Recap of Carolina Panthers lost to Atlanta Falcons, 33-16

The Carolina Panthers lost to the Atlanta Falcons, 33 to 16 on Christmas eve. After winning three straight NFC South titles, the Falcons have taking the title away from the Panthers with a win against the Panthers and a Tampa Bay loss to the Saints. On first drive of the game the Falcons went 75-yards on 8 plays for a touchdown, with Matt Ryan throwing it to Joshua Perkins for a 26-yard touchdown. After Brian Poole picked off Cam Newton, Atlanta kicked a 51-yard field goal, to take 10-0 lead with 6 minutes to play in the first quarter. After Gano field goal, Ryan found D.J. Tialavea for 1-yard touchdown pass and take 20-3 lead with 5 minutes in the second quarter. Rookie Vernon Butler blocked an Atlanta field goal attempt to end the first half, that’s his second blocked field goal attempt this year. Cam found Kelvin Benjamin for a 26-yard touchdown on final play of the third quarter cutting the lead to 23-13. But after converting a 3^rd-and-21, Falcons running back Tevin Coleman ran for a 55-yard touchdown to make 30 to 13 and steal the victory for the Falcons. Tre Boston tackling on Coleman’s touchdown was terrible and looked like he playing 2-hand tag.

            After having a great game last week against the Redskins, Cam Newton had an awful game, only completed 18 of 43 passes for 198 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions with a 44.5 passer rating ranks as his 3rd worst for his career. While Matt Ryan had a great day, 27 of 33 for 277 yards and 2 touchdowns. There was some bright spot for the Panthers this game, Mario Addison come to play today recording 2 tackles for loss in the first quarter and a sack in the third quarter to put his total for the seasons 8.5. Shaq Thomson also played great, had 11 tackles for the game, second behind Thomas Davis who had 12 tackles for the Panthers. In the third quarter, Greg Olsen caught a 17-yard pass to make him the first tight end in NFL history to have 3 consecutive 1,000 yards receiving seasons. Graham Gano played with broken bone in his plant foot but he did make 3 field goals. Carolina Panthers (6-9) play Sunday at Tampa Bay Buccaneers for their last game of the seasons for the Panthers.

Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers Preview

Atlanta Falcons (9-5) will come to Bank of America Stadium Saturday to face off against the Carolina Panthers (6-8). With a win or Tampa Bay loss to the New Orleans Saints later that day, the Falcons will be NFC Champions and their first playoff berth since 2012. On the other hand, the Panthers need to win out and get some major help from several teams to get the second Wild Card spot in the NFC. The Panthers are two-point favorites, Atlanta are 9-4 against the spread in last 13 games while the Panthers are 4-6 against the spread in last 12 games. The last time the Falcons went to Bank of America Stadium, they got shut out 38 to 0; while the Falcons won the last two times these teams have faced off. Including earlier this year when the Falcons beat the Panthers 48 to 33 behind Matt Ryan team recorded 503-yards passing and 4 touchdowns.

            Key Matchup in this game is Julio Jones against our young secondary, since last game he went off for a career-high 300 receiving yards against them. Julio Jones is coming back after missing two games with turf toe. Our secondary has gotten better over the past few games but this will be there biggest test yet, trying to slow down the Julio Jones, Matt Ryan combo. The three key players for the Panthers are defensive tackle Kawann Sort who has recorded 5 sacks over a 3-game span against the Falcons, he will be also getting reps at defensive end again this week since the Panthers are low on defensive ends. Panthers will be getting defensive end Charles Johnson back after missing a few games with a hamstring injury, but doesn’t sound like linebacker Luke Kuechly will play even through will was clear to play last week after passing concussion protocol. Cam Newton and Jonathan Stewart are the other two key-players to played well last week against the Redskins, Cam threw for 300 yards and 2 touchdowns while Stewart rushed for 132 yards. Make sure to watch the Panthers face off against the Falcons Saturday at 1:00pm!