Matt Ryan, Falcons avenge earlier loss to Panthers, 25-17

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Matt Ryan threw for 281 yards and ran for a touchdown, Younghoe Koo made four field goals and the Atlanta Falcons held on to beat the Carolina Panthers 25-17 on Thursday night to avoid a series season sweep.

The Falcons (2-6) have had a penchant for squandering leads this season, coming into the game 1-3 when leading entering the fourth quarter.

Carolina was driving late, but Atlanta stalled the rally when Blidi Wreh-Wilson intercepted Teddy Bridgewater near the Falcons’ 10-yard line with 1:04 remaining.

Todd Gurley totaled 46 yards rushing and a touchdown, Julio Jones added 137 yards receiving and the Falcons’ defense limited the Panthers to 2 of 10 on third-down conversions to improve to 2-1 since Raheem Morris replaced Dan Quinn as head coach.

The win came in front of a crowd of 5,240 due to COVID-19.

Bridgewater tried to spur Carolina to a comeback after Koo missed an extra point that would have made it a two-possession game.

Bridgewater, who was knocked out of the game for two possessions with a neck injury following a late hit that resulted in Charles Harris being ejected, took over with the Panthers down by eight points. He completed a 35-yard strike to D.J. Moore on third-and-18 to move the Panthers into Falcons territory. But Bridgewater’s pass was picked off by Wreh-Wilson when he threw a pass up in traffic near the end zone.

Bridgewater was limited to 176 yards passing as the Panthers (3-5) lost their third straight game without injured Christian McCaffrey.

The Falcons avenged a 23-16 loss to Carolina on Oct. 11 in which Bridgewater threw for 313 yards and two scores and Mike Davis piled up 149 yards rushing.

Davis was held to 77 yards this time on a wet field where players routinely swapped cleats to adapt to the changing conditions.

Despite a number of penalties and lack of red zone production, the Falcons managed to build a 16-14 halftime lead behind a 13-yard touchdown run by Ryan and three field goals from Koo.

The Panthers had opened a 14-6 lead in the second quarter when Bridgewater found Curtis Samuel for a 29-yard touchdown pass on a well set up flea flicker. It was Samuel’s second TD of the half, scoring earlier on a 12-yard run up the middle to give Carolina its first lead.

The 24-year-old Samuel has three career games with a TD rushing and receiving, which trails only Jerry Rice (5) among wide receivers in the Super Bowl era.