The Atlanta Falcons secured a 38-20 victory against the Carolina Panthers Sunday afternoon at Bank of America Stadium.
This was the third straight victory for the Falcons with all three victories being over the other three teams in the NFC South. They sit at number one in the division now, with 3-0 divisional record.
The Falcons were led on the ground by running backs Tyler Allgeier and Bijan Robinson with 200 yards combined. Robinson had two rushing touchdowns and Allgeier added another late in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins went 19-of-30 passing, accumulating 225 yards through the air and one touchdown of his own.
Drake London led all receivers with six catches for 74 yards on 10 targets. He caught Cousins’ lone touchdown pass.
The first half kept things close in a back-and-forth scoring affair.
The Panthers struck first with receiver Diontae Johnson snagging a pass from QB Andy Dalton in the endzone.
Robinson got his first touchdown of the game on the Falcons’ ensuing drive.
A few drives later, Carolina scored on an Eddy Piñeiro field goal making it 10-7 Panthers.
The Falcons’ next score came on another Robinson touchdown run. A penalty on the Panthers after the touchdown put the Falcons at the 1, so Allgeier ran it in for the extra two points. Atlanta forced a punt then scored on their next drive on a touchdown pass to London, this time kicking the extra point for a 22-10 lead.
Dalton threw a strike to Xavier Legette for another Panthers’ touchdown just before halftime to put the score at 22-17.
The second half was less eventful, with the Panthers only managing a field goal in the third quarter and no other points.
Younghoe Koo kicked a few field goals for the Falcons down the stretch accompanied by an Allgeier touchdown run for a final score of 38-20. Clark Phillips III sealed the game by picking off Dalton late in the fourth, the first interception of his career.
This was the first game of the season for the Falcons that wasn’t decided by one score.
Tight end Kyle Pitts has emerged as a major threat in the passing game with his recent performance. He has 158 receiving yards the past two games, the most in back-to-back outings for Pitts since his rookie season in 2021.
Up next, Atlanta gets ready to host the Seattle Seahawks next Sunday, Oct. 20.
