FALCONS 45, PANTHERS 28: Falcons win? No fear here by JEFF SCHULTZ; Staff , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Updated: November 24, 2008, 9:31 AM EST add this RSS blog email Print This season already had seen its share of big wins.
The opener against Detroit, for the mere cleansing factor. The consecutive wins against Green Bay and Chicago, for the statement about hanging with playoff contenders. The shutout at Oakland, if no other reason than to prove they could smack down a hysterically dysfunctional team without laughing and hyperventilating.
This was different. Why? Because it's almost December and the Falcons are still here. Because the Carolina Panthers are probably the second-best team in the NFC, behind only the team that won the last Super Bowl. Because it's 11 games into the season, and now you're seeing things that would cause even a genie granting three wishes to owner Arthur Blank to balk and respond, "You're kidding, right?"
Harry Douglas: secret weapon. Michael Turner: four touchdowns. Mike Smith: passing up an easy field goal with a three-point lead, going for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line --- and succeeding.
"It's starting to get scary," Lawyer Milloy said.
Yeah, that about sums it up. The Falcons dumped the Panthers 45-28 Sunday. At this point, what else would you expect?
Six possessions into the game, the Falcons held a 17-0 lead and the Panthers didn't have a first down. When Carolina closed to 17-13 in the third quarter, quarterback Matt Ryan engineered a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, smoothly operating out of a no-huddle offense.
Carolina cornerback Chris Gamble later said, "I can't believe he's a rookie," and at this point we must assume he's the last one who hadn't said it.
This was the Falcons' chance to go south. They were coming off a bad home loss to Denver, playing a team that drilled them 24-9 in late September. They were facing the prospects of dropping to 6-5 overall and 1-3 in the division and 4-4 in the conference --- numbers that doom playoff hopes.
A team wins a game like this, over an opponent like this, at a time like this --- it gets everybody's attention. If this were college Football, the Falcons would be leapfrogging teams in the BCS.
"We knew there were playoff implications riding on this game," center Todd McClure said. "Nobody really wanted to say that in the locker room. But we knew it.
"To come out and win this game in the division is huge."
Ryan alone makes Thomas Dimitroff's first draft a success. Douglas just made it better. The third-round pick out of Jonesboro, by way of Louisville, scored the Falcons' first touchdown on a 7-yard reverse, set up the second touchdown with a 27-yard punt return, had a 69-yard reception to set up a touchdown and returned another punt 67 yards for a score and caught four passes covering 92 yards.
Next week, he splits the atom.
But it was Mike Smith, the first-year coach, who owned this game's biggest moment. The Falcons led 24-21. Douglas' 69-yard catch moved the offense to the Carolina 6. Three plays later it was fourth down from the 1 with 7:16 left. An easy field goal would've forced the Panthers to score a touchdown to win. Smith didn't hesitate: He kept the offense on the field. Following a timeout, Turner got the ball and blew through a hole over left tackle into the end zone.
"I like it," Dimitroff said later of the fourth-down decision, smiling. "I like the call better than the toss in Philly."
The reference was to Ryan's decision in Philadelphia from the 1-yard line to attempt a pass on a fade route to Roddy White. The pass was underthrown and intercepted, and the Falcons lost.
Sunday's decision to go for the touchdown on fourth down --- and to run --- was more closely aligned with Smith's personality. He wants a physical team, an aggressive team.
"It's a message we've wanted to send from the very beginning," he said.
Milloy watched from the sideline as Turner scored the touchdown, then walked up to Smith.
"After the play, I went over to him and said, 'Way to let your bleep hang' --- you know?" Milloy said, employing a veteran's self edit. "We're a reflection of him."
Eleven games later, they're still here, and they're getting better. Scary.
Calendar