Falcons finish strong to down Panthers 38-20

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Atlanta Falcons suspected the Carolina Panthers would put up a fight.

They did with veteran quarterback Andy Dalton trying to have a flashback, the Panthers were on the move in a one-score game. But cornerback A.J. Terrell stepped in front of a pass intended for tight end Ian Thomas for an interception to help lift the Falcons to a 38-20 victory on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.

Finally, the Falcons didn’t have a one-score game that went down to the final seconds.

Terrell’s last interception was on Jan. 2, 2021 in a 29-15 loss to the Bills. Before the pick, Terrell had played 36 games without getting an interception.

The Falcons promptly moved down the field on a nine-play, 84-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a 2-yard run by running back Tyler Allgeier. Clark Phillips III also added a late interception to help wrap up the game.

With the victory, the Falcons improved to 4-2 on the season, while the Panthers dropped to 1-5.

Earlier in the day, the Buccaneers pulled away from the Saints to post a 51-27 victory and improve to 4-2. The Saints dropped to 2-4. The Falcons and Bucs are tied for first place, but the Falcons own a head-to-head win.

The Falcons leaned on their rushing attack, going for a season-high 198 yards. Bijan Robinson rushed 15 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Allgeier rushed 18 times for 105 yards and a touchdown.

Cousins completed 19-of-30 passes for 225 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. He finished with a passer rating of 97.2. Wide receiver Drake London caught six passes for 74 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Kyle Pitts has three catches for 70 yards, including a 52-yard gain that jump-started the offense.

The Falcons leaned on their rushing attack after a slow start by Cousins to help them build a 22-17 halftime lead over the Panthers.

The Falcons had a chance to take firm control of the game, but gave up a late touchdown drive in the second quarter. The Falcons went up 22-10 when Cousins tossed 3-yard touchdown pass to Drake London with 1:42 left in the second quarter.

Dalton promptly took the Panthers on a touchdown drive. He connected with tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders for a 21-yard gain to get the drive started.

Dalton slipped the grasp of outside linebacker James Smith-Williams and scooted around the left side of the defense for an 18-yard gain. (His longest run since 2018). Two plays later, Dalton tossed a 7-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Xavier Legette with :07 left on the clock.

The game opened with an exchange of punts.

Carolina, on its second possession, put together a 12-play, 67-yard drive with Dalton tossing a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Diontae Johnson with Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell in coverage. Dalton was 6-of-8 passing in the drive.

The Falcons responded with a 12-play touchdown drive of their own that was capped by a 5-yard run by Bijan Robinson to make it 7-7.

After a punt by the Panthers and a controversial fumble by wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud, the Panthers took a 10-7 lead on Eddy Pineiro’s 24-yard field goal. McCloud was originally ruled to have made a catch and had enough yards for a first down.

The Panthers challenged and the play was overturned with a “clear recovery” by Panthers linebacker Trevin Wallace (Wayne County High).

Cousins found tight end Kyle Pitts up the right side for a 52-yard gain that set up a 7-yard touchdown run by Robinson. The Panthers were called for a low block and that moved the conversion try to the 1-yard line. Tyler Allgeier scored to make it 15-10.

The Falcons got a stop and Zach Harrison tipped a punt by Carolina’s Johnny Hekker. The punt went 15 yards, Clark Phillips III returned it 15 yards and after 10-yard holding penalty was enforced, the Falcons had the ball first down-and-10 at Carolina’s 27.

Five plays later, Cousins toss the TD pass to London.

The Falcons’ drive to open the third quarter stalled and Younghoe came on to make a 21-yard field goal to make it 25-17. The Panthers answered with a 40-yard field goal from Pineiro.

The Falcons stalled again with the help of a holding penalty called on right guard Chris Lindstrom. Koo made a 31-yard field goal to make it 28-20 with :07 left in the third quarter.

Koo also added a 35-yard field goal with 2:11 to play

The Falcons are set to host a well-rested Seattle team at 1 p.m. ET Sunday at Mercedes Benz Stadium. The Seahawks lost 36-24 to the 49ers on Thursday and will be coming off their mini-bye week.

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