Falcons – Panthers instant recap: A shaky first half gives way to a dominant win

The Atlanta Falcons are prone to a letdown, which is why I wrote that they needed to get off to a fast start. They declined to do so, but if the start was slow, the way the team finished the game exactly the right speed.

All the early hallmarks for an upset were there. The Falcons squandered a first drive stop with a thoroughly unproductive drive of their own, allowing the Panthers to get out to an early lead. Once they turned a 10-7 deficit into a 22-7 lead, they allowed Carolina to march down the field with time running down and score a touchdown of their own, tightening the margin before the half. We entered the second half filled with a familiar sort of anxiety, caused by a Falcons team that has given away winnable games against injured, so-so opponents far too many times.

The second half featured more frustration, but it also featured the Falcons finding their way on the ground and defensively in a way that put this game out of reach. While the Panthers managed a couple of long field goal drives, the Falcons managed two Koo field goals of their own and a Tyler Allgeier touchdown to get up 35-20 with 5:38 remaining, aided by big plays including an A.J. Terrell interception. With the second half defense stiffening up in the same way they did against the Buccaneers last week and coming up with a late fourth quarter stop on fourth down, Atlanta was able to turn a shaky effort into a win that ended up looking pretty decisive.

The Falcons will have to look at themselves in the mirror after this one and figure out how they let Carolina hang around so long and why they couldn’t take advantage of some truly significant injuries to both the Panthers defense and their offensive line, because they’ll face tougher opponents in short order and can’t afford such listless first half performances against them. I’m sure Raheem Morris and Kirk Cousins will tell you there’s plenty of improvement to be had.

All that said, the Falcons showed how far they’ve come and how much they have improved by weathering that early misery and still beating the Panthers by nearly 20 points. They absorbed Carolina’s best punches early in this one and didn’t blink, settling in defensively and keeping things crisp on offense, even if they missed opportunities to really run away with this one with a couple more touchdowns. If there were plenty of areas to scrutinize, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that the Falcons simply weren’t beating even terrible Panthers teams like this the past couple of seasons, much less by 18 points. The fact that they’re 4-2, in first place in the NFC South, and 3-0 against the division means we have much more to celebrate than bemoan, and we ought to let ourselves lean into that joy a bit.

This is a Falcons team that is showing glimpses of the kind of effort they’re capable of, and this was another uneven but important milestone, beating a bad team by so many points and not wilting late. With a home game against the Seahawks next, they’ll have another shot at a talented NFC team and a chance to keep racking up the conference wins, and I don’t doubt their ability to get the job done any longer. That’s a beautiful thing.

Here’s the full drive-by-drive recap of the game you just watched.

1st Quarter

The Falcons deferred and chose to kick off, with a touchback on that opening kickoff. Chuba Hubbard picked up four yards on first down, and on second down, a false start backed Carolina up five yards. James Smith-Williams then got Hubbard in the backfield. Andy Dalton fired downfield under pressure on third down and missed Xavier Legette, with the broadcast booth speculating Legette pulled up a bit. The punt went to Avery Williams, who was tackled at the 21 for no gain.

Bijan Robinson took it for about five yards on first down. Kirk Cousins then threw on first down but missed Drake London after Shy Tuttle got a finger on it. On third down, Cousins missed London again. Punt, and there was a 10 yard return by Raheem Blackshear. Micah Abernathy was injured on the play.

Dalton tried for Hubbard, but Kaden Elliss tipped it away. Dalton hit David Moore over the middle for nine yards, but Moore was hurt on the play. Hubbard then plowed it up the middle for a couple yards and a first down. A false start backed the Panthers up five yards. A quick pass to Hubbard went for a couple yards thanks to a quick Mike Hughes tackle. Dalton then was almost taken down but hit Diontae Johnson on the sideline for a first down. Johnson then was the recipient again for a big gain over the middle. Hubbard picked up two yards on first down. Dalton was under pressure immediately on the next play and threw it well short of tight end Ian Thomas, thanks to a tipped pass from a rushing Arnold Ebiketie. Jessie Bates then intercepted it, but it was called back because Matthew Judon was called offsides. Miles Sanders then got the first down. Hubbard was blown up for a loss by Grady Jarrett right away on the next play. Another false start (the third one of the game!) backed Carolina up again, and on second down Moore picked up about seven yards. Johnson then caught a touchdown pass on the next play. 7-0 Panthers.

