Atlanta Falcons End Perfect Season Of The Carolina Panthers

The 18-game regular season winning streak of the Carolina Panthers was disrupted by the Atlanta Falcons. The loss also prevented the Panthers from becoming the second team to end the regular season with a perfect 16-0 record.

Carolina continues to lead the pack with a 14-1 record, which was enough for the team to gain a home-field advantage throughout the entire NFC playoffs. However, the team will not be able to join an exclusive perfect record club, which only has the 1872 Miami Dolphins as its member. The quest for a perfect regular season was ended when the team lost to the Falcons, 20-13.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said the loss of a potential undefeated season “didn’t tickle.” He also said they got beaten in the game and they deserved it to a certain degree. The Panthers may be thinking about how they lost to a team they battered around two weeks ago. However, the Atlanta Falcons seemed to be the team that started the season with a perfect 5-0 record before it went down 7-7 before the upset on Sunday. The Panthers did not appear to play their best game as it showed some flaws prior to the playoffs.

Greg Olsen, tight end of the Panthers said they picked a bad day to play bad. Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman can confirm that the Atlanta Falcons played well on Sunday as he saw Atlanta receiver Julio Jones outplay his opponents in the game. Jones grabbed a total of nine passes for 178 yards. The biggest was a third quarter catch that led to a 70-yard touchdown. Norman said Jones is among the best receivers of the league.

Newton acknowledged that his play was wanting after he was unable to lead the offense of the Panthers after the team scored a touchdown during their opening drive. The Carolina Panthers quarterback was also unable to lead his team downfield despite having a chance to tie or lead the game during the final minutes of the game. The first drive was plagued with three consecutive incomplete passes. Atlanta sealed the game after rookie Vic Beasley of the Atlanta Falcons forced a fumble on the final drive of the Panthers.

Atlanta Falcons End Perfect Season Of The Carolina Panthers - image credit: ftw.usatoday.com

The defensive play of Carolina was also considered as among the biggest issues of the team as it allowed Atlanta to convert nine of fifteen chances. Carolina coach Ron Rivera said they were unable to coach or play to their abilities.

A good number of Carolina fans trooped into the George Dome to support their team. The game was emotionally-charged from the very start.

Officials also appeared to establish control of the game from the start following the on-field scuffles between Norman and Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants. Panthers corner Charles Tillman was given a penalty for unnecessary roughness after he got tangled up with Roddy White. The flag was thrown after the Atlanta Falcons was stopped by the Carolina Panthers on third down.

Atlanta benefitted from the penalty as the team finished a sixteen-play touchdown scoring drive that reduced the game clock by at least nine minutes. The penalty was considered a “huge call” by Rivera, who wants to discuss it with league officials.

Norman was expecting the officials to closely monitor the game after what happened in their games against New York. He added that officials took control of the game from the very start. Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis said he was thinking about a perfect season before the game. But, with the end of the winning streak with the loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Davis said it is time to start another one.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Monday December 28 2015, 12:50 PM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0