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| ATL at CAR | BUF at MIA | CHI at OAK | CIN at BAL | CLE at PIT | DAL at NYG | DEN at KC | DET at ARI |
| IND at SD | JAX at TEN | MIN at GB | PHI at WAS | SF at SEA | STL at NO | ||
Week 10 Game Recap: Atlanta Falcons 20, Carolina Panthers 13
What you need to know
| Atlanta Falcons |
The Falcons won a defensive battle in Carolina. Neither team had a lot of offense but Joey Harrington was able to hit Alge Crumpler late in the game for a 30 yard touchdown. Harrington finished the game with 192 yards and one touchdown. He was able to manage the game effectively and did not throw an interception.
Atlanta relied heavily on Warrick Dunn giving him 26 carries and also throwing to him four times. He opened the scoring with a 30 yard touchdown run. Dunn ended up with 89 rushing yards. He also had three catches for 51 yards.
Roddy White had six catches for 57 yards and Laurent Robinson added five catches for 32 yards. Robinson had a costly turnover that Carolina returned for a touchdown. The play of the game was a short pass to Crumpler who immediately cut up the field and split the defense to go for a 30 yard game winning touchdown with just 26 seconds left.
The Atlanta defense was able to stop Carolina from scoring on the offensive side of the ball. DeAngelo Hall made a nice play on Steve Smith by stripping the ball from him near the goal line that resulted in a touchback. Atlanta was able to hold Carolina to just ten first downs in the game.
| Carolina Panthers |
Vinny Testaverde got the start and played a mistake free game. It seemed for the most part that the Carolina game plan was for Testaverde to not lose the game. Testaverde went 13 of 28 for 153 yards. He had no touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Carolina rushing game never got on track. Foster gained 59 yards on 20 carries with DeAngelo Williams adding 27 yards on seven carries. Carolina picked up just two first downs on the ground.
Steve Smith had five catches for 61 yards. Smith caught a pass and was then stripped by DeAngelo Hall at the two yard line. The ball went out of the end zone for a touchback. Smith did make a great juggling catch in the fourth quarter. The drive ended in a field goal that tied the game at the time.
The Carolina defense gave up a couple of big plays that resulted in Atlanta touchdowns. With under a minute to go in the game, the passing defense gave up a 30 yard touchdown to Alge Crumpler. The highlight for the Carolina defense was when they created a fumble and returned it for a touchdown.
What you ought to know
| QB Joey Harrington, Pass: 19 - 26 - 192 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 |
Harrington went 19 of 26 for 192 yards and a touchdown. He managed the game well and avoided the mistakes that have cost the Falcons in previous games. He wasn't intercepted and was sacked only twice. Harrington made the play of the game when he hit Alge Crumpler perfectly in stride for a touchdown with just 26 seconds left in the game. In the first half Harrington was drilled and had to come out of the game. He only missed one play though.
| QB Chris Redman, Pass: 1 - 1 - 9 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Redman came into the game for one play when Harrington got hurt. Redman completed the pass for nine yards.
| RB Warrick Dunn, Rush: 26 - 89 - 1, Rec: 3 - 51 - 0 (4 targets) |
Warrick Dunn carried the load for the Falcons. He had 26 carries for 89 yards including a touchdown on a nice 30 yard run. The run was his longest of the season. Dunn also added three catches for 51 yards. Dunn only had two red zone carries but they were around the 15 yard line so they weren't exactly legitimate scoring chances.
| RB Artose Pinner, Rush: 1 - -3 - 0 |
Pinner got one carry in the game. In the fourth quarter, on a third and one from the Carolina 26 yard line, Pinner lost three yards.
| WR Roddy White, Rec: 6 - 57 - 0 (11 targets) |
White caught six passes for 57 yards. He had a career high 11 targets in the game. White picked up three first downs but did not see any red zone opportunities.
| WR Laurent Robinson, Rec: 5 - 32 - 0 (5 targets) |
Robinson was targeted five times and caught all five passes. He gained 32 yards on those plays but he had a big fumble that was scooped up and returned for a touchdown by Carolina.
| WR Michael Jenkins, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (2 targets) |
Jenkins caught one pass for six yards. He was thrown to twice on third down plays but neither play resulted in a first down.
| TE Alge Crumpler, Rec: 2 - 39 - 1 (2 targets) |
Crumpler caught just two passes in the game. His first pass was in the first quarter for nine yards and a first down. He didn't see another target until just 26 seconds left in the game. Harrington hit him on a short pass over the middle and when he turned up the field, he split two defenders and went the rest of the way to the end zone for a 30 yard touchdown.
