Carolina Gets Payback Over Atlanta

NFL News - November 15th, 2009 - Written by John

One quarterback in the Carolina Panthers' game against the Atlanta Falcons was roughed up, and the other one shined. In a flip from their last meeting in Week Two, it was Delhomme who played error free, though. For the third game in a row, Delhomme didn't turn the ball over, and threw for 195 yards and two touchdowns.

Both went to unhappy Steve Smith in a 28-19 win on Sunday. Meanwhile, Matt Ryan was battered in the pocket all day, nearly having his legs rolled over twice and throwing two interceptions. He now has more interceptions (12) than he did all of last year, and the Falcons' chances of repeating their remarkable season in '08 seem fleeting. The Panthers seem to have the momentum in the division to grab an elusive wild card spot in the playoffs, with a loss by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the same time. At 4-5, Carolina would likely have to win at least five of it's next seven games against the likes of Minnesota, New Orleans, New England and New York (N).

Carolina forced the second-year veteran into pressure-packed situations by taking a large lead early on, and pounding the ball up the middle with DeAngelo Williams.

Williams, who was questionable leading up to the game, ran for 92 yards and had a long of 28. His platoon-mate, Jonathan Stewart, also had his hand as part of the league's finest tailback duo, running for 82 yards on 11 carries, with a long of 45.

But the Panthers caught a break midway through the second quarter. Atlanta's Michael Turner seemed poised for a monster day on the ground, running for 111 yards in the blink of an eye before leaving the game with an ankle injury. He didn't return and back-ups Jason Snelling didn't do the trick. He had only 61 yards on 18 carries.

Atlanta had a chance to comeback late in the game, but one long drive ended in a missed field goal, and another ended with Richard Marshall's interception of Ryan that effectively ended the game. Jonathan Stewart was the main beneficiary of the turnover, scoring the game-clinching 45-yard touchdown with just over two minutes left.

Ryan had a miserable first half, going 7-of-19 for 48 yards, but was better in the second, getting his team back to within two points. On fourth-and-one, he ran a bootleg wide right and unloaded a dart into the gut of tight end Justin Peelle to make it 21-19.

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