Saints Head Coach Kellen Moore
Opening comments:
“Great battle of a football game. New England made more plays than we did. I thought our playstyle, I thought our guys played fast, played physical. At the end of the day, we didn’t take advantage of opportunities that were presented to us. Every game is going to have those opportunities, and we have to take advantage of them. They won the turnover ratio. They won some situational stuff, and that’s how this game was decided. We didn’t make enough plays. I have to find a way for myself to coach better and put ourselves in better situations to be more successful as a football team. There’s too much good and not enough in those little margins. Medically, I think we are OK. Nothing really drastic coming out of the game. We just have to get better and keep moving.”
On the roadblocks offensively:
“That’s on me. We’re not doing a good enough job. We’re extending some drives. We’re not getting the ultimate points that we need out of that drive. Whether it be settling for a field goal from the red zone or getting stalled out across the 50-yard line, we are not doing enough good stuff. It seems like there are always a bunch of little things that come up between penalties, missed opportunities. We have to find a way to get that because I thought we moved it at a decent rate. We just did not take advantage of the opportunities.”
On defending against New England’s wide receivers:
“New England made plays. They had one-on-one opportunities, and they made plays. Those were contested, those were challenging situations, but we have to find a way to come up with more of those on our end. That’s what this game is all about. It’s one-on-one opportunities throughout this game, and we have to find a way to get it done.”
On the defense’s slow start:
“We’re not starting fast enough from a defensive perspective. We have to play better. We have to have a sense of urgency out there and be ready to roll. That’s a couple of weeks in a row in that scenario, and that’s not the formula we want to be feeling, like we are playing behind for a little while. Again, we have to take advantage of opportunities. They come in all four quarters, and every moment is the same value from the first quarter on to the fourth quarter.”
On the margins of victory being so slim:
“That’s what this game is. It’s the NFL. The margins are really, really small, really tight. They have good players; we have good players. It’s a matter of taking advantage of the opportunities that are presented. We’re not getting it done. We are not getting it done in those situations when we have opportunities. For myself, I have to figure out a way to get us there. We’re close, knocking on the door, but we’re not opening it. I have to find a way to get better.”
On WR Chris Olave’s drops:
“Obviously, we’ll look at the film to evaluate all the details of it, but we had some opportunities in the passing game. We didn’t get it done. Those are challenging plays. I get it. We just have to find a way collectively as a group to come up with more success.”
On QB Spencer Rattler’s performance:
“I thought Spencer had some good football out there. He used his legs again. He had some completions to put ourselves in some situations. We finished a couple of drives in the red zone. We had some third-down [opportunities] that we did not get. He had one turnover-worthy play in the middle. Fortunately for us, it wasn’t a turnover. We all have to keep getting better because, obviously, we haven’t met the standard yet. We are not there yet as a group. Specifically, your question as an offense, we have to get better. We have to put our head down and go.”
On the last possession at the end of the first half:
“Obviously, if we could get some positives out there, we had three timeouts. We could play that thing through a four or five-play sequence. We got sacked. We were behind the chains there, so we just let it bleed out.”
On facing New England QB Drake Maye:
“He did some really good things. I thought he extended plays. He used his feet in a timely manner. He sits in there. I thought he played well, and we were not able to get to him. We were not able to get to him and create some sacks and rush opportunities on him. We were not able to impact him enough in the pocket.”
On miscommunication in the secondary:
“We will look at the film. Obviously, there will be some great opportunities to grow from. They were able to make some explosive plays in the passing game.”
On LB Danny Stutsman coming into the game:
“We just put him in there to get him going. He obviously is a good player. He’s done some good football. I think it’s important that he has some exposure to the league. As far as putting him in there, he’s played some good football.”
On LB Isaiah Stalbird:
“He’s obviously one of those guys that’s kind of had a package in various games in the last two weeks. He’s a good player. He’s earned those opportunities.”
On Stutsman coming in for LB Demario Davis:
“I think it’s just trying to find a series that works best for us. Somewhere in the middle of the game, we anticipated trying to create that opportunity. I think it was good for him to get out there.”
On where the team needs to improve to secure wins:
“We just have to win in the margins, which is all the situational football. We have to convert in the red zone, convert third downs. Those are hard downs. Those are tough downs. We have to do a better job in those situations.”
On the New England passing game:
“They made the plays. They made the plays in those contested situations. Their receivers were physical and were attacking the football, and they made the plays when they had to.”
On determining when to capitalize on those margins:
“Potentially. We have to calculate it in every possible way. We have to understand there are numbers we certainly are very cautious of. Then, there’s the element of making sure we got what we need to have an opportunity to compete. I look into every little margin and see if I have to do better from being more aggressive or calling some fourth downs.”
On the mood in the locker room:
“Just frustration. There are opportunities. I think everyone can feel that. We had our opportunities in this game, and we just didn’t get it done.”
On K Blake Grupe’s performance:
“Blake kicked the ball really well. He gave us an opportunity, and he was able to execute in the field goal game. I thought there were some positives there.”
On Taysom Hill’s touchdown:
“Awesome for Taysom. He’s a phenomenal player. Down in that red zone, he’s a really valuable piece.”
On the explanation he received on the fumble:
“You guys can ask Replay Assist or New York for all of that stuff, whatever their media deal is. We just were told there was some movement on the ball, and that’s all I get.”