Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith praises Carolina Panthers for impressive play – NFL News
Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith found Carolina Panthers better than his team in Week 14 game.
In his postgame press conference on Sunday, Smith seemed disappointed with his team as they lost by 20-30.
It was their second loss of the season, which has broken their three-game winning streak. They lost their first game of the season in Week 10 against New Orleans Saints by 27-31.
Smith said:
“We did not play anywhere near to our potential, to our standards. We’ll learn from it and move on, and we’ve got to put this one behind us as quick as possible.”
According to Smith, they had to play their best football in fourth quarter but they did not do that.
He mentioned a few points about the game which upset him, he said:
“Our third-down efficiency on both sides of the ball. We got some red zone stops, didn’t force a punt in the first half, and the time of possession was so skewed that you really didn’t get an opportunity to get going.”
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan gave credit to Panthers and praised their performance, he said:
“I think every week we talk about wanting to start fast and we didn’t do a good job with that today. They came out and they played really well and regardless of who you’re playing,”
Ryan had an average performance in the game. He completed 34 of 49 passes for 342 yards and scored two touchdowns with an interception.
Panthers managed to win the game without their 13 starting players, who were moved to injured reserve. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton completed 23 of 35 passes for 287 yards and scored two touchdowns.
That was a great achievement for Panthers. They have won four and lost nine games, and they are standing at last position in National Football Conference (NFC) South.
On the other hand, Falcons are leading the division by winning 11 and losing two games in the season. They are going to play their next game against New York Giants on Sunday, December 16, 2012.
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