Tampa Bay wasn’t able to secure its second consecutive home win as the Bucs were bested by the Saints on Sunday by a score of 34-17. Sports books and Sports Betting in NJ had predicted a Saints win, so the outcome wasn’t surprising.

From the faulty play of his starting quarterback Jameis Winston to the talent on New Orleans’ roster to yet another unsuccessful challenge flag thrown, head coach Bruce Arians spoke to the media following the game. Read the full transcript below.

(Opening statement)

“Too many mistakes to beat a good team and obviously when we drop passes and the quarterback gets an interception because we dropped the ball. Then, the one before the half was huge because we had a chance for a double score if we come out and score. Big, big, big plays. [We] didn’t get off the field defensively, they were over 54 percent on third down, which was huge. Their time of possession, I think they had the ball the entire first quarter, but we held them to six points. Then, the interception which wasn’t Jameis’ fault. Other than that it’s very disappointing because we had such a great week of practice. knew we were ready to play, it just still isn’t showing up quite enough on Sundays against good teams.”

(On if he considered pulling Winston after his injury)

“Yeah, we actually had [Ryan Griffin] ready. [Winston] said, ‘I can defend myself, I’m going back in,’ and he went back in.”

(On the unsuccessful challenge)

“I have no comments on officiating, they already wrote up the letter on my fine. You guys saw it, you write what you saw. I’m not saying anything about the officials.”

(On Jamel Dean not getting playing time)

“Yeah, we went with a different nickel package with Mike Edwards inside, we played a lot more zone. [Dean] was more in the man-to-man group. We’ll fix that, he needs to be out there on the field more.”

(On Alvin Kamara)

“You pick your poison with these guys. We had a lot of coverages where we were trying to double [Michael Thomas]. Then [Kamara] or [Jared Cook] gets involved. It’s a really good offensive football team and Kamara is really tough to cover for a linebacker.”

(On if the Bucs lost the line of scrimmage battle)

“I wouldn’t say offensively. We got out of the running game because of the score but I think they only had one sack. I don’t think our offensive line played poorly. Defensively, we were playing a lot of zone. A lot of two-deep zone. I thought we could stop the run, but Kamara is a heck of a back and we didn’t do a good enough job.”

(On challenging the possible fumble in the first half)

“It was a challangable pay, but Lavonte [David’s] foot was on the line.”

(On O.J. Howard’s struggles)

“It’s hard to say. He’s a talented, talented guy but it’s not showing up on Sunday.”

(On New Orleans taking away Mike Evans)

“It’s never one-on-one, he’s never one-on-one against these guys. It’s a matter of finding ways to get him balls, creating ways to get him balls. We did a better job in the second half.”

(On Mike Evans leaving the field injured for a play)

“He just got the wind knocked out of him.”

(On balancing the offense)

“We ended up in a situation where we’re behind and we’re throwing the ball and we’re throwing it successfully, so it’s like, abort the running game. Dare [Ogunbowale], I still can’t believe that it wasn’t a touchdown there at the end for him. So, we had our best blitz pick-up guy in there. They had a bunch of exotic blitzes and he does the best job.”

(On Winston’s 18 interceptions through 10 games)

“I would say he has 10 interceptions. Guys dropping balls and getting them to the other team, how many have we seen? I don’t count those. He got hit low in the ankle and that one flies out of his hand high. He probably should have come out of the game. He was probably too tough for his own good there.”

(On Winston’s ankle injury)

“It’s a medial [ankle ligament injury], we’ll see how bad it is tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”

(On the difficulty playing New Orleans)

“[They’re] a very good football team. We knew it coming in that we didn’t have to play perfect, but we couldn’t make mistakes like third-and-16 and jumping offsides twice. We still held them, but still, those are the kind of mistakes we have to eliminate. Missed tackles, we did not tackle very well today and we had been tackling well.”

(On New Orleans’ rushing attack)

“We were playing a lot of two-deep stuff to try and double their guys to see if we could stop the run with six in the box.”

(On balancing the play calling when down)

“We get two long drives but we hold them to six. Then we drop a ball and give it to them and now we’re down 13. I thought we stayed within the plan. The touchdown was big. Then, right before the half, that crazy interception that bounces their way. I mean, we got a field goal. That’s a double score if we come out and we get another field goal. Now, that game’s a whole lot different. That play on the fourth-and-1, to me, were the deciding plays for us.”

(On if he would be surprised if New Orleans played in the Super Bowl)

“No. That’s a very well-coached, very talented team, if they stay healthy.”