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[accordion_item title=”Panthers Head Coach Ron Rivera”]

RE: Decision behind going for field goal at end of the game

“We forced them to use timeouts. We ran what we felt were good runs. If we get the first down, great, we are closer. If not, they use all three timeouts. We make the field goal. We kickoff and now they don’t have any timeouts.”

RE: Should they have tried for another first down before kicking when there was still a minute and thirty seconds still on the clock?

“If we tried for another first down and threw an incompletion the clock stops. There are a lot of things that go into it. I made the decision that I felt was best at that point in the game. That is why I made that decision.”

RE: Was there a discussion with Mike Shula about play action prior to Gano’s first field goal?

“Yes there was. We talked about it obviously but again I’m looking at what they have and if they have a timeout, a field goal puts you up. But again you still have an opportunity to drive the ball as well. I know we played well on defense at the same time but again, the idea was take all their timeouts and give ourselves an opportunity to get the ball to the left hash, which we did and we missed it.”

RE: Did he feel comfortable with the distance of the 63-yard field goal?

“Yes, he has made that distance before. We were taking our best shot. Graham has made it before in practice and it was with the wind, it was in a good spot and unfortunately we didn’t hold the line. He has to kick the ball at a lower trajectory to try and get it out there and it’s a tough one. You would like to be able to hold the line a little bit better but we took our best shot.”

RE: Did skirmish help ignite a spark in team?

“Yes, it did. It really did. To a degree, I’m proud and excited about the way they stepped up and weren’t going to let themselves get pushed around. I thought that was a good thing. I liked the way they stepped up to protect their teammates. It was kind of one of those things that was a little chippy at one point but these are two teams that are rivals, divisional rivals, and things get heard very quickly. It’s going to happen in this game. You don’t want it, you don’t like it but at the same time you have to defend yourself.”

RE: Using Fozzy Whittaker in second half 

“I think with Fozzy, DeAngelo and Jonathan Stewart we have a nice trifecta of running backs. It’s like this. DeAngelo averaged four yards, Jonathan averaged four yards and Fozzy averaged three and a half. It’s a good combination of guys. They all bring something different to the table.”

RE: Tough as it gets over a tough month and a half?

“Oh yeah. Anytime you lose, it’s tough. It really is, especially in light of the way we lost this one. This is a tough pill to swallow obviously. We have a whole week to think about it now as we get into our bye and then get ready for Minnesota. I don’t know, maybe somebody is trying to tell us something because New Orleans lost, so who knows. I talked to the players about it. I said we are still right in the middle of this believe it or not but we have to start taking care of our own business.”

RE: At what point does that start to ring home for the players?

“When they start winning. Honestly. That’s the bottom line. We will play those guys again. We have an opportunity to play New Orleans, we have an opportunity to play Atlanta again, we have to play Tampa Bay again, all in our division. The point can be that we control our own destiny. But again, we can’t control anything until we start getting ready to play Minnesota. We have to win a football game. We have to beat Minnesota.”

[accordion_item title=”Panthers QB Cam Newton”]

RE: Game management in the final couple minutes

“I’m out there doing every single thing that coach asks me to do. If I see anything that we can capitalize from, that’s where I step in. But when the plays are called, I’m not out there to throw a fit. My job is going out there and execute. I protect the football if I’m running the ball or carrying out my fake. I think if we would have won the game that would not have been a question.”

RE: You got in a groove on the drive where you missed a field goal. Did you want to keep throwing the ball there?

“Like I said, it comes down to coach calls the plays. I just go out there and manage the game. I’m not going to question his play calling. I’m not going to question anything because if we would have won that football game, none of these questions would be lingering.”

RE: What can snap this slump?

“The answers are in the locker room. We’re not going to get any miraculous play or any miraculous break. It’s time for guys to nut up and say it’s time for us to do what we do.”

[accordion_item title=”Panthers K Graham Gano”]

RE: Missing potential game-winning kick

“It’s painful. I’ve got to make the kick. I’m the place kicker here. I wish I could have it back, but I’ve got to put it through the uprights.”

RE: If there were issues with his mechanics

“I can’t say it was mechanics. I just missed the kick. I could stand here and make excuses, but I’m not that type of man. I just missed the kick and I’ve got to come back and hit the next one.”

RE: If there was anything technically wrong in the operation

“No, JJ (Jansen) and Brad (Nortman) have been solid all year. I just have to put it through the uprights. Given another opportunity, I’m confident I would’ve hit that kick again. It’s tough. It hurts for sure. I know the fans are disappointed, the team’s disappointed, but I don’t think there’s anybody more disappointed than I am right now.”

[accordion_item title=”Panthers C Ryan Kalil”]

RE: Emotions after the game

“Frustrating. Especially because it seems like a lot of the same mistakes. I think good football teams do a good job of minimizing those or at least learning from them and we haven’t done a good job of that, at least offensively.”

RE: If he felt the team played and coached with a sense of urgency

“Yeah, I do. I think offensively we came to the party a little too late. Defense played really well and gave us a bunch of opportunities and we have to do a better job of taking advantage of them. We’ve got to help them out and we didn’t do that. We came alive in the fourth quarter and got in a rhythm, but it was three quarters too late. Especially coming out with the ball in the second half, you’ve got to do something with it. You can’t turn it over, you can’t spot them points.”

[accordion_item title=”Panthers CB Josh Norman”]

RE:  Suffering another loss when the defense played well

“Pretty frustrating, I’m not going to sit up here and say it is not.  It is definitely frustrating when you put everything out there and work so hard to get off the field and give it back to the offense as much as we possibly could and then come up short like that.  This is probably going to stick with us for a bit going on this bye week; it is going to be pretty tough.”

RE: Scuffles between the Panthers defense and Falcons offense 

“We’re not going to take anything from nobody. That’s the kind of defense we are. Once they started, hey, we took them to a dark place, and they didn’t want to go there.”

RE: Still alive in the NFC South

“Somebody is trying to give us a gift. And the crazy part about it all, we’re still in it. Every week we’re still in it.”

RE: Asked if Panthers deserve to still be in it

“Does anybody in the NFC South deserve to be in it?”

[accordion_item title=”Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith”]

RE: Breakdown of fighting that cost you penalties

“I don’t know how it’s a one-sided flag. I don’t know. I’ve never seen that. I’m sure that when it all gets said and done that the league office will take a look at it and if there were other guys involved in it even though it’s wasn’t a 15-yard penalty. That’s what the league does. But I thought it was very unusual to have all that take place and only one player is penalized.”

RE: Carolina defense

“Their Achilles heel has been giving up big plays and they did a good job. They played a lot of deep coverage zones and forced us to take some shots underneath and get rid of the ball on some of the check downs. They did a good job. I thought Ron (Rivera) and his staff put together a game plan that was going to force us to go down the field methodically and we got down in the red zone and weren’t able to convert.”

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