In what’s been a recurring theme for much of the season, the Falcons sputtered on offense and left it to the defense to bail them out. Falcons defenders obliged in the fourth quarter on Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
The Falcons held the Panthers to a field goal after the offense lost a fumble inside the Falcons’ 40-yard line, stopped them on fourth down with 1:48 left and then did it again after the offense bungled clock management on its final possession.
“No matter when we go out, if we are on the field, we are stopping them,” Falcons safety Charles Godfrey said. “That’s our mentality, and that’s what we live by.”
The Falcons gained their first lead on Matt Ryan’s 70-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones late in the third quarter but then the offense kept putting the defense in tough situations.
After the Falcons forced Carolina to punt, their next possession ended on a lost fumble. Ryan couldn’t handle Mike Person’s errant snap and Carolina’s Josh Norman recovered the fumble and took it to the Falcons’ 36-yard line.
Newton completed a nine-yard pass to tight end Greg Olsen on first down but Falcons tackle Ra’Shede Hageman dropped Fozzy Whitaker for a two-yard loss on second down. Newton was under pressure when he passed incomplete on third down, and the Panthers had to settle for Graham Cano’s 47-yard field goal.
The Falcons answered with a field goal and the defense stopped the Panthers on five plays. But the Panthers got the ball back with 1:30 to play after the Falcons had three penalties on a field-goal drive that took just 18 seconds. The Falcons defense answered again when Vic Beasley forced Newton to fumble and Adrian Clayborn recovered it.
The Panthers gained 80 yards on their opening touchdown drive but just 188 over their next seven possessions for a total of 268. The Panthers had 260 yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter of their 38-0 victory over the Falcons two weeks ago.
“We knew we made mistakes last time we played them,” Beasley said. “We just had to correct them. We were basically beating ourselves. We just came out, had a great week of practice and put it all together.”
