Matt Ryan praises Julio Jones for 'clutch plays' after Falcons hold off Panthers

Dejan Kalinic

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Matt Ryan praises Julio Jones for 'clutch plays' after Falcons hold off Panthers image

Matt Ryan praised Julio Jones for coming up with "clutch plays" during the Atlanta Falcons' win over the Carolina Panthers.

Jones had 137 yards on seven receptions as the Falcons claimed their second win of the NFL season by beating the Panthers 25-17 on Thursday.

The wide receiver had his 35th game with at least 125 receiving yards, tying Randy Moss and moving behind only Jerry Rice (49).

Ryan, who rushed for a touchdown during the win over the Panthers, lauded Jones.

"Just to start the game the way we did, to let them know it was going to be that kind of night and then his just clutch plays throughout the game, keep chains moving, I thought he played extremely well," the Falcons quarterback told reporters.

"It's no surprise he's on a list with Randy Moss, he's one of the best to ever do it and he played really well for us."

The Falcons (2-6) are bottom of the NFC South, behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-2), New Orleans Saints (4-2) and Panthers (3-5).

Atlanta have suffered four losses by single digits this season, having squandered multiple leads during the campaign.

But Ryan believes the Falcons can produce a strong run to finish the season.

"We've been in every game we've played this year," he said.

"We've had some crazy losses just to be frank and I really believe that we've got the calibre of team to go be in every game that we're going to play the rest of the season and why can't we win them all? That's the mindset I have."

Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater paid tribute to the Falcons for their performance.

"Tough loss. We've just got to find ways to finish these games, that can't be the common thing around here – coming up short," he said.

"We get this weekend off, we're at the mid-point of the season I think, still got time for us to just reflect, see some of the things we've done well in the first half of the season, see what we need to improve on.

"A game like today you know that you're going to get a team's best, they know us well, we know them well, we just came up short. They played a good game today, obviously we like to finish with points, but hats off to those guys."

Dejan Kalinic