Texans 13, Jaguars 6
LOVIE SMITH: I thought we had a lot of fans. Before the game, they showed up, they were vocal, so it was kind of good to get that first win, not just with our football team but with them, also. It's hard winning in the NFL. I know that's kind of coach-speak a little bit, but it is, especially going on the road, division game. It's hard to beat someone nine in a row. There's a lot of things that we had at stake, but as much as anything, for us to be able to finish a game, we talked about it. We're getting better in a lot of areas.
I thought the guys just play after play, defensively -- I think they were 0 for 3 in the red zone, 0 for 3 on 4th downs, the takeaways, just playing hard. We rotated more guys. You get here, you see it's a little bit warmer than normal.
That was good.
Offensively we made the plays that we needed to. When you don't turn the ball over, and I thought Cam did some good things punting the ball, pinning them back down, and Imi stepping up and kicking the kicks when we needed him to. Team effort, it's good to see what you're supposed to do after a win. Hopefully it's the first of many.
Q. How do you describe Dameon Pierce's impact on this team?
LOVIE SMITH: I'd say he's had a consistent impact on our team, from when he came into the building. We know that he's going to finish. He's going to show toughness. He's going to make plays. He's going to make you miss in the open field. He's doing what a one running back in the NFL should do, and on a day like today we needed to lean on the run, and I thought he was outstanding.
Q. Derek Stingley, pass breakup, also the interception in the red zone --
LOVIE SMITH: Yeah, absolutely. Stingley is going to be a great player. I've talked about how smart he is knowing the game. He learns something every snap.
I thought he competed hard. Steve Nelson did. I thought our backs, secondary did. We knew who we were playing coming in, and as you can see, we kind of leaned on one coverage a little bit more. You guys say that all you do is play cover two. Well, we played cover two a few times today, and we got some results from it.
Q. What was the process and the thinking behind your decision to punt it on 4th down?
LOVIE SMITH: Well, the way we had been playing defense through the day. I felt like we didn't need to make a move like that. Played the odds, which we did, and it worked out, right? I liked the call, and it worked out.
Q. How would you describe how your defensive line played today?
LOVIE SMITH: I think exactly what you said. First thing, how many sacks did you get? I thought he was on the run quite a bit, and a lot of those passes that were completions had a little bit to do with some of the pressure.
You know, it's about rush and coverage, especially today. It's tough duty for our defensive line today because we weren't blitzing a lot. So when the offense pretty much knows it's a four-man rush, you can gang up on those four guys, but they fought hard.
Q. You've seen a lot of football; how special was that run by Dameon Pierce from what you've seen?
LOVIE SMITH: It's fitting that he would -- when we needed a play like that, that he would be the one that showed up. We're a running football team. He's our tailback. The toughness that you want to bring, especially in a game like that -- I mean, it's late in the game. Somebody has got to make a play. There's no such thing as fatigue then.
You know I can talk about Dameon quite a bit. I just believe in the guy.
Q. First win as the head coach of the Houston Texans. What's it mean to you?
LOVIE SMITH: Well, I mean, it's big, because I do know how hard it is. We've been battling for four weeks, and haven't been able to finish it. That's all we've talked about.
I know how the guys have been responding behind the scenes. They've been just, belief, faith, that eventually it's going to get done. But now that we have taken care of that, I'm just anxious to get that second win now.
Q. A lot of times guys lose games because of nerves. They had a crucial penalty where one guy swung down on Davis. What do you think when that happens?
LOVIE SMITH: Well, I'm thinking good thoughts. It is tough when those things happen, but we have rules on how we play the game, and that was obvious that that should have been called. A timely penalty for us.
Q. Stingley got his first interception. What did you see from that, and obviously took it out at the 2. What was that whole situation like?
LOVIE SMITH: Well, big play. Whenever you can take the ball away in the end zone, that's huge. They have a chance. Look at it, at least 10 -- for a fact you're taking away seven points probably, so that was big. That was a good play.
The play that they ran was the same one that the Chargers ran on us on 4th down last week. We were ready for it this time.
Q. What type of impact do you feel like that particular play had on you guys?
LOVIE SMITH: You know, tight game in the end. Somebody has to step up and make a play. And a great play. Again, when you've been close, you need somebody at the end to do something like that. So I just know it was a huge play. He's capable of that. All we've seen from him is just good play each week. We shuffle that tight end position around a little bit, but Jordan can do some things like that.
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