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Panthers hold on to defeat Falcons, 30-20

4:02 pm December 9, 2012, by D. Orlando Ledbetter

CHARLOTTE – Splat!

That was the sound of the NFC South champion Falcons falling flat on their faces against the last-place Carolina Panthers Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.

The Panthers, behind a strong showing from quarterback Cam Newton, defeated the Falcons 30-20 and slowed down Atlanta’s march to claiming the NFC’s top seed.

The Panthers jumped out to a 23-0 early third quarter lead and held on to improve to 4-9, while the Falcons slipped to 11-2.

“They were much better than us today,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “They beat us in all three phases. We couldn’t sustain drives on third down offensively. We couldn’t even come close to getting them off the field on third downs (defensively).”

The Falcons needed a win and bizarre trifecta of other losses to claim the top seed for the playoffs, which comes with a bye and home-field advantage throughout.

Carolina Panthers' Cam Newton (1) throws a pass as Atlanta Falcons' Sean Weatherspoon (56) defends during the first half of an NFL football game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

The Falcons are still ahead of San Francisco (9-3-1) and Green Bay (8-4, before playing Detroit on Sunday night). They have a 1 ½ lead over the 49ers with three games to play.

The Falcons want to put this stinker of game behind them quickly.

“It better be a bump in the road if we are the team we think we are,” tight end Tony Gonzalez said.

In recent years, the hottest team in December has gone on to enjoy post-season success.

The Falcons have been eliminated in their first game of the playoffs in three of the past four season.

They wanted to start the fourth-quarter of the regular-season by building some momentum into the playoffs.

With the New York Giants up next, they could end up stumbling into the playoffs.

“I can hear them right now,” Gonzalez said. “They are getting off the band wagon. They are jumping off.

“From looking at our history, a lot of people are going to say, ‘see I told you.’ But we are a good football team. There is no doubt about it. We are going to play better. …We are going to be back to playing the way we have been playing.”

Newton, of Fulton County’s Westlake High and Auburn, completed 23 of 35 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns. He had a passer rating of 110.1. Newton also rushed nine times for 116 yards, including a 72-yard touchdown.

“You’ve got to take your hat off to him,” Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon said. “It was his day.”

There was a lot of talk before the game from the Panthers.

They said they were disrespected by Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who was seen on Fox television cameras telling the Panthers to “get the (bleep) off our field” after the Falcons pulled out a 30-28 win on Sept. 30 at the Georgia Dome.

Carolina defensive end Greg Hardy also said the Panthers were better than the Falcons. The Falcons seemed amused by all of the chatter.

“They’ve been fired up all week,” Gonzalez said. “We heard it all week and they came out and got after us.”

Carolina jumped out to a 16-0 halftime lead.

Here last season, the Falcons were down by 16 at the half, but rallied to win.

Not this time.

Newton broke loose on a read-option run and scampered 72 yards. Graham Gano’s extra point made it 23-0 with 11:01 left in the third quarter.

The Falcons came back with two touchdowns, but after Roddy White’s two-point conversion catch was ruled incomplete, the rally died.

The Panthers answered when DeAngelo Williams scored from 53 yards out on a screen pass to make it 30-13 with 4:11 to play

The Falcons added a 1-yard touchdown run by Michael Turner for the final 30-20 margin.

“I like the way we responded in the second half if you’re looking for the silver lining,” Gonzalez said.

The Falcons had not played since beating New Orleans 23-13 on Nov. 29.

“I’m a little disappointed with the way we came out,” Gonzalez said. “There is no excuse for that.”

Smith felt the team had a good week of practice and made no excuses for them coming out flat against a feisty Carolina squad.

“They played well and we didn’t play up to our standard,” Smith said.

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186 comments Add your comment

CGD..

December 9th, 2012
10:50 pm

The [Legend of Bo Jackson] is must see TV..

Fal-cons, not so much..

BravesFan79

December 9th, 2012
11:44 pm

Smith should of approached this game as a “i dont care about yall scrubs”… and rested all the starters after halftime. Falcons will probably loose 1 more game before the end of the season, but no big deal. We still get the #1 seed and go to the NFC title game… Mark It Down!

ClassicFalcons

December 10th, 2012
2:37 am

THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING…

AS SOON AS WE WIN NEXT WEEK…

YALL WILL BE PROCLAIMING WERE BACK TO SUPER BOWL CHAMPS. FOH.

WORST FANS IN THE HISTORY OF SPORTS!!!!

LOVE MY BIRDS… GETTING A RING THIS YEAR.

NIKKA NIKKA NIKKA DONT BELIEVE ME JUST WATCH!!!!

same ole same ole

December 10th, 2012
6:30 am

Panthers hold on ??? Really ? a wierd take on a game they controlled from start to finish !

PapaK

December 10th, 2012
6:51 am

Who were those guys dressed up like Falcons during yesterday’s game? It certainly wasn’t the same guys who won 11 games. I’m not surprised at the defense but the offense was horrible. Ryan didn’t look like himself at all. I could always feel confident that he could make things happen but not any more.

Me Too

December 10th, 2012
6:53 am

What do you expect when the Head Coach thinks the answer to the running game is a USED UP running back named Michael Turner. This is the standard of play.

south ga fan

December 10th, 2012
6:58 am

THE TRUE FOOLS ARE THE ONES THAT KEEP TAKING UP FOR MIKE SMITH(BOBBY COX) JR.

Mike is Back

December 10th, 2012
9:08 am

Dled, disappointing loss…I kind of thought we were going to go up there and punch them in the mouth…and remind them we are the MIGHTY BIRDS. I didn’t like the feel of that game going into the week. Glad we didn’t sustain any major injuries.