| TE Dwayne Blakley, Rec: 1 - 11 - 0 (1 targets) |
Blakley caught one pass for 11 yards. It was on the opening drive of the game and was good for a first down.
| TE Martrez Milner, Rec: 1 - 1 - 0 (1 targets) |
Milner caught one pass for one yard. The pass came late in the second quarter. Milner was injured on the play but did come back to the game. He was later injured again on a Warrick Dunn run.
| PK Morten Andersen 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points |
Andersen hit on field goals of 36 and 47 yards. He made both of his extra point attempts as well.
| ATL Rush Defense |
Atlanta was able to limit the Carolina running game to just 90 yards which included a four yard burst by Vinny Testaverde. The Falcons held Carolina to only two first downs on the ground. With both offenses struggling, the defenses set the tone in the game. The Atlanta rush defense stopped Carolina five times for runs of negative yardage.
| ATL Pass Defense |
The Atlanta pass defense held Carolina to just 153 passing yards. They had two sacks on Testaverde. The defense did pull down an interception but it was on the final play of the game when Carolina was forced to throw a Hail Mary pass to try to tie the game. The big play for the Atlanta defense was when Testaverde hit Steve Smith near the goal line but DeAngelo Hall stripped the ball and it went out of the end zone for a touchback.
| QB Vinny Testaverde, Pass: 13 - 28 - 153 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 4 - 0 |
Testaverde was able to play after testing his Achilles in the pre game warm-ups. He finished the game going 13 of 28 for 153 yards and no touchdowns. For most of the game, Carolina did not try to open up the offense. It was late in the game when Testaverde was given the chance to make some throws. He drove them down the field and Carolina was able to tie the game with a field goal.
| QB Matt Moore, Pass: 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 TD / 1 INT |
Moore came in for the last play of the game. He threw a Hail Mary pass but it was easily intercepted.
| RB DeShaun Foster, Rush: 20 - 59 - 0, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets) |
Foster was bottled up by the Atlanta rush defense. He gained only 59 yards on 20 carries. He also caught one pass for five yards. Foster could only manage a nine yard run for his longest of the game.
| RB DeAngelo Williams, Rush: 7 - 27 - 0 (1 targets) |
Williams carried the ball seven times for 27 yards. He was thrown to once but the pass was incomplete.
| WR Steve Smith, Rec: 5 - 61 - 0 (11 targets) |
Smith was thrown to 11 times in the game. He caught five passes for 61 yards. Smith made a great juggling catch over the middle to pick up 20 yards down to the Atlanta 35 yard line. That was the good part for Smith. The bad was when Smith caught a pass down at the Atlanta two yard line but fumbled the ball out of the end zone for a touchback. The score would have tied the game at seven points each.
| WR Drew Carter, Rec: 3 - 28 - 0 (6 targets) |
Drew Carter was thrown to six times, catching three passes for 28 yards. Carter picked up a couple of first downs including one down to the Atlanta 17 yard line. Prior to his catch down to the Atlanta 17, Testaverde had tried to hit him deep down the right side for a potential score.
| WR Dwayne Jarrett, Rec: 2 - 28 - 0 (4 targets) |
Dwayne Jarrett got into the game and caught two passes for 28 yards. Testaverde looked his way on third down three of the four times he was targeted. He went deep on a couple of passes and caught one for 22 yards. It got Carolina out from deep in their own territory.
| WR Keary Colbert |
Colbert was sidelined with a foot injury and did not play in the game. Drew Carter replaced him.
| TE Jeff King, Rec: 2 - 31 - 0 (5 targets) |
Jeff King caught two passes for 31 yards. He was thrown to five times including a deep pass in the end zone that was incomplete.
| PK John Kasay 2 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points |
Kasay made field goals from 29 and 31 yards. He also made one extra point.
| CAR Rush Defense |
The Carolina rush defense gave up just 88 yards on 28 carries. They did get burned for a big touchdown run by Warrick Dunn in the first quarter. The rush defense only allowed five first downs on the ground. Take away the 30 yard run by Dunn and Atlanta gained just 58 yards on 27 carries, an average of just 2.1 yards per carry.
| CAR Pass Defense |
The Carolina pass defense allowed only 192 yards through the air but they gave up a late touchdown to Alge Crumpler. The touchdown gave the Falcons the win with just 26 seconds to go in the game. The defense recorded two sacks and forced a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. It was Carolina's only touchdown of the game.
