Atlanta scores, leads 24-7 in third quarter

The Falcons just squashed any real hopes of a Carolina comeback, scoring on a 3-yard run by Michael Turner to extend its lead to 24-7 with 4:41 left in the third quarter.

The Panthers, down 17-7, had gotten the ball to the Atlanta 38 after Jonathan Stewart (11 carries, 114 yards so far) ripped off a 42-yard run. But then Steve Smith dropped a low throw from Jimmy Clausen that could have gotten a first down. Coach John Fox elected to go for it on fourth-and-4 from the Falcons 38 -- it would have been a 56-yard field goal for John Kasay -- and Clausen took a sack for a loss of 13.

That gave Atlanta great field position, and the Falcons only needed 5 plays to traverse 49 yards for the TD -- three of them passes to Pro Bowl wide receiver Roddy White.

Panthers cut lead to 17-7

Just after the Panthers' offense had had one of the worst halves in franchise history, it started the second half with a big bang.

The Panthers went 81 yards in five plays on their opening drive of the second half, scoring on Mike Goodson's 13-yard TD run and slicing Atlanta's lead to 17-7.

The entire drive was on the ground and was punctuated by Jonathan Stewart's 48-yard run to the Tampa Bay 21 (there was great blocking on the play). Before that was a 12-yard Steve Smith reverse -- Smith's first touch of the day -- and after that there were two Goodson carries, for eight yards and then the TD.

With just over 10 minutes left in the third quarter, Carolina is within 10.

Falcons extend lead to 17-0 at halftime

Atlanta just ground out one of those long marches it has made a living on this season, taking 18 plays and 8:38 off the clock before scoring on a 39-yard field goal from Matt Bryant to make it 17-0 with 2:34 left in the second quarter.

The Panthers did stop the Falcons, finally, thanks to Jon Beason's deflection of a pass and sure tackle on successive plays. But Atlanta cashed in anyway on Bryant's field goal, making it a three-possession game for the Panthers.

Carolina got the ball back, couldn't move it (of course) and punted. Matt Ryan made a rare bad throw on the last play of the first half, which was intercepted by Richard Marshall, and the Falcons went into the half ahead 17-0.

A couple of halftime stats for you: the Panthers have two first downs so far (Atlanta has 13). Quarterback Jimmy Clausen is 3-for-5 for 14 yards and has been sacked four times for minus-19, so the Panthers actually have lost five yards passing so far.

Atlanta has outgained Carolina, 202-33, at halftime.

Atlanta up 14-0 in first quarter

The Falcons have now scored on each of their first two possessions, and they lead 14-0 after a one-yard Michael Turner plunge with 6:51 still left in the first quarter.

Jimmy Clausen has yet to throw a pass for Carolina -- which fumbled on its first offensive play and went 3-and-out on its second series -- and the Falcons already have what should be an insurmountable lead against the NFL's worst offense.

The Falcons' key play was a third-down conversion from Matt Ryan to Harry Douglas that went for 46 yards as Douglas beat rookie Robert McClain down the sideline (but not my much; Ryan's throw was perfect).

After that, it took Atlanta three runs from the 9-yard line to score. Turner fumbled on one and Jordan Senn recovered, but Turner was ruled down on the field before the fumble and, after a John Fox challenge, the call was upheld.

Atlanta 7-0 after 85 seconds

The Carolina Panthers couldn't have started much worse on a dreary day at Bank of America Stadium.

Carolina got the ball first and -- on its first play from scrimmage -- Jonathan Stewart fumbled the ball away.

Atlanta took only 3 plays to score from the Panther 29 after that -- a 9-yard pass, a 16-yard run from Michael Turner and a 4-yard pass from Matt Ryan to Tony Gonzalez for the score.

After 85 seconds, the Panthers were down, 7-0.

At least not too many people saw it in person -- the stands look to be about 1/3 full.

Panthers-Falcons notes and prediction

Some thoughts on Sunday’s matchup:

-- The 10-2 Falcons have to be salivating at the idea of facing 1-11 Carolina twice in the season’s final four weeks. They will play again in the Georgia Dome Jan.2, which will be the last game that coach John Fox and most or all of his staff will be employed by the Panthers.

-- The two teams really couldn’t be more opposite. Atlanta is tied with New England for the best record in the NFL. Carolina has the worst. The Falcons have won six straight. Carolina has lost six straight.

-- Atlanta isn’t blowing people out like, say, New England. The Falcons have won seven games in the fourth quarter or overtime this season. And they are only one game up on New Orleans (9-3) in the NFC South race, however, meaning the Falcons’ playoff position could be almost anywhere. Atlanta would be No.1 if the season ended today, but could drop all the way to No.5 if the Saints overtake them. So this game means a lot to Atlanta – and Jan. 2nd likely will, too.

-- The most damning statistic about quarterback Jimmy Clausen right now is that he’s thrown more touchdown passes to the other team (two) than to his team (one). Clausen is not throwing enormous numbers of interceptions – and he’s got to lead the league in throwing the ball away – but the ones he does throw seem extremely costly.

-- Watch Atlanta on third down Sunday to see an offense -- and a quarterback in Matt Ryan -- that knows what it’s doing on football’s most important snap. The Falcons lead the NFL in third-down conversions – they are successful 48.1 percent of the time. Carolina gets third down right 32.4 percent of the time (30th in the NFL)

-- I’m 9-3 picking Panther outcomes this season. This one would seem to be almost too easy, but Carolina actually plays the Falcons tough most of the time and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the game stay tight for a half. Bottom line, though: Falcons 24, Carolina 10.

An excerpt from my live chat

Here's an excerpt from my live chat today with Observer readers, where I answer questions for an hour. Tom Sorensen or I usually do this on Tuesdays from noon to 1 p.m., although today I did it on Thursday. The whole transcript can be found (for now anyway) at the following link:

Q: Would you rather spend big money on a big name coach for the Panthers or go under the radar with a previously unmentioned coordinator and use that cash to load up on free agents? Or will Jerry just go cheap and keep the money for himself?

A: The coach and the quarterback are the two most important components on an NFL team. So I think you get the right guy at the top, whatever that takes. Do that first. Then hit a home run in 2011 draft. And then, suddenly, the players who look so bad this year may not look so bad anymore.

Q: Scott, what do you make of Coach Fox's comment of "I have no idea what you are talking about" in regards to JR's letter to the PSL holders yesterday. Is the lack of communication and their relationship really THAT bad at this point?

A: I thought it was great evidence of the disconnect between Fox and Richardson -- amazing, really, that a letter would go out to 60,000 PSL holders and Fox would never know that it happened.

Q: Scott, I just saw an NBA mock draft for 2011 showing Harrison Barnes the #2 overall pick, is he really considered to go that high?

A: Ridiculous. Just like putting Barnes on the first-team preseason All-American team was ridiculous. Does a lot of things pretty well, but does nothing unbelievably well at this point. If anyone took Barnes at No.2 right now, that'd be a mistake.

Q: Scott, why does your partner Tom [Sorensen] seem to always disagree with the popular opinion of any sporting issue in Charlotte....the most recent example being his article on the Hornets naming issue this morning.

A: Tom likes to be a contrarian. It is his nature and we love him for it. For instance, he
predicted the Panthers would go 9-7 this season in the newspaper.