PANTHERS HEAD COACH RON RIVERA

On if he was pleased with the defensive effort:

"No, not in the least—especially in the second half. Pleased with what they did initially in the first half. (We) had some opportunities to get some takeaways and we did that. Second half, we didn’t.

“Probably the biggest indicator is (that) they were 50-percent on third down and you can’t have that. (If) you expect to win football games, you got 3rd and 12, you gotta make a tackle, make the tackle. That’s the bottom line and that’s the truth (in) the matter. We come out in the second half, you know, we have to punt, we got third and long, we give up the first down, nice run by the receiver, made a nice (move), got outside and got the first down, but we had a man that should have made the tackle. Bottom line, we weren’t good enough there."

On the disappointment of missed tackles coming from veterans:

"Well, you know, part of it too, is that you look at it—guys are out of position, probably the biggest thing. We watch the tape and study the tape, we’ll see. And we gotta also put them in better position to make plays, too, now. It’s not just about players, it’s about making sure we are in the best position. When you play a game, it’s not just about the players themselves. It’s (also) about the coaching; it falls back to me as well. So, I’m not going to sit here and say individuals or anything like that. I’m going to say this is a team loss; if you play the second-half the way we did, we’re going to get beat."

On if fatigue was a factor:

"No I don’t think fatigue became a factor. I really think we just missed opportunities. We played a good first half, we had an opportunity to start the second half, as I said, third-and-12, you’ve got to make that play. You’ve got to understand what the coverage call is, you’ve got to understand your technique, push through to your technique, and then make a play. That’s the bottom line, and I’m not going to sugar coat it or anything like that. We have to get better at those things."

On if QB Cam Newton struggled with accuracy:

"No, he was just a little high. You know, he had some pretty good shots as far as throwing the ball down the field. He had some guys and just a little bit on the high side. You’d love to see him bring those down a little bit and those will come. I mean, you know, these conditions were ideal, obviously, being indoors, being on the turf. You know, we had some guys open and he delivered the ball a little bit high a couple times, a little bit off the mark, which is too bad. As accurate as he’s been, and as well as he’s played, you know, it’s an opportunity for him to come back after last week and he had the chances. He made some plays, but unfortunately he had a couple that he didn’t make today that would have helped."

On scoring 35 points:

"I’ll take that any day of the week, especially the fact that we played pretty doggone well on special teams. I thought our coverage units were pretty solid. I know we had the one penalty, but you know, Josh did the best he could. Unfortunately he ended up grabbing the collar, but to get the guy down (and) not allow the bigger play. I thought the guys that we brought in, in terms of Kion Wilson and Josh Vaughan and Richie Brockel, gave us a little bit of energy on special teams and we’ll continue to use those types of guys—guys that are going to come out, play hard, and give you everything they got on special teams."

PANTHERS QB CAM NEWTON

On the difference between the first half and the second half:

"First half, we came out explosive. You know, like football’s supposed to be played. Players come up, players are executing. (inaudible) being made, blocking, plays are being made. Second half you came out as if we were just trying to hold on and you can’t do that to a team like this, especially with an explosive offense like they have. The talent that they got on that defense—you have to be in attack mode the whole game. And we have to learn how to play four quarters of football."

On having pressure on him from Lions defense:

"You know, the first interception. I mean, I don’t know where it came from, but I felt pressure and it affected my throw. It took my leg out,  I wasn’t able to step through my throw, but that’s still not acceptable. Times like that, you have to be able to chuck the ball down, times like that you have to be able to slide, and you know, still, get positive production out of the play."

On throwing high today:

"(I) gotta work on that, man. Professional quarterback, any type of professionalism, you know, you have to match the things of your trade. You know, that was unacceptable on my part, (but) I have to go on each week, this particular week, and work on that."

On Matthew Stafford’s play as an example:

"Just him orchestrating the whole drives that he did, you know, it’s just amazing to look at. Of course I’m still learning day-to-day with this, practice and games. It was just amazing, like I said. You know, and every single play wasn’t a chunk down field. Those guys just got completions and checked downs and those guys did the rest."

On getting sacked in the first quarter:

"It was something that was, you know, kind of in the middle. I was beginning to throw and at the same time, I seen (saw), well I didn’t know who it was, I found out it was Suh and it was too late. And you can’t be hesitant in those type of (inaudible) game, because when you hesitate that second, you know, you’re going to lose. (I’m) not saying that I did hesitate, but we lost that particular play and turned the football over with good field position that could (have) end(ed) up us leading the game (in) points."

PANTHERS WR STEVE SMITH

On the second-half comeback by the Lions:

"Yeah, you go back and see the things they have done this far, whether it be 21 points or 2 points, it really doesn’t matter. They still fight hard. Their defense strives on mistakes. They create havoc. In the secondary, they sit back and wait for you to make a mistake and we made a few mistakes."

On what his thoughts were at halftime:

"Got to come out here in the second half and play like its 0-0."

On how good the Lions defense was in the second half:

"You saw it."

On if he felt they were back in the game after tying it at 35:

"I don’t think we felt it, I think the scoreboard would indicate we were so we made some mistakes and they capitalized on it and we got to go four quarters. However many quarters it is, you have to finish it out and we didn’t finish it out as a team."

PANTHERS RB DEANGELO WILLIAMS

On the close games they play in:

"Yeah, all year we have been playing our opponent and ourselves. We have to find a way to finish games. We are in every game but there is no point to being in them if you are losing them at the end of the game. We got to keep fighting. We got to keep chopping at this tree. We are a young team, but that is still no excuse because at the end of the day this is still football. We just got to go out and continue to execute. Our backs were against the wall in the second half and we were there at the end of the game and we folded. We can’t do that in this league, especially with how well the Lions defense is and how well they were playing all night and how their offense was clicking. We just can’t give them opportunities and squander opportunities in the red zone."

On Lions RB Kevin Smith:

"Well I mean he had a break. He knows this offense, he has been in it for some time. It was no different for him – you said coming off the couch, your skills don’t diminish because he (was) still working out; he (was) still doing the things he needed to do. I think he has found a home here in Detroit. I played against him at (University of Central Florida) when we were in college and I know what he is capable of."

On where the Lions team ranks on the teams they have played:

"Very high. We know they are as good as their record indicates. We are as good as our record indicates. We are going to keep striving to get better."

PANTHERS DE CHARLES JOHNSON

On the loss:

"It was tough, real tough. We were up, but that is why it is four quarters of the game. You’ve got to play for all four quarters. You can’t give up 49 points."

On what happened in the second half:

"Yeah, their offense got clicked into gear and we couldn’t stop them. There were a lot of times where it was a third down situation and we couldn’t get off the field. They were just doing their thing and we had mistakes, missed tackles, a lot of misfits so we just got to get back to the drawing board and see what we did wrong and try to correct it."

On QB Matthew Stafford playing better as the game went on:

"Yeah, I don’t know what happened. We didn’t get to him like we wanted to. At the same time, we need to fix our mistakes. We can’t give up 49 points ever.”

On if RB Kevin Smith’s performance was surprising:

"Yeah, that surprised me. I didn’t expect him to get as many rushing yards as he did, but he did, and all the credit goes to him. We definitely have to fix that. We have to stop giving up 100-yard rushers."