It was an entertaining game for a while at least.
This was an entertaining game, as the Panthers managed to stay in it for most of the game. However, they never took the lead and constantly shot themselves in the foot when they had a chance to make a meaningful difference in the lead. Let’s dive in.
First Quarter
The Panthers and Falcons, as long time rivals, very much mirrored each other in the first. The Panthers got 3 plays on their first drive, but an Ikem Ekwonu false start put them in a bad down and distance, punt. The Falcons responded with a 3 and out of their own, leading to the start of the game. The Panthers put together a solid but not pretty 12 play drive that ended with Andy Dalton hitting Dionte Johnson on 3rd down for the score. The Falcons responded in kind with their own 12 play, not pretty but effective drive, capped off with Bijan Robinson riding into the endzone to tie the game. The Panthers got the ball to end the quarter, and in hilarious Panthers fashion ended it with a broken play that ended with Dalton gaining two rushing yards.
Second Quarter
The drive continued but ended 2 plays later as Xavier Legette caught a pass well short of the first down, looked like he and Dalton were on different pages. The Falcons started to put together a drive, but they ended up giving the ball away after a catch turned fumble by Ray-Ray McCloud. Props to Dave Canales for challenging the original ruling. After a burst of a run by Chuba Hubbard, the offense stalled and settled for a field goal to take a 10-7 lead. The Falcons responded on the ensuing drive as Kyle Pitts caught a pass and ran it all the way to inside the Panthers 10 yard line. Bijan Robinson scored again, and then following a penalty on the Panthers Tyler Allgeier scored on the 2 pt conversion, 15-10 Falcons. The Panthers responded by getting negative yards and then getting a punt blocked, tacking on a 10 yard penalty against them for good measure, to give the Falcons the ball at the Panthers 27 with plenty of time to add points before the half ended. They did add points, as Kirk Cousins hit Drake London shortly after to put the Falcons up 22-10. The Panthers took over with a little time left, and they capitalized. A big pass to Ja’Tavion Sanders and a 20+ yard run by Andy Dalton set the offense up in scoring position. We saw a costly penalty by Dionte Johnson, but a completion to Chuba Hubbard set up a no huddle opportunity for Dalton to engineer some points. And he did just that, hitting rookie Xavier Legette for six while the Falcons defense was trying to reset. The score was 22-17 Falcons, and it was very much still a game.
Third Quarter
The Falcons opened the half swinging, driving the ball all the way to the Panthers 3 yard line. A nice pass breakup by Mike Jackson forced a Falcons field goal, giving them a 25-17 lead. The Panthers responded in kind, as they did a nice job of getting into scoring distance, only for a penalty to once again stall them. An Eddy Pineiro field goal brought the gap to 25-20 Falcons. The Falcons once again fired back, though were cut short after a missed pass by Kirk Cousins to Kyle Pitts. They kicked a field goal to bring the game to 28-20.
Fourth Quarter
The Panthers built a solid drive by handing the ball off to Chuba Hubbard multiple times. Then, Andy Dalton threw a bad interception to kill the drive. The Falcons quickly capitalized by driving the ball into the Panthers redzone, capped off by a Tyler Allgeier rushing touchdown. 35-20 Falcons. The Panthers took over and did nothing with it, as a misfire by Dalton on 4th down gave the ball right back to the Falcons with 4 minutes left. The Falcons bled the Panthers’ timeouts, and kicked a field goal to bring the lead to 38-20. Another Andy Dalton interception on the ensuing drive sealed it.
The Panthers are 1-5, and will face the Commanders next week.