Important quotes after Saints loss to Buccaneers emphasize play-calling

Head coach Dennis Allen

On the loss, generally:

“Look, again – standing up here disappointed we lost a game that we had a chance to win. We gave ourselves every opportunity and we just didn’t get it done. We had a couple opportunities to make some plays and we didn’t make them. We didn’t convert on third-and-short. Frustrating.”

On the 3rd-and-1 passing play call in the 3rd quarter:

“Look, we had a pass play that was initially designed for the fullback in the flat on the other side. Andy (Dalton) thought he had a shot with a bullet to the “X.” Look, hindsight is 20-20 I wish we would’ve run it. Mark (Ingram II) hurt his knee on the previous play, and so we came up a yard short. That’s frustrating.”

On whose responsibility it was for the 12 men in the huddle penalty:

“That’s a communication responsibility amongst the offense. That’s got to be something that’s got to be improved.”

On if any play-calls stood out:

“When you don’t convert, you always look back and wish you would’ve done something different. If we convert there, we’re not talking about it.”

On his message to the locker room:

“It sucks, it stings, it hurts. We’re going to get a little time on this bye (week) to get rested up and recovered. Then, we will get back at work and getting ready for Atlanta. That’s what our job is. Our job is to get ourselves prepared to go play the best football we can, so that’s what we will do.”

QB Andy Dalton

On the loss, generally:

“We didn’t make the plays when they were there and, at the end of the game, they did. That’s what it came down to. We had opportunities for that game to be very different than what it was, and I feel like I’m a broken record saying the same thing. We’ve just missed opportunities.”

On if there’s any positive to take away from the game:

“At this point with where we’re at in the season – there are only four games left, and it’s unfortunate that we keep having to say the same thing over and over and over again. The missed opportunities have hurt us. We’ve had chances in a lot of games this year, and when we haven’t made the plays when we needed to, it has affected the game and it’s been the same outcome.”

On redzone performance:

“Yeah, I mean we had opportunities to score touchdowns down there and we weren’t able to make it happen. That changes the whole outcome of the game. We score one more touchdown down there and rather than kicking field goals… that touchdown at the end – it’s a different game.”

On Dennis Allen’s message to the team after the game:

“We just (have) to stick together. There are four games left. This one hurts, it does, but we’ve got to make the most of it. I think the bye [week] comes at a time where there’s going to be a lot of reflection on us, and what we can do better, personally, as each unit, and as a team and so, you know, that’s just kind of where we are at.”

On any particular plays standing out from the game:

“There’s not one. We’ve got to make plays to convert on third down in some of these situations. There are some third downs in there where we had opportunities and just didn’t get done.”