Touchback. Cousins then threw a high ball Robinson was able to reel in, but the play only got a yard. A double-hitch resulted in a low pass to Robinson that fell well incomplete. A quick pass to Darnell Mooney got the first down, even though he tripped and briefly dropped the ball. Cousins then held it too long and nearly threw an interception to Jaycee Horn. Bijan then went four yards on second down. On third down, Cousins went to Mooney on the sideline on a ball that fell incomplete, but pass interference took care of that. Tyler Allgeier then picked up seven yards on first down, and then took it another six yards for a first. Allgeier then got another eight yards, and then popped over the line for another first. Cousins then held the ball a long time and Jake Matthews batted it down safely. Cousins then hit Drake London over the middle for a seven yard gain. Bijan then powered it in for a touchdown to knot things up. 7-7 tie.

The Falcons crushed the Panthers back deep, but a penalty gave Carolina much better field position. Andy Dalton tried to run it and picked up a couple of yards.

2nd Quarter

Dalton then threw it low for an incompletion. A quick pass over the middle to Legette didn’t go for much. Punt, and Avery Williams returned it about ten yards.

Cousins hit Kyle Pitts, who hit a wicked stiff arm en route to a six yard pickup. A free rusher almost got Cousins on the next play, forcing him to throw it away. On third down, the pass to Mooney was deflected, but Ray-Ray McCloud was able to snatch it out of the air for a first down. Robinson then took it four yards. Cousins then went to London, but it was dropped. Then McCloud made another nice grab for a first down, stretched out and almost fumbled it, and Dave Canales challenged it. The ruling changed to a fumble recovered by Carolina.

Hubbard took it up the middle for about 13 yards. On first down, Hubbard made it a couple of yards, followed by a three yard gain on second down. Miles Sanders then reeled it in for a first down and the Panthers were at the 9. Hubbard then caught a short pass and fumbled out of bounds after a yard. Hubbard then picked up four yards. Dalton then was under pressure and had to throw it away. Field goal try, naturally, and it was good from short. 10-7 Panthers.

The Falcons got going with a six yard carry for Bijan, followed by a short sideline catch by Mooney for another six and a first down. Robinson then got a couple of yards, and then Cousins went to a wide open Pitts downfield, who rumbled inside the 10 yard line. Then Bijan punched it in for a touchdown thanks to a nice block by Jake Matthews, and an unnecessary roughness call on the defense made that worse for Carolina. Because they were closer, the Falcons went for two and got it, with Allgeier plowing in to make it 15-10 Falcons.

Hubbard got zero yards on the next play, with Jarrett making the tackle. A pass interference call on A.J. Terrell working against Diontae Johnson earned Carolina a first down. Jarrett blew into the backfield to tackle Sanders for a loss. A quick pass to Hubbard under pressure went nowhere, with Clark Phillips making the tackle for a four yard loss. A pass under duress over the middle hit Sanders for maybe five yards, and Carolina had to punt. That punt was partially blocked by Zach Harrison, and Phillips picked it up and returned it a ways with a Carolina penalty adding to the tally and giving Atlanta great field position.

A handoff to McCloud went three yards. On second down, Cousins found London, who spun out of contact to pick up about 15 yards. Robinson got the carry for about three yards, and Allgeier took it a couple more. On third down, Cousins fired it in to London for a touchdown in between a couple of defenders. 22-10 Falcons.

A decent return gave the Panthers the ball at the 24 yard line. A fast pass from Dalton went off Johnson’s hands, as it was a little too high. Dalton then threw a first down ball, and then another big pass downfield over the middle to a rookie tight end. Hubbard took it about four yards as the clock continued to run, and then a quick pass to the sideline stopped it at 43 seconds and gave the Panthers favorable position. Unfortunately, a missed sack from the Falcons defense allowed Dalton to scramble for 14 yards. A quick pass to Hubbard over the middle went for seven yards, but an illegal shift call on the Panthers backed them up. Another short pass to Hubbard went for close to 10 yards, and then Dalton hit Legette for a touchdown. 22-17 Falcons.

