By Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Matt Ryan can’t explain why he seems to own the Carolina Panthers.
He just does.
Ryan led yet another comeback victory over the Panthers, giving him six wins in his last seven starts against the division rival.
Ryan threw two of his four touchdown passes in the fourth-quarter to rookie Julio Jones and the Falcons erased a 16-point halftime deficit for a 31-23 victory on Sunday. Ryan finished with 320 yards passing and his four TDs matched a career high. Equally as important, Ryan kept the Falcons (8-5) in playoff position in the wild card race with three games left.
“We approached it as the first of four legs,” Ryan said. “We’ve knocked the first leg out and now we’ve got to move on and keep going.”
Atlanta closes the season with Jacksonville at home, at New Orleans and at home against Tampa Bay.
Ryan’s comeback shouldn’t surprise anyone – he seems to have Carolina’s number.
The first time the teams met, the Falcons trailed by three points in the fourth quarter but rallied for a 31-17 win on Oct. 16.
Down 16 points at the half, Ryan earned his “Matty Ice” nickname.
He came out of the locker room poised and calm but firing on all cylinders in the second half, throwing for 232 yards and three scores.
Jones, who finished with 104 yards receiving, was quiet for most of the game but caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Ryan to give the Falcons a 24-23 lead early in the fourth quarter. After Olindo Mare missed a field goal that would have put the Panthers up by two, Ryan went for the jugular and found Jones across this middle for a catch-and-run 75-yard touchdown with 4:17 left in the game.
Carolina’s final drive ended with an incomplete pass on fourth-and-5 from the Atlanta 27.
“He just kept his poise,” Jones said of Ryan. “He kept it positive on the sideline, encouraged us to keep it going, keep it going. Eventually, we did, and we came up with a ‘W’ at the end.”
Looking to push the tempo up, the Falcons went to a no-huddle offense quite a bit in the second half and tried to take advantage of a matchup with reserve cornerback Darius Butler on Jones.
Both of Jones’ touchdown catches came against Butler.
For the Panthers (4-9), it was more of the same, marking the sixth time this season they’ve lost after being ahead or tied in the fourth quarter.
Cam Newton started strong, completing 9-of-14 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns in the first half as the Panthers built a 23-7 lead. But Newton was intercepted twice in the second half, including once on a poor decision where he tried the shovel the ball ahead to running back Jonathan Stewart with his non-throwing left hand as he was falling to the ground. The result was a gift interception for Falcons linebacker Mike Peterson.
Ryan cashed in two plays later as running back Marquizz Rodgers beat linebacker James Anderson for a 31-yard touchdown.
The Falcons outscored the Panthers 24-0 in the second half.
“We just brought a different attitude out there in the second half,” said safety Thomas DeCoud. “They caught us off guard early with a couple of things they didn’t show us on film. In the second half, we bit down and did what we needed to get done.” –
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