By Steve Reed, AP Sports Writer, Louis Fernandez, WRAL Sports

Atlanta Falcons	38
Carolina Panthers	20
Final

Charlotte, N.C. — After keeping it tight in the first half, the Carolina Panthers lose steam in the second half, falling to the Atlanta Falcons 38-20. Carolina has now lost three games in a row since its win against the Las Vegas Raiders in September. Atlanta outscored the Panthers 16-3 in the second half. Falcon running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier combined for 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns. The Panthers fall to 1-5 on the season.

Carolina will hit the road next Sunday, playing rookie phenom Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders. Kickoff is 4:05 p.m.

38-20, Falcons lead 4Q 2:11 remaining

Falcons tack on another field goal. Koo hits his third of the day.

35-20, Falcons lead 4Q 5:38 remaining

The Falcons make Carolina pay for its mistake. Atlanta goes 84 yards down the field and scores on a 2-yard Tyler Allgeier run. The Falcons have run for 183 yards in the game, with Robinson and Allgeier approaching 100 yards each.

28-20, Falcons lead 4Q 10:47 remaining

It was a good looking drive for the Panthers, going more than 50 yards, but it ends in a turnover. Dalton gets a little greedy, trying to fit a tight ball to Ian Thomas on second down. It’s intercepted by A.J. Terrell.

28-20, Falcons lead 3Q 0:07 remaining

Another Younghoe Koo field goal extends the Falcons lead, but keeps it a one posession game

25-20, Falcons lead 3Q 4:51 remaining

Carolina and Atlanta are swapping long drives now, but the Panthers have to settle for another Pineiro, this one from 40 yards out.

25-17, Falcons lead 3Q 10:04 remaining

First drive out of halftime and the Falcons add to their lead. Atlanta drives all the way to the Panthers 3-yard line, but settle for a Younghoe Koo field goal. If you remove the one-play kneel down at the end of halftime, the Falcons have score on three straight drives.

22-17, Falcons lead 2Q 0:07 remaining

It’s moments like this that you’re reminded how much of a pro Andy Dalton is. The veteran quarterback leads an 8-play, 75-yard drive in just 1:35. scrambling for 18 yards at one point and finding rookie wide receiver Xavier Legette from 7 yards out for a touchdown with just seven seconds remaining. It’ll be a game going into the second half.

22-10, Falcons lead 2Q 1:42 remaining

After a mishap on special teams, the Falcons take advantage of great field position. Cousins finds wide receiver Drake London from three yards out, Falcons lead 22-10.

15-10, Falcons lead 2Q 6:03 remaining

The Falcons are moving fast now. All they need is five plays to respond to Carolina’s field goal. Quarterback Kirk Cousins finds tight end Kyle Pitts down field, who runs down to the 7-yard line. Robinson scores his second touchdown of the game and after a penalty, Atlanta converts the two-point conversion with a Tyler Allgeier run up the middle.

10-7, Panthers lead 2Q 8:48 remaining

Carolina’s defense makes a play! Falcons wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud dives after the catch, trying to pick up a first down. The ball comes out and rookie linebacker Trevin Wallace recovers it on the Falcons 41-yard line. Panthers get into a goal-to-go situation, but aren’t able to find the end zone. Eddy Pineiro makes the field goal from 24 yards out and lead 10-7.

7-7 1Q 0:38 remaining

The Atlanta Falcons answered with a long touchdown drive of its own. 12 plays, 70 yards, finished with a 5-yard touchdown run from Bijan Robinson. The Falcons faced a third down three times and converted it each time, including a pass interference penalty on Jaycee Horn.

7-0, Panthers lead 1Q 5:56 remaining

After back-to-back three and outs from both offenses, quarterback Andy Dalton and the Panthers get to work. Carolina goes on a 12 play, 67-yard drive, taking up 6:33 of game clock, capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Dionte Johnson. Carolina converted three third downs on the drive. Johnson already has three catches for 46 yards and the score.

Preview

Kirk Cousins has the Atlanta Falcons on the rise.

The Falcons (3-2) will look to make it three wins in three weeks against NFC South foes on Sunday when they visit the struggling, injury-riddled Carolina Panthers.

Atlanta is coming off tight victories against the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers behind Cousins, who has settled in nicely after a slow start to the season.

