Indianapolis - 23, Tennessee - 16
Q. What do you feel like was the problem in the red zone?
RYAN TANNEHILL: I'll have to go back and take a look. A couple times it felt like we got behind the sticks. You know, I had the penalty on the one. Put us into the first and 22 -- 25 situation. Which is, obviously, tough down there. Field too condense. Tried to get behind the six, as well. Just got to be efficient down there.
Those yardages are crucial down in the red zone just like they are all over the field. When you get down there, everything gets a little more condensed and a harder to come by. Giving free yards to the defense in those situations is tough. We got to find a way to finish those drives. Had opportunities. Didn't execute well enough down there. And we came up short.
Q. That fourth and one down there on the five, what did they do defensively to stop that out in the front?
RYAN TANNEHILL: Yeah, they did a good job. They played six of them upfront and they won the line of scrimmage. Tough look there. And have to get in the red zone.
Q. Did you feel like they were consistently winning the line of scrimmage today?
RYAN TANNEHILL: No. No, I don't. I think that, you know, we had some good running plays, we had some sufficient runs. We didn't have a big, you know, home run, but we had sufficient runs, five, four, five, six-yarders, you know, kind of consistently throughout the game. We were able to hit a bunch of our runs and stay efficient, stay ahead of the sticks, so to speak, and opened up the rest of the playbook.
I don't think they dominated the line of scrimmage throughout the game. I think our guys did a pretty good job. Had time in the pocket for most of the game, besides there at the end. So, you know, I'm sure their guys did a good job of playing strong at the line of scrimmage. But, you know, they outplayed us.
Q. Do you feel like the team is still figuring out its identity?
RYAN TANNEHILL: Yeah, we're working for it. You know, had flashes of it, but we haven't been consistent. So that's going to be the work that we have to put in, is being consistent, being able to play our type of ball week in and week out.
Q. Ryan, you had 140 yards at the end of the day with a good protection at the front, how much is that extra half second, second finding that open space matter?
RYAN TANNEHILL: Oh, it's huge. That extra half second makes all the difference, you know. A few plays where he had to move a little bit to get himself open, you know, had some play action plays where he was able to get behind them. When we're able to have that extra half second, then I feel really confident and we'll find a good place to put the football.
Q. What's the challenge of trying to be consistent each week?
RYAN TANNEHILL: Yeah, just going out and executing and putting a full game together. I feel like we moved the ball. We did a lot of things offensively throughout the game, but we got to finish with sevens and not threes when we get down in the red zone and we've got to come away with points every time we're down there. A lot of good things we can build on. But, obviously, have to be more efficient in the red zone.
Q. Is the red zone issue more frustrating since you've been one of the best red zone teams in the league?
RYAN TANNEHILL: Yeah, I don't think it's been a thing all year. I'd have to take a look at the numbers. But I feel like we've been pretty efficient down there. Got touchdowns when we got down there a good amount of time. But today that wasn't the case.
Q. How frustrating has it been to not be consistent wrapping up week five?
RYAN TANNEHILL: Yeah, it's extremely frustrating. We got to start stacking some wins. You can't go one for one throughout the season and get to where you want to go. So this team has to respond. We have to come in -- a tough week this week, going to London on the road, new environment, new situation. But it doesn't matter. We're going to have to find a way to get a win this week and, you know, hopefully start stacking them up.
Q. Do you feel like you guys played well enough today and should have won?
RYAN TANNEHILL: We didn't play well enough to win the game. Obviously, we did some good things, we moved the ball. But if you don't score more points than the other team, then you didn't play well enough to win. So we got to find a way to do that next week.
Q. What does Hopkins mean to this offense?
RYAN TANNEHILL: Yeah, he's been huge. Came up big today. Made some big plays for us throughout the game. Has a good feel for what we're trying to do and getting himself open. He was able to use his savviness a couple times on finding open space and taking advantage of it. Maybe it wasn't exactly drawn up that way. So doing a lot of good things. You know, just have to keep building with him and get the other guys involved, as well.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports