Falcons regroup at half, cruise past Carolina

CHARLOTTE --  Falcons coach Mike Smith didn't lose his cool at halftime, and neither did his team.

After trailing by 16 points to a team with a losing record, the Falcons took a simple halftime message and rallied to a 31-23 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.

Smith would have been justified had he smashed up a few chalkboards or tossed a water cooler or two.

But that’s not his style.

“He didn’t have to [erupt],” defensive end John Abraham said. “We knew we could beat this team. We just cut out all of the funky stuff and played football.”

After falling behind 23-7, the Falcons ( 8-5) used big plays from rookies Jacquizz Rodgers and Julio Jones to beat the Panthers (4-9).

“Nobody went off,” running back Michael Turner said. “We didn’t want anybody pointing fingers at anybody. We wanted to stay together. We wanted to come back out as a team. We knew we still had 30 minutes to play.”

Quarterback Matt Ryan kept throwing to Jones, even after the rookie had a couple of drops earlier in the game, and Ryan’s determination paid off.  Ryan connected with Jones on a 17-yard touchdown to put the Falcons ahead 24-23 with 12:42 left to play.

Ryan next threw a 75-yard touchdown to Jones with 4:17 left in the game.

“The ball was delivered," Smith said of the 75-yarder. "There are not many guys that are going to catch Julio Jones.”

For most of the offseason, the Falcons had talked about adding more explosives plays -- gains of 20 yards or more -- to the offense. Carolina was a victim.

“I think all year, we’ve made strides in that department,” Ryan said. “We’ve been able to make some of those plays that we’ve wanted to make. I think the addition of those two rookies, Jacquizz and Julio, has certainly helped in that respect.”

Ryan, who had the fourth-lowest passer rating of his career the previous week in the 17-10 loss to Houston, bounced back with a strong game. He completed 22 of 38 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns. He finished with a passer rating of 120.5.

“Matt was making those throws, we were making the catches and we started clicking,” tight end Tony Gonzalez said. “That’s why we were able to come back and win the game.”

The victory was the 16th time that Ryan has led his team to victory in the fourth quarter or overtime.

It didn’t start out well for Atlanta.

After the Falcons took a 7-0 lead, on a 5-yard pass to Roddy White from Ryan, the Panthers looked like Super Bowl contenders as they scored 23 unanswered points. Carolina put together a nine-play touchdown drive, leading to a 6-yard scoring catch by Jeremy Shockey; it tackled Ryan for a safety, and it gashed the Falcons defense with a 74-yard run by DeAngelo Williams and a 44-yard scoring pass to Greg Olsen.

“We were out of sync offensively in the first half," Smith said. "I think that the guys showed their maturity. The older players on our football team knew that the only way that we were going to get back into the ballgame was to keep steady and be very even-keeled.

"There was no reason to panic. This isn’t a group that panics.”

Defensively, the Falcons stopped trying to fool rookie quarterback Cam Newton with blitzes and multiple coverages. On offense, they went to their no-huddle attack and the unit came to life.

In the third quarter, Matt Bryant kicked a 30-yard field goal and Rodgers caught a 31-yard touchdown from Matt Ryan to pull the Falcons within 23-17.

With their playoff hopes in jeopardy, the Falcons pulled together instead of crumbling under the pressure.