The Falcons knelt out the half.

3rd Quarter

Touchback on the opening kickoff. Two yards ensued on a Bijan Robinson run, and then Cousins hit London for seven yards. Bijan then took it three yards for a first down. On the next play, he rumbled for another first down outside, picking up about 12 yards. Bijan then hurdled a defender to pick about nine yards. Allgeier then picked it up for about six yards. Cousins then threw one a tick off, but Mooney was able to corral it for a first down. Allgeier then took it for about five yards on first and goal, and then took it for maybe a yard on second down. On third down, Cousins looked for London and the ball was knocked out, preventing a score. Younghoe Koo hit the easy 21 yarder to make it 25-17 Falcons.

Touchback. Chuba Hubbard took it all the way to midfield on a 15 yard scamper. Dalton then went to Jonathan Mingo for about a yard. Miles Sanders then got two yards, and then Dalton hit Legette over the middle for an easy first down. Dalton tried Ian Thomas but it went through his hands on first down. A quick pass to Diontae Johnson over the middle got another first down. A tricky play featuring multiple tosses ended up back in Dalton’s hands for a deep ball that didn’t get there. Hubbard then picked up a first down running through the middle, but a holding call erased it. Dalton hit Johnson for about seven yards. Pressure finally forced Dalton to not throw it and keep it, and he only picked up maybe a yard. The 40 yard field goal try was good to make it 25-20 Falcons.

Touchback. Cousins hesitated on first down and then threw it to Pitts, but it was tipped up and fell incomplete. A short pass to Robinson picked up about five yards, and then he hit McCloud over the middle for a first on a very nice catch. Then he fired it to London for about 25 yards. He went back to London again on the next play for another easy first down. Bijan then took it about six yards, but a holding call on Chris Lindstrom backed them up 10 yards. Cousins found Allgeier for a couple of yards, and then had to dump it off to Robinson for another threeish yards. Then Cousins had to throw it away to the back of the end zone, and Pitts was the intended target and didn’t make a huge effort to go get it, to Mark Sanchez’s considerable consternation. Koo’s field goal was good, however. 28-20, Falcons.

The Panthers returned it, but lost yardage on a penalty and started around the 10 yard line. Miles Sanders caught it for about eight yards.

4th Quarter

Hubbard then picked up nine yards running up the middle. Hubbard got another first down on the next play. Hubbard then got another seven yards, and then dove through the middle for another five yards and a first. Johnson then hauled it in for a first down. Terrell then made a quick run stop, and on the next play hauled in an interception to end the Panthers drive, his first interception in a long time. Turnover!

Tyler Allgeier’s first carry was a huge one, as he broke multiple tackles en route to about a 15 yard carry. He followed that up with three yards on the ground, and then Cousins founds Pitts on the sideline for a first down. Bijan then found a hole and ran it for about 15 yards and a first down. Robinson followed that up with seven yards and fighting through contact. Allgeier then found a hole and took it for about six yards and a first down. Allgeier then broke another tackle and got it down to the two yard line. The Falcons then took a shot to Mooney but it was a touch high. Allgeier then powered it in for the touchdown. 35-20 Falcons.

Blackshear took it across the 30. Dee Alford broke up the low pass to Johnson on first down. On second down, Dalton had to scramble away from pressure and gained a couple of yards on the run, but a holding call on Carolina backed things up. A pass to Ja’Tavion Sanders went for about six yards, and then Sanders caught it again for another 10 yards or so for a 4th and 4. That fourth down play saw Dalton throw off-target, and it was tipped into the air for an incompletion. Turnover on downs.

Allgeier went ahead and picked up seven yards on first down. Allgeier then rolled for another sevenish yards and a first down. Allgeier then picked up about four yards, and then got another yard or two, Allgeier then went nowhere on third down. Koo hit the field goal try from 35 yards to make it 38-20 Falcons.

Carolina threw it for nine yards on first down, and the Hubbard caught one for a first down. Then Clark Phillips jumped in front of the pass and intercepted it, taking it inside the five yard line on his return. The Falcons then knelt it out to win.