The former Minnesota Vikings quarterback threw for a franchise-record 509 yards and four TDs in a 36-30 win over the Bucs last week that moved the Falcons into a tie for first place in the division. This week he’ll face a Panthers defense that has surrendered a league-high 33 points per game and 20 touchdowns.

Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said the 2-0 start in the division has his team feeling confident.

“I’m not shy about saying that,” Jarrett said. “I’m excited to be in the position that we are going forward, being in the driver’s seat. But I’m also even more excited because … we continue to get better every week. And that’s the sweet part about it.”

The Panthers (1-4) are a mess following a 36-10 loss to the Chicago Bears — their third time getting blown out this season.

Coming off an NFL-worst 2-15 record last season, Carolina wasn’t a particularly deep team to begin with and now has lost defensive end Derrick Brown, linebacker Shaq Thompson and center Austin Corbett to season-ending injuries. Also, receiver Adam Thielen is on injured reserve and tight end Tommy Tremble is in the concussion protocol.

Even Taylor Moton, a mainstay at right tackle who has played in 120 straight games since being drafted by the Panthers, will miss his first game Sunday with a triceps injury.

First-year coach Dave Canales is trying to keep his players’ hopes up and avoid a doom-and-gloom mentality for a team that hasn’t been to the postseason since 2017.

Running back Chuba Hubbard said Canales’ upbeat personality has helped.

“Honestly, I have probably never met somebody so positive in my life,” Hubbard said. “He has a great outlook on the big picture. Even when when things aren’t going your way he reminds us to trust the process and we will get there. And we believe in that.”

Hubbard on the run

Hubbard has been one the few bright spots for the Panthers, averaging 105 yards rushing per game over the last three weeks with three total TDs. He has also developed into a reliable receiver.

Hubbard is averaging more than 6 yards per carry over the last four games.

“He’s not afraid of the dirty 2- and 3-yard run, where you just kind of have to cram it up in there,” Canales said. “And then later on in the game, they start popping into 8s and 12s, and here comes a 25. Just the discipline and his willingness to really commit to the system.”

The problem for the Panthers has been their penchant for falling behind, which has put added emphasis on throwing the ball.

Bengals reunion

Falcons safety Jessie Bates III is looking forward to his reunion with former Cincinnati Bengals teammate Andy Dalton, now Carolina’s quarterback. He said he’s also hoping for an opportunity to pick off a pass from his buddy.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Andy,” Bates said. “That was my quarterback when I got drafted in Cincinnati in 2018. So I’ve just got a lot of respect for how he goes about his work. He played a big part in how I operate to this day.”

When asked how Dalton impacted his career, Bates said he learned as a rookie from watching Dalton and “his process every day.”

“As a young guy, I feel like everybody should, you know, see how the leaders of your team operate,” Bates said.

Bates said Dalton “has always been known for getting the ball out quick and, you know, being super decisive with his reads.

“Obviously they’ve struggled the last couple of weeks, but Andy’s, you know, a really great dude and a really great player as well. Excited to go against them. Hopefully get some picks off him.”

Red-zone woes

If the Falcons reach the red zone, probability suggests there’s a great chance they’re going to score a touchdown this week.

No team has been worse at red-zone defense than the Panthers, who have allowed their opponents to find the end zone a remarkable 88% of the time they’ve penetrated the 20-yard line.

Canales said that stems from the team’s inability to stop the run.

“We have to get some stops and give our offense a chance to stay in the game,” cornerback Jaycee Horn said.

Name dropping

Falcons receiver Darnell Mooney’s strong start, including a two-touchdown game last week, has given Cousins another top target. Coach Raheem Morris said Mooney also has impressed during game-week preparations in the same way he saw Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp work with quarterback Matthew Stafford.

“You can just see how locked in he is in the game plans,” Morris said of Mooney. “And he’s got that too-cool-for-school attitude in meetings, but man, he gets everything. And he comes out of those meetings and he absolutely knows it all. He’s extremely locked in on the detail of what we’re trying to do from a holistic standpoint.

“I was fortunate enough to be around Cooper Kupp and his relationship he had with Matthew Stafford,” added Morris, the former Rams defensive coordinator. “And I won’t compare us to those guys after five games, but I definitely see some of the similarities.”

Fill-in line

Brady Christensen will make his first start at center in place of Corbett, while the Panthers will turn to Yosh Nijman at right tackle. Christensen has played both guard and tackle in the past.

Source: wralsportsfan.com