Texans - 17, Saints - 13
COACH ALLEN: The ball was on the ground too many times. Three turnovers in the game, especially one down there on the goal line that took some points off the board. We got to get that aspect cleaned up. But I was pleased with the way the first units went in there and played.
Offensively, a 10-play drive for a touchdown. And defensively we go three and out and get them off the field. So that was encouraging to see. Look, we'll get back look at the tape and have a better evaluation. But there were some good things I saw tonight.
Q. Talked a lot about Andy in this game but seemed to come out the offense [I'm not going to do do the offensive coordinator]
Dennis Allen is the head coach
COACH ALLEN: Ball was on the ground too many times. Three turnovers in the game. Especially one down there on the goal line that took some points off the board. So we've got to get that aspect cleaned up.
But I was pleased with the way the first units went in there and played offensively, a 10-play drive for a touchdown. And then defensively we go three-and-out and get them off the field. So that was encouraging to see.
So, look, we'll get back and take a look at the tape and have a better evaluation. But there were some good things I saw tonight.
Q. Talked a lot about Andy in this game but seemed to come out of some offense and put together (indiscernible) the drive. Did that (indiscernible) what you've been seeing by him?
COACH ALLEN: I thought he did a nice job moving us down the field. I thought he operated in the pocket well. I think he was 5-for-5 on that drive. I thought we did a couple of good things in the run game.
So I think Andy did a really good job of operating the offense. We kind of had a plan to get 10 to 15 plays, and getting 10 plays and a touchdown, we felt we had seen enough. And we went on to the second phase.
Q. On that first scoring play, what you see from Erik McCoy with that block and (indiscernible)?
COACH ALLEN: I couldn't tell exactly who got the block. But yet I thought it was a very well-executed play. The timing was really good on it. And, you know, look, I think Dwayne did a nice job on the timing of the screen and getting the ball up inside. So I thought that was all good. And the lineman got up front and got some good blocks. So it was good to see.
Q. Coach, the very first series you guys took care of business. Again on the very last series, the first half, seemed a little bit unusual. Could you talk to me about that, was it just a miscommunication or so in the last series Ian played, he got sacked (indiscernible)?
COACH ALLEN: You're talking about the last series of the game or the last series of the first half? Well, look, it's just part of, you know, when you're in those kind of two-minute type of situations, and I think we got to do a little bit better job of the protection there.
I couldn't tell exactly what happened. Obviously it's hard to comment on a lot of specifics until you get a chance to get out and watch the tape. But yeah, certainly, didn't want to have to be punting the ball from backed up in that area.
Q. [Question off microphone].
COACH ALLEN: Look, again, I want to kind of stay away from commenting too much on individual play without really getting an opportunity to look at the tape. But there were a few plays that stood out to me. Obviously the return on the interception was a heck of a play, putting us in a position to score some points. And I think it was Eric Wilson that kind of caused the tip there. So yeah, that was a positive.
Q. The running backs shared the load pretty evenly. What did you think of them as a whole?
COACH ALLEN: I thought they ran the ball hard. Again, we'll look at the tape to see exactly how they read it. But I felt like they ran the ball hard. You know, obviously, we gotta protect the ball better. We had the ball on the ground from the running back position. So we've got to do a better job there.
Q. How do you weigh something like that, that fumble by Abram at the end of the game? You got a very small sample size and some of the other stuff you did looked pretty nice (indiscernible).
COACH ALLEN: You can't put the ball on the ground. You know? And so that's a huge negative when you do that. I will say this: I thought he looked explosive running the football. And I thought there was a couple of really good runs that he made. But it doesn't matter how many good things you do. If you put the ball on the ground, that's an issue.
Q. How do you feel Ryan Nielsen did tonight?
COACH ALLEN: I thought he did a great job. I thought both coordinators did a heck of a job calling the game, getting the call in. I thought the operation, you know, on the sideline, with the play callers, I thought overall was really, really good. So really encouraged.
Q. What are a few things you're looking for in (indiscernible)?
COACH ALLEN: You know, just like improving. Continue to work to get better. And look, we're going to have an opportunity to go up against a really good football team. They're a really good offense, really good defense. They played well in the kicking game. So it will be a good opportunity for us to challenge ourselves against another good football team.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports