The Atlanta Falcons have made us into nervous football fans over the years, and even if your doubts only cropped up for a fleeting moment, I have little doubt that they appeared in unwelcome fashion when the Falcons went down early, allowed that last minute touchdown drive to the Panthers in the first half, or at some other point.
In 2024, though, this game served as a welcome reminder that those frustrations can be momentary ones and the larger concerns don't automatically equal losses. Despite some genuinely bad stretches of football, the Falcons won this game by 18 points and could have added more had Clark Phillips not made a Raheem Morris-applauded decision to cut his pick-six in the game's waning moments short so Atlanta could kneel it out and cut Carolina's .01% chance of a comeback down to zero percent.
They scored 38 points, allowed just six points in the second half, and took full advantage of a depleted Carolina defense to run for over 200 yards. After two incredibly discouraging losses to Carolina in 2022 and 2023, the Falcons ground them to dust by the end of this one.
In doing so, the Falcons did more than overcome the Panthers, though their 3-0 divisional record and perch atop the NFC South is of course of the utmost importance. The Falcons overcame a recent past that has seen them fall victim to letdowns against bad teams.
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