Falcons complete stunning turnaround beating Panthers 31-23 in Week 14 – NFL Recap
Atlanta Falcons completed a stunning turnaround in the fourth quarter as they beat division rivals Carolina Panthers 31-23 to continue their chase for the National Football Conference Wildcard spots.
The Falcons were seemingly down and out at the end of the first half trailing by a huge 23-7 deficit as Panthers turned on the style decimating the Falcons’ defence with rookie quarterback Cam Newton leading the charge.
Newton, however, got intercepted in the third quarter trying to avoid a sack, throwing the ball forward.
"I tried to get the ball to Stew and tried to avoid the sack," he said. "I should have just ate the ball and taken the sack. Both interceptions were my fault.”
Matt Ryan then took control of the game, making three brilliant touchdown-passes in the second half to continue his streak of comeback wins over Carolina Panthers.
Combining effectively with rookie wide receiver Julio Jones in the fourth quarter, Ryan threw two touchdown-passes with a wonderful 75-yard winning pass four minutes from time being the highlight of the game.
"We just brought a different attitude out there in the second half," said safety Thomas DeCoud. "They caught us off guard early with a couple of things they didn't show us on film. In the second half, we bit down and did what we
needed to get done."
The win keeps the Falcons close to Detroit Lions for the playoff wildcard spots with three games remaining in the regular season.
"We approached it as the first of four legs," Ryan said. "We've knocked the first leg out and now we've got to move on and keep going."
Ryan who has a great record against Carolina Panthers got his sixth straight win over them in the seven games he started. The quarterback ended with four passing touchdowns covering 320 yards as he completed 22 out of 38 attempted
passes.
The Panthers lost their first game after a two-game winning run to lie third in the NFC South division with a 4-9 record.
Cam Newton had a poor second half, throwing two interceptions as he ended the game covering 276 passing yards with two touchdown passes completing 19 out of 39 attempted passes.
Atlanta Falcons opened the scoring with Matt Ryan throwing his first touchdown-pass for five yards to wide receiver Roddy White, who did brilliantly to hold onto the ball. The Panthers then took control tying the scores at 7-7
right at the death of the first quarter with Newton sending a six-yard pass to tight-end Jeremy Shockey.
The second quarter was all Panthers as Newton showed why he was the number one draft pick by the franchise. The Panthers took a two-point lead at 7:12 with Matt Ryan getting tackled in his own end-zone by Antwan Applewhite for
a two-point safety.
A few seconds later, the Panthers scored their first touchdown of the night with running back DeAngelo Williams mesmerising the home fans with a 74-yard run to the end-zone. Newton made it 23-7 with three minutes left with a 44-yard
pass to Greg Olsen as Panthers started cruising.
The second half, however, was the exact opposite for Carolina. Atlanta Falcons galvanised by quarterback Matt Ryan began an audacious comeback into the match to steal victory from the jaws of defeat.
Kicker Matt Bryant scored a 30-yard field goal in the third quarter at 10:55 to make it 23-10 to begin the Falcons scoring glut. Matt Ryan then nailed his second touchdown pass of the night to peg back the Panthers lead to just
six points with a 31-yard pass Jacquizz Rodgers at 8:55.
The Falcons got back the six points and took a one-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter when Matt Ryan connected with wide receiver Julio Jones from a 17-yard pass.
The Panthers had a great opportunity to regain the initiative with Newton lining up a 36-yard field goal attempt for kicker Olindo Mare. The Panthers kicker, however, saw his attempt go wide left from the prongs with Falcons breathing
a sigh of relief.
Matt Ryan then connected with his most important pass of the game. Picking out Julio Jones’s run, the quarterback sent a 75-yard pass straight to the rookie wide receiver to score the winning points.
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