Minnesota Vikings 28, New Orleans Saints 25
DENNIS ALLEN: Frustrating way to end that game. We had our chances. Thought our guys battled back after the second half. Thought we made too many mistakes the first half which put us behind.
But I thought our guys battled and competed. We still have to find a way to not hurt ourselves with penalties and the turnovers, and that's got to change. So we've got to figure that out.
Q. You talked about four weeks in a row. How do you fix the turnovers and the penalties?
DENNIS ALLEN: Well, look, I think we have to make a point of emphasis about it. I think we also have to look at who is doing what and where. I wasn't a fan of some of the calls but it hurt us in the game.
Q. Was it a point of emphasis?
DENNIS ALLEN: We have to look at who is handling the ball. The problems been a little bit, it's been a multitude of players. And so we are going to have continue to evaluate that. We are going to have to putt in some more turnover drills and things of that nature and try to emphasize the point that we have to protect the football
Q. How do you stop some of those kind of mistakes?
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, look, I think some of that's, you know, kind of the consistency of cadence and things of that nature. I think that's part of it, consistency with some of the people that are in there is part of it. So we'll take a look at it. We'll take a look at the tape and see where we can make corrections.
Q. Did you think the field goal was good?
DENNIS ALLEN: I did. From where I was standing I thought it was going to be good. Obviously hit on left up right and do you know on the crossbar and bounced the wrong way for us.
Q. What was the conversations like on the sideline, 60 yards you were good with?
DENNIS ALLEN: Well, in that situation we were in the position where we felt like we could make it. I think the field goal before was probably a little bit more discussion, and look, I give credit to Riz, he felt really good about Wil knocking that thing through. So we kicked the field goal, and Wil hit a beauty and knocked it through.
Q. Two penalties that led to the drive of Minnesota going ahead, the thoughts about that?
DENNIS ALLEN: I thought it was a tough call.
Q. What did you think of the third down numbers with defense trying to get off the field outside of the penalties? I know the first drive, I think they were 4-for-4 on third down.
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, we did a better job after the first drive and then there's a drive there in the fourth quarter that we let them convert a couple that we don't really want to let them convert.
Again, we'll look at the tape and make the evaluation of what we need to do better. I thought our defensive guys battled their tails off today. I thought we put them in a couple of tough situations. And I thought they battled.
Q. What did you think of the offensive effort?
DENNIS ALLEN: I thought overall pretty good, particularly in the second half. I didn't think we had great rhythm in the first half. But I thought we came out and played a little better in the second half. Ran the ball a little better in the second half, too. So that's part of it.
Q. What do you think about the tight ends?
DENNIS ALLEN: I thought Latavius gave us a little bit of a spark. I thought there was some things he did well in the game. So that was good to see.
Q. Obviously a lot of people will compare, you had a different quarterback when they see some more points on the board this week, but do you think you guys had a better offensive plan this week that contributed?
DENNIS ALLEN: Well, I think that's part of it. I think just our guys kind of taking a look at what we have done over the first three weeks, seeing where we can improve and I thought we did a better job with some of the things we were doing, particularly there in the second half offensively.
Q. What's the plan between now and next Sunday, quick turnaround and long journey home?
DENNIS ALLEN: We'll get back to New Orleans and try to get rested up a little bit and try to get ready to go for next week.
Q. Do you feel like you're close to turning the tide?
DENNIS ALLEN: I really do. Look, there's a lot of really good things. I told the team in there, there was some really good things that we did today. But it's hard to overcome some of those costly turnovers, and I think the fake punt and the two turnovers I think led to nine points, so in a game like that, those things are costly.
Q. Should he have not returned that or how do you --
DENNIS ALLEN: Listen, I'm going to look at the tape before I make an evaluation on that.
Q. How concerning is 1-3 in and of itself? Do you have to wrestle with things like spirits and confidence and stuff like that?
DENNIS ALLEN: I think we have a good group of guys in that locker room. We have got some good veteran leadership. We'll bounce back from this.
We certainly need to play better. And we need to turn some things around. It's a long season and there's a lot of season left. We are going to keep battling and we're going to keep fight fighting.
Q. What went into the decision with Alvin? Was that a setback you had this week?
DENNIS ALLEN: No, it wasn't a setback.
I think as you evaluate throughout the week, I think there was a little bit more pain, discomfort, really even last week. Again, this is a long season, so you don't want to go through this cyclical thing where each week it's an issue and so I think we felt like resting him this week, hopefully to be able to have him back for next week. Gives him the best chance to be healthy throughout the year.
Q. Was Jameis close at all to playing or was it something y'all --
DENNIS ALLEN: Later in the week, I thought he began to feel a little bit better. But I think there was a point in time where we felt like we have to get Andy ready and have him ready to go.
Q. I assume that becomes another week-to-week evaluation?
DENNIS ALLEN: We'll see where his health is when he gets back.
Q. Can you talk about this week as a whole, in terms of coming over on Monday, how has it been for you guys?
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, it was a workweek. We came over here and worked. Thought we got some good things done. Unfortunately we didn't get the win.
Q. The team showed resilience to get back into the game. Do you think this is a good thing for the team?
DENNIS ALLEN: I'm not sure I understand the question.
I thought they did show some resilience. Unfortunately we just didn't make enough plays to win the game.
Q. You mentioned that you felt like you guys didn't get into a rhythm offensively in the beginning of the game, but it's been the story of the season.
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, I mean, listen, I think part of it is we had a few guys that weren't in there. So you're playing without all Vinny. You're playing without Mike Thomas. Playing without Jameis.
So there's some adjustment that has to go along with that. We are going to keep battling and keep fighting and we'll figure this thing out, and we'll play better football.
Q. Regarding the turnovers and penalties, do you reevaluate how you guys were practicing?
DENNIS ALLEN: I think we look at everything, you know what I mean. We are going to continue to look at everything and see where we can try to improve.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports