Falcons 9 - Panthers 24

Steve Smith celebrated his first touchdown of the season with an emphatic spike that sent the ball into the stands. His Carolina Panthers teammates then watched as he frantically tried to retrieve the ball from a fan.

“I was trying to tell him, ‘Hey, don’t, just give it him,”’ Jake Delhomme said. “And he said, ‘No, I need to do something with it.”’

Nearly two months after he broke teammate Ken Lucas’ nose with a sucker punch, Smith handed the ball to Lucas on the sideline, perhaps the final chapter of the ugly training-camp incident as the cohesive Panthers celebrated a 24-9 win over the Atlanta Falcons Sunday.

“I was going to congratulate him on the touchdown and he said, ‘This is for you,”’ Lucas said. “He took the high road and that showed a lot about him as a person.”...more

 

Scoring Summary			ATL - CAR
1st Quarter
7:13	CAR	TD	Jonathan Stewart rushed to the left for 8 yard gain (John Kasay made PAT)	0 - 7
1:33	ATL	FG	Jason Elam kicked a 33-yard field goal	3 - 7
2nd Quarter
12:12	ATL	FG	Jason Elam kicked a 44-yard field goal	6 - 7
2:31	CAR	TD	Jake Delhomme passed to Steve Smith down the middle for 56 yard gain (John Kasay made PAT)	6 - 14
0:37	ATL	FG	Jason Elam kicked a 44-yard field goal	9 - 14
3rd Quarter
1:39	CAR	FG	John Kasay kicked a 44-yard field goal	9 - 17
4th Quarter
12:03	CAR	TD	Jake Delhomme passed to Muhsin Muhammad to the right for 36 yard gain (John Kasay made PAT)	9 - 24

Team Statistics
	ATL	CAR
First Downs	17	19
Passing	9	13
Rushing	5	5
Penalty	3	1
Third Down Efficiency	2-13	3-12
Fourth Down Efficiency	0-2	0-0
TOTAL NET YARDS	268	401
Total Plays	66	62
Average Gain Per Play	4.1	6.5
NET YARDS RUSHING	118	107
Rushes	23	33
Average Per Rush	5.1	3.2
NET YARDS PASSING	150	294
Completions-Attempts	21-41	20-29
Yards Per Pass Play	3.5	10.1
Times Sacked	2	0
Yards Lost to Sacks	8	0
Had Intercepted	0	0
PUNTS	6	5
Average Punt	42.3	49.0
PENALTIES	5	11
Penalty Yards	45	90
FUMBLES	0	0
Fumbles Lost	0	0
TIME OF POSSESSION	27:45	32:15

FALCONS: The Falcons plan to pound running back Michael Turner at the Panthers' defense. They have figured out that they'll see eight and nine man fronts. Instead of getting jumpy, they plan to send extra blockers and stick with the run. Norwood will come in for a change of pace and quarterback Matt Ryan can throw it deep against single-safety coverage...FULL STORY

PANTHERS: Although Steve Smith is back in the lineup, the Panthers still want to be a running football team against the Falcons this week. Atlanta's defense ranks 23rd in rushing yards per attempt allowing five yards per carry. So expect more of the same from Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams. Look for DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart to split carries again...FULL STORY
 

Led by Michael Turner, the Falcons are averaging 203.0 rush yards per game through Week 3, best in the league. Turner's five rushing TDs and 366 rush yards in the first three games of the season are both most in Atlanta franchise history

Jake Delhomme was sacked five times by the Vikings in Week 3