ATLANTA — Panthers defensive tackle Derrick Brown was talking about the trust this team has built in each other, which was evident across the roster in a 30-27 overtime win over the Falcons.
Does that extend to the rookie kicker?
"Yeah, you're damn right," Brown said simply. "He earned it."
That would be baby-faced rookie Ryan Fitzgerald, who kicked his third walk-off game-winner of the season, a 28-yarder in overtime on Sunday in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
"Let's go, winning record here now," Fitzgerald said with a laugh.
That's his personal record, and it applies to the team as a whole, now 6-5 and a half-game out of the NFC South lead thanks to his coolness.
Sunday was his third game-winner of the year, following clutch kicks against the Cowboys and at Lambeau Field, which is beginning to give him a reputation.
But you'd be hard pressed to gather that from him, since he's still very much the new guy around here.
"I don't know," he replied with a grin when asked what this meant. "I mean, it's a third one now. It's just, you know, a little more comfortable each time. Obviously, in a different situation, overtime, my first overtime, that was different."
At that point, Fitzgerald digressed to talk about tight end Tommy Tremble's savage 54-yard catch-and-run, which made his field goal a short one.
"I was like, let's go, I was so excited, what a great play," Fitzgerald said. "I mean, the whole team just fought and fought in that second half, but yeah, the big play by Tommy, I mean, set me up for a chip shot, so it's like just do my job and get out of here."
When asked if this was becoming old hat for him, he laughed again.
"I mean, it's still super exciting each time, but, yeah, it's fun," he said. "It's fun."
There is a businesslike quality about Fitzgerald, who is now 17-of-20 on field goals this season.
And on a day when quarterback Bryce Young broke a franchise record with 448 passing yards, when nine different players caught passes, on a day when the defense held the Falcons to 91 yards in the second half and overtime, Fitzgerald's cool is shining through.
When Young was asked about all the contributors, he said it was something they were all becoming used to.
"Learned nothing," he said. "Again, we're resilient. We believe in each other. We trust each other, we're confident. But that confidence comes from the work we put in, from the coaching staff, from the team, us just buying in. And again, this was a great win, a division opponent, that's always super important. And for 24 hours we're going to enjoy it, and then it's time to turn the page. We have to get ready for next week. No one's going to care about what happened today; next week, it doesn't matter.
"So again, we all trust each other. We know the work we have to put in, and now, on Monday, we have to recommit to doing that, putting that work in during the week."
Check out some of the best shots from the Panthers' Week 11 game against the Falcons.