I expect the BIRDS to bunch back and kick some asssssssssssssssss…against the GMan.

RISE UP BIRDS…BEAT THEM GMAN…LET’S GO…LET’S GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Esquire is in the HOUSE

December 10th, 2012
9:26 am

I see I have gotten under the skin of scene this b 4 so badly he has abandoned his own handle for mine. ROFLMAO

Good, that A hole had it coming.

Note to Scene:
You never should have come on the Falcons Blog Peeshwank. How does it taste, your own medicine that is? I know you were thinking I meant something else.

I see Scene has been busy posing as me…………..has a lot of time on his hands. Idiot.

THIS IS MY FIRST POST, NONE OF THESE ARE MINE.

Esquire
December 9th, 2012
4:05 pm
Esquire
December 9th, 2012
4:06 pm
Esquire
December 9th, 2012
4:07 pm
Esquire
December 9th, 2012
4:40 pm
Esquire
December 9th, 2012
4:51 pm
Esquire
December 9th, 2012
5:20 pm
Esquire
December 9th, 2012
5:31 pm
Esquire
December 9th, 2012
5:33 pm
Esquire
December 9th, 2012
5:37 pm
Esquire
December 9th, 2012
5:41 pm
Esquire
December 9th, 2012
6:54 pm

Stupid, asinine, idiotic, and comedic comments by SceneThisB4 can be found on nola.com, enjoy the laughter.

Brothas Hunt 2

December 10th, 2012
9:31 am

Same old…same old from Coach Smith and the Falcons. Matt Ryan is a good QB playing behind an average offensive line. The elite teams in the league (Giants, Packers, 49ers, Patriots, and Texans) know you beat the Falcons by pushing Todd McClure and Sam Baker into the backfield. This causes Matt Ryan to get happy feet and this also clogs up running lanes. Ryan does not have time to go through his reads and this is why he locks onto Tony and Roddy.

Bottom line is that we need better talent on the O-line and D-line. This is will not get fixed this season the Falcons organization already know this. We will make it to the playoffs and with luck on our side we might win a playoff game.

BH2

The Biscuit

December 10th, 2012
9:44 am

Who was it that said you can’t “fix” ugly? Man, the Falcons were as ugly as you can get yesterday. It has to be The Curse. How can a team with not only one, but TWO, 1000 yard gaining receivers by season’s end and a HOF tight end with 60 some odd catches for some 700 yards not score a single point in three quarters of football against a 3 and 9 last place team? That defies the laws of the universe, does it not? I’ll have to watch it again on the DVR and see how that happened. Moving forward the Falcons should game plan to put 40 points on the board in each and every game they play from here on out. Then hope that’s enough! At least take your shots and look like you are trying to win the game. If this is like “professional wrestling”, we are all wasting our time here. And if Dominique Franks fair catches one more punt inside the ten yard line I am going to stick my head inside an oven. Go Falcons.

Panther Joey

December 10th, 2012
10:04 am

Thanks for the laughs Falcons! Enjoy your usual playoff bed-wetting!

robert

December 10th, 2012
10:09 am

what really pissed me off was Decoud smiling when he gave up the touchdown pass to the tight end in the first quarter. What the hell was there to smile about? You just got your ass handed to you by a tight end. Sometimes i really dont understand the mindset of this team. Whoever the gm is whats his name? didnt draft anyone or try tp improve the DL. They are small And built for the dome. But not all games are played in the dome.

The Biscuit

December 10th, 2012
10:34 am

Well, here’s the lead line from espn.com’s coverage of the game: “The Atlanta Falcons were back in playoff form on Sunday.”

The Biscuit

December 10th, 2012
10:42 am

On the bright side, if the Falcons can “eek” out at least one more win, it looks like they will get the bye game and the playoff home field advantage yet again! 49er’s have back to back away games coming up against New England and Seattle. Green Bay and Chicago play each other next Sunday at Soldier Field. So, one more win should be enough with the 1 and 1/2 game lead with three to go. Go Falcons.

Answer This

December 10th, 2012
10:46 am

Thanks for the whipping yesterday Panther Joey………..it was a wake up call. Now as for waking up you guys look set for a top 10 pick in the draft? LOL. See you next year celebrating 1st downs! Amazed me how Steve Smith, showboats on EVERY first down yet he calls out Sham Newton………darn Steve where you think he got all that showboating from? You guys handed us our hats yesterday after you knocked it off……….but we still NFC Champs and you still not going to the playoffs. Have a talk to the Olineman who had talks of Super Bowl. Tell him to enjoy that Madden game where Carolina still cant win……….hehehehehe. See you next year with a new coach and new scheme. Later kitty.

jbill

December 10th, 2012
10:59 am

Falcon are a joke!!!!

Let the sorry Panthers kick your a@@ after bad mouthing you all week.Where’s the PRIDE!!!!
Does this story sound like a re-run from the past…you never know which Falcon team will show up.
I’ve lost all faith in them……

jbill

December 10th, 2012
11:04 am

The GM, TD needs to kick some a@@ himself..put up are get the he!! out!!!!

shoulda, woulda, coulda sayin'

December 10th, 2012
11:36 am

0-3, headed to 0-4…funny how these fans are blamin’ the refs…this team has gotten the calls all year long…luck has run out…

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WTF

December 11th, 2012
8:09 am

Did anyone else notice that when Hardy was telling the Falcons to get off their field, he only said it when none of the Falcons were around him, except the for our kicker. He was quiet as the other Falcons walked by him. Real tough guy.

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