Playing for the NFC South title and a possible playoff berth, the Falcons found themselves in high-scoring affair with the Panthers that creeped into overtime.
The Panthers, behind the play of quarterback Bryce Young, defeated the Falcons, 44-38, on Sunday in somber Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Falcons finished the regular-season 8-9 as the fans booed the decision to go to overtime with time still left in regulation. The Panthers improved to 5-12.
“I was really disappointed in the defense today,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said.
The NFC South division title went to the Bucs, who defeated the Saints, 27-19, in Tampa to improve to 10-7. The Saints finished 5-12.
With the win, the Bucs claimed their fourth consecutive NFC South title and head to the playoffs as the third seed in the NFC. They’ll host the Commanders.
The Falcons needed a win and a Bucs loss to claim the division title and go to the playoffs. The Falcons owned the tiebreaker because they beat the Bucs twice this season.
The Falcons have not had a winning season since they were 11-5 in 2017. That was also the last time they went to the playoffs and lost to the Eagles in the divisional round.
In overtime, the Panthers won the toss and Panthers running back Miles Sanders scored on a 1-yard run in overtime for the victory. It was the end of a horrible day for the Falcons’ defense, which gave up a season-high in points and yards (537).
“We couldn’t stop them,” Morris said.
Young, who was benched earlier in the season, accounted for five touchdowns. The Panthers had scored 30 points in regulation just twice this season (36 vs. Raiders on Sept. 22; 30 vs. Cardinals on Dec. 22.)
“There is no pointing fingers,” Falcons safety Justin Simmons said. “We just didn’t do a good enough job on either the coverage, plastering (nor) rushing them. Those type of situations, you do a good job for the first three seconds and then not, the next three (seconds). That’s tough.
“That’s always going to be a recipe for a loss.”
The Falcons wasted outstanding performances from quarterback Michael Penix Jr., running back Bijan Robinson and wide receiver Drake London.
Penix completed 21 of 38 passes for 312 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He finished with an 88.9 passer rating. Robinson rushed 28 times for 170 yards and two touchdowns. London caught 10 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns.
“Really proud of our young stud quarterback, giving us a chance, keeping us in that football game,” Morris said. “Going out there being able to deal, do the things he was able to do.”
Young, the former Heisman Trophy winner from Alabama, completed 25 of 34 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns. He finished with a passer rating of 123.5. He rushed five times for 24 yards and two touchdowns.
“He was outstanding,” Morris said. “He was able to move around and manipulate the pocket... and find people down the field. They were able to run the football. Stay on track.”
The Falcons’ pass rush has showed improvement since the bye week, but did not register a sack or quarterback hit against the slippery Young.
“We couldn’t tackle him,” Morris said. “When we got back there and got to him, we couldn’t get him on the ground. We couldn’t find a way to find him. Then down the field, he made some really big-time throws.”
Behind a balanced attack, the Falcons held a 24-17 halftime lead.
Robinson provided 83 rushing yards and a touchdown, while London caught six passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. Penix also added a rushing touchdown on a 5-yard run.
The game opened with both teams making field goals on their first possessions.
The Falcons were stopped on fourth down on their next possession. The Panthers scored on a 2-yard touchdown run by Young to take a 10-3 lead.
The Falcons answered with a 10-play, 70-yard drive that was capped by Penix’s TD to tie it, 10-10.
The Panthers came back with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Young to Sanders, who scored with outside linebacker Matthew Judon giving chase to make it 17-10.
Robinson had a 3-yard touchdown run for the Falcons to tie it 17-17. The Falcons’ defense forced a stop, and the offense received the ball back with 40 seconds left in the half.
Penix connected with wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud for a 42-yard gain and then tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to London with :03 left in the half.
The Panthers had the ball to start the second half and were forced to punt.
Penix, under duress, threw a low pass to McCloud that he tipped up in the air. The ball was intercepted by Panthers cornerback Mike Jackson.
The Panthers converted the turnover into a 12-yard touchdown pass from Young to tight end Tommy Tremble who was wide open. The Falcons were clearly playing the run on fourth down-and-1 and got burned.
The Falcons next drive stalled, and kicker Riley Patterson missed a 52-yard field goal attempt, wide right.
The Panthers went on the move and reached the Falcons red zone. Young tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to David Moore, who got inside of cornerback Clark Phillips III to make it 31-24 with 1:02 left in the third quarter.
The Falcons scored and they traded two touchdowns as the game was 38-38 with :46 seconds to play. The Falcons got the ball back with 17 seconds. After running a play, they let final :08 run off the clock to the dismay of the remaining fans.
Penix was the bright spot of the Falcons.
“I mean, we were executing the simple plays,” Penix said. “Early on, we weren’t able to run the ball as much, but we (were) able to pick that up later on in the game. Bijan and Tyler (Allgeier) were making big time plays. The offensive line was doing a great job, giving them opportunities to make those plays.”
With wide receiver Darnell Mooney out with a shoulder injury, Penix targeted London 18 times.
“So, it was good to see everybody executing in the pass game,” Penix said. “I started off a little cold early on. Missing a couple throws, but I just started to get in a rhythm.”
The Falcons started out 6-3 this season but won only two of their final eight games. They switch quarterbacks with three games to play, going with Penix over veteran Kirk Cousins, who was leading the league in interceptions.
While the offense showed promise, the defense is likely in for a major overhaul.
“We did not come out to play today on defense,” Morris said.
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