There were a lot of positives to take away from a thudding result in the Saints' preseason opener against the Texans.
But before head coach Dennis Allen could get to any of those, there was one thing he needed to make clear after the 17-13 loss on Saturday night at NRG Stadium.
“Ball was on the ground too many times," Allen said. "Three turnovers in the game, especially one down there on the goal line that took some points off the board. So we’ve got to get that aspect cleaned up."
And he wasn't wrong. The biggest gaffe came from rookie Abram Smith, who had the ball punched out at the end of an impressive and powerful push down to the goal line in the second half and with the team leading 13-10. It was a mistake that took at least three points off the board. The other two turnovers were credited to Ian Book, who played all but the first series, which featured the only Saints touchdown of the game on a 10-play drive led by by Andy Dalton. Book's first turnover was on a ball thrown too high to an open Juwan Johnson, which tipped off his hands for an interception. The next drive it was a fumble when Book and backup center Nick Martin failed to complete the snap exchange.
But there could have been more. Book had a ball batted back to him in the third quarter that he actually caught for a rare Book to Book stat line, but that easily could've gone for an interception. Dwayne Washington also put the ball on the ground in the first half, but was fortunate to have the ball bounce right back to him. In all it was a sloppy performance that undermined what was an impressive and often dominating defensive showing, that is until the final drive that swung the result in the final seconds.
"You can’t put the ball on the ground," Allen said when assessing Smith's performance. "That’s a huge negative when you do that."
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It was an otherwise positive showing for Smith, who was the most productive of the four running backs who saw action and had a team-high 30 yards on his 7 carries, along with another 12 yards on his lone reception. He'll get a chance to redeem himself, but it was certainly a teachable moment.
"I will say this: I thought he looked explosive running the football and I thought there was a couple of really good runs that he made," Allen said. "But it doesn’t matter how many good things you do, if you put the ball on the ground, that’s an issue.”
But it certainly wasn't all bad, and the sloppiness emerged once a majority of the first-teamers were off the field. The group led by Dalton looked to be in midseason form, with third-down conversions to Marquez Callaway and Tre'Quan Smith before a beautifully executed screen pass to Washington found its way into the end zone from 9 yards out. The defense sandwiched that drive with three-and-outs, and the Saints defense forced three turnovers of its own, all interceptions (Chase Hansen, Justin Evans and Brian Allen).
"I was pleased with the way the first units went in there and played. Offensively, 10-play drive for a touchdown, and then defensively we go three-and-out and get them off the field. And so that was encouraging to see," Allen said. "We’ll get back and take a look at the tape and have a better evaluation. But there were some good things I saw tonight.”
The preseason exists for a reason, and that reason isn't to count wins and losses. The tape and improvement in struggle spots will be the most important element from the opener as the team heads to Green Bay for joint practices before a second preseason matchup on Friday.
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MORE FROM DENNIS ALLEN
ON ANDY DALTON
“I thought he did a nice job moving us down the field. I thought he operated in the pocket well. I think he was 5-for-5 on that drive. I thought we did a couple of good things in the run game. I think Andy did a really good job of operating the offense. We kind of had a plan to get 10-15 plays and then getting 10 plays and a touchdown we felt we’d seen enough, and then we went on to the second phase.“
ON THE RUNNING BACKS
Neither Alvin Kamara nor Mark Ingram saw action in this one, meaning the battle for the RB3 slot took center stage. Dwayne Washington got the first crack and played the majority of the first quarter (9 carries, 19 yards; 3 catches, 18 yards, TD). Next up was Tony Jones Jr. (7 carries, 27 yards; 1 catch, 13 yards), followed by Devine Ozigbo (8 carries, 26 yards; 1 catch, -1 yards), with Abram Smith finishing things off (7 carries, 30 yards; 1 catch, 12 yards; fumble).
“I thought they ran the ball hard. Again, we’ll look at the tape to see exactly how they read it. But I felt like they ran the ball hard. Obviously we’ve got to protect the ball better. We had the ball on the ground a couple times from the running back position, so we’ve got to do a better job there.”
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ON PLAY-CALLERS RYAN NIELSEN AND PETE CARMICHAEL
“I thought both coordinators did a heck of a job of calling the game, getting the call in. I thought the operation on the sideline with the play-callers, I thought overall was really, really good. So [I’m] really encouraged.”