By Joe Person, Josh Kendall and Jordy Fee-Platt
The Carolina Panthers used a second-half rally to beat the Atlanta Falcons 30-27 in overtime, extending Atlanta’s losing streak to five games.
Battling a right ankle injury, Bryce Young threw for a career-high 448 yards and three touchdowns, just his third career 300-yard passing game. In overtime, Young found tight end Tommy Tremble for a 54-yard connection to the Atlanta 15, which set up Ryan Fitzgerald’s 28-yard, game-winning field goal.
Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. left the game in the third quarter after taking a hard hit. He was listed as questionable with a knee injury, but did not return, and Kirk Cousins replaced him.
Atlanta’s offense dominated in the first half, as Penix completed 11 of 12 passes for 163 yards, putting together three consecutive touchdown drives. Wideout Drake London had seven receptions for 119 yards, and Bijan Robinson totaled 93 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns before halftime.
Carolina cut the deficit to 21-19 at the end of the third, and in the final moments of regulation, Young led the Panthers on a nine-play, 65-yard drive to give his team a 27-24 lead with 1:08 remaining. Cousins then led Atlanta into field goal range, and Zane Gonzalez hit a 45-yarder to send the game to overtime.
The Falcons’ losing streak is their longest since 2020, when Dan Quinn was fired after losing the first five games of the season.
Bryce goes off
After a week of hearing questions about the Panthers’ downfield attack, Young delivered the best passing game of his three-year career and broke Cam Newton’s single-game, franchise passing record in the process. Fighting through a right ankle injury that required a trip to the locker room in the first half, Young hung in against the Falcons’ pass rush and kept firing darts. He completed 31 of 45 passes for a Panthers-record 448 yards — his 318 yards in the second half and OT is a team record, too — and three touchdowns, two of which went to rookie wideout Tetairoa McMillan. Young authored a signature game in the Panthers’ OT win in Atlanta last year, but topped it this year. — Joe Person, Panthers beat writer
Carolina receivers step up
Xavier Legette had been a forgotten man much of the season. Yet, the first-round pick from 2024 made a great, fingertips catch for a 36-yard touchdown in the first half — his longest reception of the season. McMillan caught eight passes for 130 yards, while Young completed passes to nine different receivers. The list included Brycen Tremayne, forced into action late in regulation when Legette left with a hip injury. However, the biggest catch was Tremble’s 54-yard catch-and-run to set up Fitzgerald’s game-winning field goal. Tremble, an Atlanta native who had an earlier drop, refused to go down. — Person
Penix injury spoils redemption game
What appeared to be a bounce-back game for Penix ended in the third quarter when the second-year quarterback left with a knee injury. Penix came into his 13th NFL start in an uncomfortable spotlight after coach Raheem Morris acknowledged he felt he needed to “protect” Penix because he was taking his struggles and the team’s losing streak so hard.
The first half looked like it would be the perfect tonic for Penix, who was 11 of 12 passing for 163 yards as the Falcons built a 21-10 lead. However, Penix was injured on a Carolina blitz on Atlanta’s first drive of the third quarter, briefly falling to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium turf and being attended to by trainers before walking to the blue medical tent.
Penix was officially listed as questionable to return but spent the rest of the game on the sideline, first sitting on the bench and then standing on the sideline. The veteran Cousins, Atlanta’s would-be savior at the position a year ago, took over and finished the game 6 of 14 for 48 yards and led a game-tying field goal drive in the fourth quarter. Penix finished the day 13 of 16 for 175 yards. — Josh Kendall, Falcons beat writer
London shines again despite limited practice week
Drake London has earned a spot in any conversation about the league’s best wide receivers in the last six weeks, but Atlanta now has to worry about when its star will return to the field after he suffered a knee injury in the fourth quarter. London dove for a pass on the final offensive play of regulation and didn’t return during overtime. The team announced he was out with a knee injury.
London finished the game with seven catches for 119 yards against the Panthers, and he has now surpassed 100 yards in five of his last six games. His 108.5 receiving yards per game led the NFL in the last six weeks heading into Sunday’s afternoon games. He has six touchdowns in that span.
London also drew three flags on Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn. He entered the day questionable to play after being limited in practice this week by an illness and a back injury, and the thought of him missing any time must terrify a Falcons team that has yet to get any significant contribution from another receiver this season. — Kendall
A mixed bag for Atlanta’s special teams
Lost among all the other issues is how badly special teams have hurt the Falcons this year. Yet there was at least one bright spot there Sunday as Zane Gonzalez hit a 52-yard field goal and another from 45 yards in the fourth quarter to push the game into overtime. Gonzalez, who barely snuck his game-tying kick inside the upright, is the Falcons’ third kicker of the season. The team already released Younghoe Koo and Parker Romo after they missed key kicks.
However, it wasn’t all good news. Natrone Brooks fumbled away a kickoff on what would have been Atlanta’s first possession of the second half. The Panthers didn’t score on that possession, but it immediately blunted any momentum Atlanta had after having an 11-point halftime lead. As of Sunday afternoon, the Falcons were 28th in the NFL in expected points added via special teams (minus-23.94). — Kendall