What Chris Tabor said after Carolina Panthers’ lifeless loss to New Orleans Saints
The Carolina Panthers fell to 1-12 in the most desultory of fashions on Sunday afternoon in the Superdome in New Orleans, and interim head coach Chris Tabor was about as frustrated afterward as he’s publicly been this season.
“Everything’s frustrating right now, if I can be completely honest,” Tabor told reporters in his press conference after the 28-6 loss.
At another point, he added: “I don’t like to lose. I don’t care what the circumstances are. I don’t like to lose.”
Here’s a recap of Tabor’s presser — including what he thought about the team squandering a great day on the ground and an exceptional defensive effort.
On the blocked punt (which was ruled a Johnny Hekker fumble)
“It was a blocked punt. Man didn’t go out and block the guy he was supposed to. That’s a mistake that obviously cannot happen. ... To me, it’s a blocked punt. They scored off it. However people want to score it in fantasy football doesn’t matter to me. We made a mistake, didn’t do our job, and that hurt us there.
“I thought our defense played outstanding to keep us in things. And you know, there in the fourth quarter, we have an opportunity to go down and tie it, and we didn’t get it done.”
On not being able to close out games
“Because we haven’t won yet. And we need to figure out how to win. And that’s what we gotta get done. And you have to keep chopping wood and keep going in order to break through. It’s just not going to magically happen for you. When your number is called, you gotta make a play. And you never know in this game when it’s going to happen. So that’s what took place there.”
On possibility of not playing Bryce Young given state of offensive line
“I think that he’s going to continue to improve. That doesn’t concern me at all. We ran the ball for 200 yards today. So I know you’re going at the line, but we ran the ball for 200 yards. Somebody’s blocking them.”
Frustrations to see great run day come to no avail
“Everything’s frustrating right now, if I can be completely honest. As I said, how are you going to handle it? This is tough after this loss. But we gotta keep going.”
On taking passing shots down the field
“We took shots. I think we took a lot of shots. Obviously we didn’t connect on enough that we wanted. And then unfortunately we didn’t get any PI calls or anything along those lines. It’s a good secondary. It’s a really good secondary. But we had chances there and we didn’t capitalize. So we gotta continue to work and get that better.”
Why is the passing game such a struggle?
“I don’t know that answer. If we had that answer, we would’ve already fixed it. You know, I think it’s just something that we gotta continue to work on. When you pitch and catch, you gotta pitch and catch. We had opportunities. ... Everyone has a job and a responsibility. We just need guys to continue to work hard to do their job.”
On Tabor being frustrated
“I don’t like to lose. I don’t care what the circumstances are. I don’t like to lose.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2023 at 4:57 PM.
