Carolina Coach Ron Rivera:

"We didn't play very well. That was the bottom line. They (Saints) came out and played very, very well. There are a couple of areas that we need to get better at, obviously. We didn't play well in the red zone. Any time you  get the ball down there, you have to score touchdowns. Credit their defense. They stopped us."

"The game started out well, but again, you get down in the red zone, you have to score touchdowns. You can't  beat a good football team, especially a team that is as explosive as these guys are and expect to win with field goals. You have got to give them (Saints) credit."

On issues today:

"The biggest one starts with third down efficiency. The next one was the red zone. They (Saints) got down there, I believe they were four out of five (times) were touchdowns. We can't do that and expect to win football games if you play a team like the Saints and if you play a team like Seattle. Teams that are explosive are going to get up on top of you if you don't score touchdowns or if you don't keep them from  scoring touchdowns. That is pretty much where it starts."

On whether Saints success was because of Drew Brees or coverage breakdowns: [

"I think it was a combination. They did some things that we didn't react to very well. That falls back on us as coaches to make sure that we get those things taken care of. Then again, we have to put these guys in position (to make good plays). I give credit to them (the Saints). They did some good things and got after us."

On message to his team after the game:

"The message is to learn from it. That's the bottom line. We have to  learn from it. We'll break the tape down and we'll take a look at it. We will get a chance to see what we need to correct that we need to get better at. Then we need to go out and get it done. That's the bottom line. We will get over this one very quickly because we still have a lot of football left to play and a lot still left on the line. We have the Jets coming up on Sunday."

On Cam Newton not throwing a pass longer than 20 yards:

"There were a couple of things that we didn't do very well in terms of protecting him and giving him an opportunity to throw the ball to receivers. We didn't get the separation that we needed from our receivers."

On Jonathan Stewart's injury:

"We will see how it is. He banged that leg. We will see how it is."

On the Mercedes-Benz Superdome being a tough place to play:

"It is a comfortable place for them. There are no (weather) elements. They've got the crowd behind them, which is a huge plus for them as well. They're on turf, not natural grass, which is a little different. It helps as far as their speed and timing. The things that they do here, they do very, very well. We will see how things go when they come to Carolina."

Quarterback Cam Newton

 "It was a very highly publicized game tonight, obviously with the circumstances with it being Sunday Night Football. As far as the team, I don't think we put our best foot forward including myself personally. Just things that I wish I could have back – couple throws – but you know this is the game of football: you don't get opportunities back."

"We played a great team today; a playoff caliber team, and it's a great measuring stick for who we are and where we have to go. The best thing about this tonight is we have an opportunity to face this same team in two weeks. But our focus is not on that right now. Our focus is on the New York Jets and we will be ready for those guys this upcoming Sunday."

On offense's performance:

"That's something that we have to go back and be accountable of. As an offense our job is to put up points. And the Saints did that tonight and we didn't. We had two great opportunities – two great field positions that we just didn't capitalize on. And playing a team like that; field goals just aren't going to cut it. And we know that as an offense and we are just are going to have to come back tomorrow and watch the film and get a lot better at that."

On approach vs. Saints:

"I was trying to take what the defense gave me. I felt like the game plan was great going into the game. Even during the game it felt great. But those guys were just better than us today. Are they better than us? No. But today it showed. The name of the game is scoring more points than the other team – those guys did, and we just got the short end of the stick."

Receiver Brandon LaFell

"They had our number tonight. We got down there early; twice in the red zone and they got points and we didn't. And once we got field goals and they got touchdowns they just got ahead and we didn't have an answer for it."

"Forget two weeks and we have them again at home. It was all about today. We should have come out and played well today. We should of did what we had to do today; we can't worry about two weeks from now. And after we beat the Jets then we can worry about the Saints."

Tackle Jordan Gross

"Obviously we wanted to win and that was our goal coming in. But them giving us some tough love and us getting hit in the mouth might not be the worst thing in the world as moving forward these games for us are going to get bigger and bigger – this is just a big reality check for us."

"The Saints went out last week and got handled by Seattle and then they came out tonight and looked as good as any team playing. I mean nothing about it feels good. We're 9-4; the sky isn't falling. We just got used to winning, eight weeks in a row now. I mean we wanted to win, we prepared well but we just didn't play well."

Center Ryan Kalil on crowd noise:

"Oh yeah – we were aware they were trying to set some sort of crowd noise record because they put it up on the scoreboard every two seconds."

Linebacker Thomas Davis

"It's very frustrating. And to know we can go out and play better and not have that happen – that's very disappointing. But it's not the end of the world. We're sitting at 9-4 right now, and everything we set out to accomplish is still right ahead of us."

"Our focus has to be on the Jets right now. We can't look past those guys – they are the next team we have to play. We'll get our turn at New Orleans again – but right now all of our focus is about the Jets."

Defensive end Greg Hardy

"Drew Brees looks good every night. For us, we just have to get better. Like I said we all need to work on the fundamentals. And I need on myself personally and we just need to stay together as a team and we need to fight."

"It was just one of those games where their offense was clicking and we came in here against a good opponent – they are a good team. Hands down: we lost. And we just didn't want it as bad as they did tonight."

Safety Mike Mitchell

"We really don't need to make that many adjustments. Our coaches had a really good game plan. We can't wait to play them again in 13 days."

"They did a good job and we didn't play good enough to win. I don't think they did anything to surprise us or shock us. It really was we didn't execute our game plan."

Linebacker Luke Kuechly

"I think that's what's good about football is that you have a game next week. So we have to have selective memory and forget it quick and we just have to get better."

"They (Saints) did a great job – they attacked us they did a good job in the passing game and they made plays and that's what it comes down to. Whoever makes the most plays in the game usually wins and they definitely made more plays than we did tonight."