Panthers 23, Saints 22
DENNIS ALLEN: I hurt for those guys in that locker room. I know they put their heart and soul into it. To keep coming out on the negative end is quite challenging.
I thought we had some guys that stepped up, in particular in the secondary, did some good things. There were some good things we did. We ran the ball exceptionally well.
We had two opportunities early on in the game to score touchdowns down there in the red area. We weren't able to do that. I think really that became really the difference in the game.
THE MODERATOR: Questions.
Q. (Question about the two timeouts.)
DENNIS ALLEN: We had a substitution error defensively. That can't happen. Then we had a play called that we ran out of a personnel grouping due to some injuries that we had to try to make some adjustment there.
Those are two things that can't happen.
Q. What was the goal in the fourth and four play call towards the end?
DENNIS ALLEN: Well, the goal was to try to hit Juwan on an option route inside.
Q. The fourth and one before that, did you consider maybe trying to go for it?
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, we talked about it. I mean, look, with where we were in the game, I felt like pinning them back there was the right decision, you know? Hindsight it 2020. I thought pinning them back there was the right decision.
Q. Was the plan to go from Juwan to the deep ball or Juwan someplace else to get first down?
DENNIS ALLEN: I think you're looking inside Juwan. If you get a matchup outside...
I think the initial thought was let's get the ball to Juwan on an option route.
Q. How do you come back from a game like this? You have your quarterback back...
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, I mean, it was hard. I mean, just watching Derek, he looked a little rusty out there today obviously. Losing Chris early on in the game was hard on us.
But I think sometimes trying to get yourself emotionally back from things like that, when you see a guy going down the second time in the season, I think it's kind of difficult to come back from that.
We had our opportunities. We didn't take advantage of 'em.
Q. (No microphone.)
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, I know. He's back. I know that everything checked out pretty good at the hospital. He's back with the team. That's really about all I can say right now.
Q. When you've lost seven straight, what gives you hope that the team can turn things around without making major changes?
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, well, we got good leadership in the room. We got to do a better job playing, coaching. Hopefully get some guys healthy.
Look, it's going to be hard. It's going to be a challenge. But going through adversity like this reveals character. Our only choice is to stand up and fight.
Q. You said before you don't fully believe that mid-season coaching changes do anything. I know that's not your exact wording. Do you believe that or do you believe you need to sit down and assess?
DENNIS ALLEN: I just think we got to do better. But yeah, as a rule I don't really believe that that is the difference. So we'll evaluate where we are and we'll make changes based on what we think our issues are.
Q. You mentioned a lot of times last week about offensive penalties in key spots. How did you get those cleaned up?
DENNIS ALLEN: Well, we got to execute with better technique. I thought -- well...
I thought there were some tough calls later in the game that didn't go our way. So I thought that was hard.
Q. Can you elaborate on any of the specific calls?
DENNIS ALLEN: No.
Q. (No microphone.)
DENNIS ALLEN: Obviously we didn't get the calls at the end of the game. That was difficult.
Q. Can you take us through the third and 13? Seems like that was kind of a tough play. That's when you got a yard.
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, yeah. I think when you're backed up like that, the deal is to have positive play. I'd rather us not run out of bounds in that situation. Eats up a timeout. I think that was the thought there.
Q. Obviously the spotlight is heavily on you right now.
DENNIS ALLEN: Sure.
Q. The campaign to defend yourself, what is your confidence that you're doing a good job?
DENNIS ALLEN: Well, obviously when you're not winning it's hard to say that you are. That's hard to say.
Look, I got to be better for our guys. Here's what I'll say. I'm going to keep coming in every day and fighting my ass off, just like I have every single day that I've been here. I'll just keep doing that.
Q. Do you feel like you have to kind of fight for your job?
DENNIS ALLEN: I feel like I'm going to come in and try to do the very best job I can every single day. That's what I've always done.
I've been here for a long time. That's the way I've gone about doing my job, so...
Q. Have you heard from Mickey or anything already?
DENNIS ALLEN: No. I came in here after visiting with the team. Came pretty much straight in here.
Q. The same kind of effort and energy, did all that stuff look intact to you today?
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah. I didn't see a lot of effort issues. I didn't see a lot of, like, busts. We got beat a couple times. I didn't see it as a huge execution issue.
Again, I thought particularly there in the fourth quarter, wasn't this way early on in the game, but particularly in the fourth quarter, I thought some calls went against us that again put us in those long-distance situations, which are hard to overcome.
Q. The first two drives of the game, 21 plays, got deep in their territory. Came away with field goals. Those are drives you really need some touchdowns.
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, look, I said that starting off in here. I felt like that was the difference in the game. I thought we had some opportunities to score touchdowns early in the game. We had to settle for field goals. That ends up being the difference.
Again, I thought the first two drives we were able to run the ball effectively and move the ball down the field. Then we stalled out in the red zone. That's the difference between winning and losing.
Q. Do you have to account for what seems like obvious things, quarterback has been out for a few weeks, account for the rust he's going to have, build a play sheet around that?
DENNIS ALLEN: Look, I didn't see a lot of issues throughout the week of practice. Obviously games are different than practice. I think our plan was to be able to come in here and try to run the football. We were able to do that.
I don't think we were able to get quite as much done in the passing game. I think Chris is a big factor in that. I don't think we were able to get quite as much in the passing game as we would have liked.
Q. Did you expect to be able to affect their quarterback more?
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, yeah, I thought maybe we could. Look, their plan was really trying to get the ball out of the quarterback's hands pretty quickly with some screen plays and things of that nature to not allow the rush to get there.
But yeah, I would have liked to have seen us be able to affect him a little bit more.
Q. Knowing how this team played the first two weeks, can you wrap your head around seven straight?
DENNIS ALLEN: Yeah, it's certainly frustrating. Felt like we let a couple opportunities slip through our hands early on. I felt like the injuries have been a major factor in the last probably five.
But that's the nature of our league.
Thanks.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports