CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – Carolina Panthers fans began their retreat midway through the fourth quarter, sent out of Bank of America Stadium and into the evening by a most convincing Falcons’ touchdown drive.
The home crowd had seen enough. It had become clear that the Panthers were not going to win Sunday. The trickle of fans grew in number as the game wound to an end. After the Falcons touchdown, the Panthers lost the ball on downs, the Falcons added a field goal and, finally, cornerback Clark Phillips III jumped a route for his first career interception to put the game away for good.
And with that, the Falcons completed their will-sapping defeat of the Panthers by a 38-20 score, further confirming their status as a legitimate playoff team.
“It’s a team that’s hungry, it’s a team that’s just trying to win the (NFC) South and make the playoffs,” tight end Charlie Woerner said.
Things are happening with this team. It was the Falcons’ third win a row, the first time they have done that since 2019. At 4-2, this is the latest point in a season that they’ve been two games above .500 since 2017, the last time they went to the playoffs and enjoyed a winning record. They continue to lead the NFC South and are 3-0 in division play.
They’re modest accomplishments, but the season is only six games old. The direction that the Falcons’ needle is pointing seems pretty clear.
“We want to be better, but at the end of the day, we’re feeling good,” defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said.
After their first five games were all decided by one possession, the Falcons this time won going away. They led for the final 36:03 and controlled the game in the fourth quarter.
With 10:47 remaining in the game, the Falcons took possession of the ball on their 16-yard line after cornerback A.J. Terrell picked off Carolina quarterback Andy Dalton for his first interception since the 2021 season. They led 28-20.
It was a game-defining moment. The Falcons mashed the ball down the Panthers’ throat for 84 yards and the game-sealing touchdown. They ran the ball on seven of nine plays, bashing Carolina with alternating doses of Tyler Allgeier and Bijan Robinson. The Falcons never faced a third down in the series.
“There’s nothing bigger than when you can run it down and control the football, eat up clock, score touchdowns and then just walk away with a win,” said coach Raheem Morris, who awarded the game ball to the offensive line. “Those things are huge for us.”
It felt pretty good on the field, too.
“It’s amazing to be in a rhythm like that,” Pro Bowl right guard Chris Lindstrom said. “Efficient runs – you’re getting five, at the minimum four or five yards, keeping the chains moving. … It was a ton of fun.”
If the game could be summed up in one play, it might be the first snap of that drive. Allgeier took a handoff from quarterback Kirk Cousins and ran wide to the right. The tight end Woerner sprung him to the perimeter. Receiver Darnell Mooney cleared a path in front of him.
Starting at the 16, Allgeier took on his first would-be tacklers at the 22. Legs driving, Allgeier pushed the pile all the way to the 34, a gain of 18 yards. No fewer than eight Panthers defenders tried to bring Allgeier down while the Falcons offensive line pushed the pile forward. He finished with 105 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.
“That was awesome,” Woerner said. “I came over, sealed my guy off, looked back and Tyler hit somebody, rolls off, keeps going. I was fired up. The team was, too, because he stayed on his feet after he kept hitting guys. It was cool.”
The play spoke of competitiveness and teamwork. It also highlighted another facet of the win that delighted Morris. In their previous game, the Falcons beat the Buccaneers with Cousins setting a franchise record with 509 passing yards and four touchdown passes while the offense ran for 73 yards. Sunday, the Falcons ran for 198 yards while netting 225 passing yards.
“That’s the sign of a really good football team,” Morris said.
It was not a perfect game; it never will be. The pass rush failed to capture a sack, keeping the defense’s season sack total at five, fewest in the NFL. Until his interception to Terrell, Dalton had been playing efficiently. Carolina running back Chuba Hubbard ran 18 times for 92 yards. The Falcons defense continues to be vulnerable against both the pass and run.
But defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake’s unit continued to limit big plays and came through with a turnover, Terrell’s interception, when it was needed most.
“It’s all growing moments,” Morris said. “Obviously, we’ll talk about how to get our pass rush better and all those things, and we’ll do those things.”
From afar, it wasn’t a jaw-dropping result by any means. Carolina is on its second quarterback, is now 1-5 and is easily in the NFL’s bottom tier. The Panthers were without two starting offensive linemen. There’s a reason that the Falcons were favored by six points. According to Covers, it was their largest spread as a road favorite since 2017 (again, the last time they went to the playoffs and had a winning record).
But teams with the Falcons’ aspirations win games like this in this manner and, in recording losing seasons each of the past six years, results like this have eluded them. Last December, the Falcons came here as road favorites, a team needing a win against a Panthers team that was 1-12. In a cold rain, both the offense and defense failed as they lost 9-7, one of the losses that sealed former coach Arthur Smith’s fate.
They played a different game on Sunday.
“I was fired up with our performance from an offensive standpoint,” Morris said. “I was fired up with our team’s performance the whole team all around.”
The Falcons will lose at some point. But it wasn’t this Sunday.
Not even close.
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