ATLANTA --Quotes from Panthers players and coaches after the season week 2 game.
Panthers Head Coach John Fox
Q: Can you talk a little bit about the progress from week one? It seems like the team has stepped it up.
A: "There's no consolation prize in this League. You either win or you lose. There's no doubt it was a disappointing loss for our football team, but we did make great strides from a week ago. Particularly, on offense, the quarterback position and the offensive line. Those are some things we can build off of, but unfortunately we just didn't get a win."
Q: Can you talk about the fourth down play on the 17-yard line?A: "We were trying to take a stab at winning the game, and no matter what happens there, we just weren't able to make it happen."
Q: In the first half, Jake Delhomme was really successful at stretching the third down. Can you just talk about that?
A: "We did struggle on third down and he is a good quarterback. They have some good weapons and made some good plays, but Jake was able to keep the drives alive in an area I think we need improvement."
Q: What do you want to improve on in week three as you go out on the road?A: "I think there is room to improve from this week. There are no cupcakes in this League no matter whose schedule you look at. We will have our work cut out for us. Unfortunately, we did play better this week, but we just didn't pull out a win."
Q: What happened with the blocked punt?A: "We did have someone get beat on the outside, and we did bobble the snap, so it was a combination of things."
LB Thomas Davis
Q: Not the sort of welcome home you like when you return to Georgia?A: "It's never a welcome home when we lose to the Falcons. It's frustrating. We didn't make enough plays on defense. We didn't have enough third down stops and that's something we pride ourselves on. It's something we will work on this week. When a team gets in those situations, we like to stop them. That's something we didn't do today. We've got to look at tape, learn from our mistakes, and make changes for next week."
Q: Is it something they did, your defense alignment was responsible for?
A: "Defensively, we didn't hold up well. They came out and put together some drives and we didn't do a good enough job getting them off the field. We've got to do a better job next week getting Dallas off the field on third down conversions. We we're competitive today. It came down the final series. Not good enough, but that's something positive to point to."
LB Jon Beason
Q: It appeared as if you were in on every tackle today.A: "I look at it as it relates to the tackles I missed. I don't know what the numbers are, but those are the ones that haunt you. That's the stuff that you take with you. Plays later I think about it. I'm still not where I need to be in terms of technique and mental errors. Hopefully it will be this week, with an emphasis on the small things."
Q: You weren't able to keep them from converting so many third downs.
A: "Not getting off the field is definitely demoralizing. I don't know what the numbers are. I'm sure they are pretty bad. We've allowed teams now two weeks in a row to take advantage of us. And that's on us. Twenty points is enough for us. But we didn't get it done and no it wasn't so much what Matt Ryan did. He played a great game. But their whole offense made big plays on third downs that hurt us."
QB Jake Delhomme
Q: Better offensive performance this week?
A: "It couldn't get any worse than last week. I had a strong idea that we would play better offensively than last week, but it wasn't enough. They are a really good football team. They are extremely talented offensively. They did a good job of controlling the ball in the second half. In the end we didn't do enough."
Q: Important to boost confidence early?
A: "I don't think there is any doubt. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you. Last week I couldn't throw it in the ocean but this week I felt really good out there on the field. I look to build on it and get ready for next week."
Q: Worried about 0-2 start?A: "It's not something you want but that's what we are. We can't do anything about that but go back and work and see what we can do. It's still a long season and certainly we will get questions about the 0-2 start but that is what it is. We just have to go back to work and find a way to get one win."
Q: Next to last series in game?A: "The defense did a good job of getting the ball back for us and we went down the field and we just stayed in tens, first and ten, second and ten, third and ten and on fourth down we were anticipating a little pressure so we went with the play action. There was nothing there. I tried Jeff King and he was there and then Muhammad and then came back to Steve (Smith). It's fourth down and you have to try and make a play. They made more plays than us."
Q: Feel better after today's game?
A: "Somewhat, but this League is not about moral victories. If you are looking for a moral victory you have to do something else. We will go watch film tomorrow and move on."
RB DeAngelo Williams
Q: About today...
A: "It was tough. We didn't make enough plays to win this game and it showed. The defense, offense and special teams just have to get better. We looked better than last week, but there aren't any moral victories in this League."
Q: On Jake's play to start the game...
A: "He does it in practice. I'm confident in him at all times. Last week, this week, practice, anywhere. I'll take him anytime. I'm always confident in him as well as the offensive coordinator and everyone on the offensive side of the ball. We've never doubted him."
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-PANTHERS GAME:
- GAMEDAY LIVE:More Falcons-Panthers coverage from AF.com
- GAME CENTER:Stats and more from the NFL.com Game Center
- FEATURE:Ryan knows his work is not done
- BLOG:Gameday thoughts from Managing Editor J. Michael Moore
- FIRST TAKE: Head Coach Mike Smith | Ryan | Snelling | Lofton | White
- NFL NETWORK:Highlights and more on the game from NFL Network
- INTERVIEWS:Turner | Houston | Finneran | Falcons-Panthers
- GAME NOTES:Official game notes from the Georgia Dome press box
- QUOTES:Thoughts from the Falcons locker room | Panthers
- INACTIVES:Game inactives and starters
- BOARDS:Talk about the game with other fans on FalconsLIFE
