Falcons look to strike early against Panthers

Flowery Branch — If the Falcons were a boxer, they’d be known for the early TKO.

In all six victories, they’ve delivered the early technical knockout with first quarter leads.

In all four losses, they’ve trailed or were tied after the first quarter.

This week, Falcons coach Mike Smith has prodded his squad to come out fast against Carolina in Sunday’s 4:15 p.m. game at the Georgia Dome.

“We’ve got to come out of the tunnel ready to go,” Smith said.

Overall, the Falcons have outscored the opposition, 78-24, in the opening 15 minutes of play.

The Falcons have led at the end of the first quarter against Detroit (21-0), Kansas City (14-0), Green Bay (10-0), Chicago (6-0), Oakland (14-0) and New Orleans (6-0).

“We talked to our players all the time about fast starts,” Smith said. “For the most part, we’ve done a nice job this year. When we haven’t, we haven’t had the outcome that we want. It’s imperative that our guys realize that we want to get it going early.”

The Falcons have trailed or were tied at the end of the first quarter in losses to Tampa Bay (0-7), Carolina (3-7), Philadelphia (0-0) and Denver (3-7).

Another indicator for the Falcons has been the opening drive. In four games, they’ve scored a touchdown or field goal to open the game. Each time they’ve went on to defeat Detroit, Green Bay, Chicago and Oakland.

“We’ve shown that when we have fast starts that we do real well,” fullback Ovie Mughelli said. “We didn’t have a fast start against the team we played last week or against the Panthers. If we can do that with our running game, that’s going to help us through to the fourth quarter.”

Dangerous Cats

The Panthers seem to have sleepwalked through their last two games, wins against lowly Oakland and Detroit.

Smith doesn’t buy that theory that makes them more dangerous for the Falcons because they’ve been able to win with less than sterling efforts.

“I think an 8-2 team is a dangerous team,” Smith said. “They’ve played very well all season long. I think they have the second best record in the NFC behind the Giants.”

Jackson’s appeal

Defensive tackle Grady Jackson was not at practice Friday because he was scheduled to have his appeals hearing. He’s facing a four-game suspension from the league for an alleged violation of the steroid policy.

“I can’t comment on that,” Smith said.

Panthers’ run defense

The Panthers have given up 277 yards rushing in their last two games. They want to tighten things against the Falcons’ ground attack, which is second in the league at 153.4 yards a game.

“Anytime that we play Atlanta we know that they are going to be at the top of the league in rushing yards per game,” Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers said. “It’s a challenge for us to try contain that.”

White returns

Wide receiver Roddy White returned to practice on Friday after missing two practices with a bruised back.

White is the Falcons’ leading receiver with 58 catches for 903 yards and six touchdowns.