it. -Dennis,
02:41 how do you feel about your pass rush right now? I know that some guys are getting rid of the ball
02:45 quickly. Do you feel like it could be better? -Could it
02:49 be better? Yeah. I think there's some things that we can do better.
02:53 Yet pass rush and pass coverage
02:57 have to work together. The ultimate
03:01 deal is be able to
03:05 limit the effectiveness of the passing game. You can do it in different
03:09 ways. Coverage, rush, whatever the case may be.
03:13 I don't have any concerns about our pass rush. I think
03:17 we certainly want to be better there. Yet
03:21 I think we played pretty good pass defense. There's some times
03:25 where guys are trying to get the ball out quick. When they do,
03:29 we have to have tight coverage.
03:33 It's probably more of a factor of when the quarterback holds the ball,
03:38 that's when we've got to be able to get there and affect the quarterback that way.
03:42 -What is your view on the way Boston Devos is playing? It seems like
03:46 the Tigers aren't having a lot of success, but that only keeps coming.
03:50 -It's something that
03:54 we continue to work on each and every week.
03:58 I do feel like he's playing at a high level.
04:02 There's some things fundamentally that I think we can improve on
04:06 and get better at. Overall,
04:10 I think he's playing well. -The scoring's
04:14 kind of down around the league, league wide. Is there anything you're seeing
04:18 maybe trend wise that's keeping the score?
04:22 -I don't really have an answer for that.
04:26 It's interesting to see because
04:30 I think last week there was less than half the teams in our
04:34 league scored more than 20 points last week.
04:38 That's a little unique. I think that's a little different.
04:42 I don't really know what the cause would be for that. -Are teams playing defensively?
04:46 I'm talking about just this year, but in general like the last year or so,
04:50 last two, three years. Are you seeing more 2D kind of
04:54 forcing? Is that a trend at all or not?
04:58 -I don't think that's this league wide trend. I think there's
05:02 certain teams that have bought into that philosophy a little bit more
05:06 and there's certain teams that are still
05:10 more down safety. I think that's just kind of whatever the
05:14 flavor for the coordinator is and what they like to do.
05:19 I don't see that as this big
05:23 trend. -Did you put even more emphasis on turnovers this
05:27 week when you're playing a team like that that has a tendency to... -I think we put an
05:31 emphasis on the turnover take away margin every single week.
05:35 I don't think it's any different this week. I do think
05:39 it's a bigger factor on the road than at home.
05:43 I think turnover take away ratio is a huge
05:47 factor when you're playing on the road. -We didn't see Marcus Mayotte at practice. He's maybe going
05:51 on with his... -He's got an illness. -That's what's keeping him out.
05:55 -We've had a few guys have a little bit of an illness.
05:59 I imagine he'll be feeling better
06:03 tomorrow. -I don't know if you've been asked about it much, but what about the Colts defense
06:07 and how they can challenge their offense? -I think it starts up
06:11 front, much like we talked about with their offense. I think it starts up front.
06:15 They do a really good job of getting after the passer. They're active
06:19 in terms of how they play defense. They've done a pretty good job of
06:23 taking the ball away. Got some tough
06:27 pressure packages that they run, particularly
06:31 when you get to third down. I think it's
06:35 tough, aggressive. Gus has always done a really good job with the defense.
06:39 I think, again, like I said, it's going to
06:43 start up front. We've got to do a good job of blocking. -What are some
06:47 of the hallmarks of this offense that just spread over
06:51 some of the things they really want to do? -I think
06:55 obviously you're seeing a lot more of the gun run, RPO
07:00 type of game.
07:04 With each run, there's generally some sort of outlet for the quarterback
07:08 to get rid of the ball in the passing game if he doesn't like the run look.
07:12 A lot of similarities as to what they
07:16 were doing in Philly.