Panthers 24, Falcons 21. In an extremely close game, the Panthers held on to finally take a win off the undefeated Falcons.
First quarter, Falcons went three and out with some tight coverage from the Panther corners. The cardiac cats went right back down the field with some strong running from Deangelo Williams, but were held to a fg (I was not letting Ben throw an interception this game).
Second quarter, Xaroc responded quickly, with a sixty yard run by Michael Turner which set up a an acrobatic TD catch by Mclain. Falcons 7-Panthers 3.
The remainder of the half consisted of RB fumbles, with the Panthers getting to the red zone with DeAngelo fumbling and the Falcons recovering, and then Turner doing the exact same thing in the Panthers red zone with the Panthers recovering. After the recovery, the Big Ben lead a 2 minute drill to try and get into FG range, but Coker missed the 44 yarder. Half time: Falcons 7-Panthers 3
Third quarter, a combination of runs by DeAngelo (who fumbled again, but the panthers recovered), screens, and passes to Munchie Kosch (HE"S BACK) gave the Panthers another TD, while running the clock down. 10-7, Panthers going into the fourth.
Fourth quarter began with a lack of offense for both sides. Ryan threw a pick to John Beason (I think near the red zone), but the Panthers couldn’t do anything to convert. On the first play after receiving the punt though, Ryan threw a pick six, which put the Cats up 17-7. The Falcons came back quickly, throwing a beautiful deep pass to Roddy White on a streak route, which lead to a Gonzalez TD. Panthers 17-Falcons 14.
With time running out (1:42 on the clock), the Falcons opted for the on-side but failed to recover. Using only two timeouts, the Falcons put the Panthers in a 3 and 1 situation without much time being taken off the clock. The Cats called a screen, Falcons called an anti-screen blitz, but the Cats got lucky and Deangelo ran his way down the field for a 40 yard score. Panthers 24-Falcons 14.
Yet the football gods weren’t done with this game yet, no they were not. Perhaps for running up the score on the Lions, or for trading for a QB with questionable character (though when has that ever held the Panthers back?), the Panthers committed two pass interference penalties in a row on deep passes to the Falcon receivers. This lead to a quick TD pass by Ryan, leaving 54 seconds on the clock and the Falcons only being down by three.
Falcon’s go for the on-side, Panthers recover (my fifth string receiver recovered both those on-sides!), and Big Ben ended his first game in weeks without throwing an interception.
Really close game, and lady luck swung my way a little bit more this time. When the Falcon offense is clicking though, they are pretty much impossible to stop. Xaroc was literally a step off two or three passes that would have swung the game entirely in his favor.
Hopefully we will both make the playoffs, and as I am looking forward to another game. I still don’t have enough posts to put up links for video highlights, but Xaroc may have some if anyone wants.
