Ryan heaves Falcons past Panthers
ATLANTA - Matt Ryan took the snap in his own end zone and threw it about as far as he could. Roddy White went up and got it. Matt Bryant took it from there, giving the Atlanta Falcons another victory.
ATLANTA - Matt Ryan took the snap in his own end zone and threw it about as far as he could. Roddy White went up and got it. Matt Bryant took it from there, giving the Atlanta Falcons another victory.
After Ryan completed a 59-yard pass to White, Bryant kicked a 40-yard field goal with five seconds remaining to keep the Falcons perfect with a 30-28 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
The Falcons (4-0) are off to their best start since 2004, when they reached the NFC championship game. Despite taking seven sacks, Ryan threw three TD passes. Bryant added three field goals.
The Panthers (1-3) nearly clinched it on quarterback Cam Newton's run with just over a minute remaining, but he fumbled the ball while trying to dive for the necessary yardage. Carolina recovered and wound up punting, downing the ball at the Atlanta 1. But Ryan immediately got the Falcons out of the hole, throwing the 59-yarder to Roddy White. Four plays later, Bryant won it.
Ryan took an awful beating - the Penn Charter grad was hit nine times after throwing and was hurried on eight other attempts - but still managed to throw for 369 yards.
White caught a pair of TD passes, but his biggest play came after Carolina downed the ball in the shadow of the Atlanta end zone with 1 minute, 9 seconds left. The Falcons had no timeouts, so Ryan just stepped back and hurled one from the back of the end zone. Although sandwiched between cornerback Josh Norman and safety Haruki Nakamura, White managed to leap over both of them to bring down the pass at the Carolina 40. A pass-interference call and two short completions set things up for Bryant, who had yet to miss on his first eight attempts this season.
He was automatic again, even after the Panthers called their final timeout just before the snap looking to freeze him. Bryant went ahead and kicked it away - right through the uprights - then did it again when it counted.
Falcons 30, Panthers 28
Carolina 7 7 7 7 – 28
Atlanta 7 10 7 6 – 30
First quarter
Car–Olsen 17 pass from Newton (Medlock kick), 11:45.
Atl–White 49 pass from Ryan (Bryant kick), :26.
Second quarter
Atl–FG Bryant 41, 13:11.
Car–D.Williams 13 run (Medlock kick), 8:44.
Atl–White 14 pass from Ryan (Bryant kick), 1:49.
Third quarter
Atl–Turner 60 pass from Ryan (Bryant kick), 10:17.
Car–Newton 4 run (Medlock kick), 3:16.
Fourth quarter
Car–Pilares 36 pass from Newton (Medlock kick), 7:55.
Atl–FG Bryant 33, 4:57.
Atl–FG Bryant 40, :05.
A: 69,594.
Car Atl
First downs 21 24
Total Net Yards 404 426
Rushes-yards 35-199 19-121
Passing 205 305
Punt Returns 3-23 2-17
Kickoff Returns 2-55 1-27
Interceptions Ret. 1-21 0-0
Comp-Att-Int 15-25-0 25-40-1
Sacked-Yards Lost 3-10 7-64
Punts 6-45.2 5-47.0
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 9-64 2-15
Time of Possession 30:06 29:54
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: Carolina, Newton 9-86, D.Williams 11-49, Stewart 10-40, Tolbert 4-14, Smith 1-10. Atlanta, Turner 13-103, Rodgers 6-18.
Passing: Carolina, Newton 15-24-0-215, A.Edwards 0-1-0-0. Atlanta, Ryan 25-40-1-369.
Receiving: Carolina, Olsen 6-89, Smith 3-52, Pilares 1-36, A.Edwards 1-12, Murphy 1-8, Stewart 1-8, Tolbert 1-8, D.Williams 1-2. Atlanta, White 8-169, Gonzalez 5-51, Rodgers 4-40, Turner 3-68, Snelling 3-5, Jones 1-30, Douglas 1-6.
Missed Field Goals: None.
