Head coach Ron Rivera and six players addressed the media following The Washington Football Team's 27-21 victory over the Carolina Panthers. Here's a closer look at their press conferences.

Ron Rivera

*-- on Taylor Heinicke's performance over the past two weeks: *"I think the biggest thing is that he's starting to see things. He's starting to see what he needs to see. He's throwing to the windows that he needs to throw. We're getting healthy up front. Now, we've got a couple of guys...we've got to get back on the football field. I think that's a part of it as well."

-- on the fourth-and-6 play in the first half:
"I liked the way Taylor was seeing certain things and Scotty had a play that he had a lot of confidence in. So we went with it, and it's also based on where we were. I wanted to have the momentum going into the locker room as opposed to not. And then scoring right away really gave us an opportunity."

Taylor Heinicke

-- on the fourth down play in the fourth quarter:
"I just remember it breaking down and no one was open. I was just trying to make something happen. It's one of those deals where obviously you can't go down or throw the ball away. You've got to have it, and I thought John Bates had maybe the play of the day coming back and catching a difficult ball. He stepped up big today with Logan [Thomas] being out, with Ricky [Seals-Jones] being out. He played a really good game today."

-- on the offense starting to have an identity:
"Possibly. I think last week was huge for us, confidence-wise, just running the ball against those guys, and you saw it today, too, those guys are being really physical. Running backs are doing a good job and receivers are getting open. We have some guys go down, whether its offensive line or receiver, and we continue to go out there and make plays. That's a lot of credit to the coaches, a lot of credit to those guys being ready. We just trust each other."

Jon Allen

-- on the final play of the Panthers' drive:
"[Daron] Payne made a great rush. It was a great rush collectively, and Payne and James [Smith-Williams] got there and made a big play for us to save the day."

-- on whether the team is different after the bye week:
"I think we're just playing complete games. We're finishing games. We're starting games off a little bit better even though we gave up a touchdown on the opening drive. We're just making the plays that we were missing in the beginning of the season.

James Smith-Williams

-- on how it felt to get a win in his hometown:
"It was amazing. It was amazing being back. I have a lot of friends and family here, and the way we finished that game on defense, you can't ask for more."

DeAndre Carter

*-- on being in a starting role and making an impact: *"It's been a blessing. God blessed me with this opportunity, I'm trying to make the most of it. Going out there and just making it happen. Making plays."

-- on Washington's scoring drive right before half:
"It was a big drive for us. We knew we had the ball coming out of the half. If we got points going in, that's big for us. I had a fourth down conversion. Terry's touchdown was big on that drive. Taylor was great on that drive. Great play calling by Coach Turner. We made it happen. Got a touchdown and got them before the half."

Terry McLaurin

-- on the team's turnaround:
"I just think we have put two good weeks of practice together first and foremost. I feel like our o-line and our d-line are really establishing the line of scrimmage which is very important. I feel like we are sustaining drives offensively. Defense is creating turnovers and short field. You're creating winning formula. It's good to get this roll going, two in a row. I think the formula still needs to stay the same but continue to improve on the things that we need to improve on. We are looking forward to the challenge next week on Monday night and hopefully we can keep this thing going."

*-- on his ability to come down with contested catches: *"Not a lot of people know, that was probably one of my glaring weaknesses in my game, especially in college. The coaching staff expressed that to me. I started attempting to improve on that day-in and day-out. It was just an insatiable thing that I had to create if I wanted to play at this level. This is my third year, one of my goals this year was to be a better contested-ball catcher. When you have those opportunities with the ball in the air and you can come down with them, it just gives a lot of energy and confidence to your quarterback, your offense and your team. I think it's something I'm always constantly working on. I just try to put myself in a position to make those plays. Be aggressive with my hands, trust them and come down with the play. It's exciting and I just hope I can continue to put the work in to make sure that it keeps continuing."

Kamren Curl

-- on his fourth down stop on Christian McCaffrey:
"We were in a man coverage. I had (McCaffrey) and he ran a little out route. I was just happy I made a play for my team. I'm just happy I made a play for my team."

-- on whether he knew right away that he stopped McCaffrey:
"Oh, yeah. They started taking the ball back like didn't give us a signal or nothing yet, so I had to make sure like, I saw that I stopped him."