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Panthers' victory over Falcons a needed one for a struggling franchise going forward

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — It wasn't necessarily a surprise that the Carolina Panthers beat the Atlanta Falcons for their first win of the season on Sunday.

The manner in which they did it, however, was rather stunning.

The Panthers completely dominated their NFC South rivals in every facet of the game, winning 30-0 in what was clearly the most impressive win of the Dave Canales era.

Carolina entered as a 5 1/2-point home underdog, but finally was on the right side of the turnover battle (plus-2).

The offense didn't do a lot and was actually outgained by the Falcons, but it scored on Bryce Young's touchdown run on the opening possession and that set the tone for the game. Carolina's defense repeatedly stymied Michael Penix Jr., forcing him into bad decisions while intercepting the second-year QB twice, one of which was returned for an 11-yard touchdown by Chau Smith-Wade. And, aside from one fumbled punt, Carolina's special teams outplayed Atlanta with difficult-to-handle knuckleball kickoffs while making three field goals against Atlanta's two misses, a 15-point swing.

“Collectively as a group we’ve been pushing on and really striving for playing good football,” said Canales, who received a game ball from his players.

The victory couldn't come at a better time for the Panthers.

Carolina had dropped its first two games on the road to start 0-2 for the third straight season under quarterback Young and the morale was getting low. A loss at home would have seriously impeded the team's chances of making the playoffs and likely kept fans away in droves.

Instead, the playoff-starved crowd got what it wanted — a reason to believe.

Carolina hasn't been to the postseason since 2017, the year before owner David Tepper purchased the team so the cynicism is high outside of the organization and confidence was in need of a shot in the arm inside the walls of Bank of America Stadium.

Sunday may have just given it to the Panthers.

Now the next challenge will be carrying that momentum forward and proving that Week 3 was no fluke.

What’s working

It's becoming overwhelmingly apparent the Panthers have found themselves a kicker in rookie Ryan Fitzgerald just months after parting ways with Eddie Pineiro, the third-most accurate kicker in NFL history.

Not only has the former Florida State kicker been perfect on field goals and extra points, but Fitzgerald appears to have mastered the art of kicking a knuckleball on kickoffs, which proved extremely difficult for the Falcons to handle.

On several occasions Falcons returners failed to corral the football on the first attempt, allowing the Panthers coverage team time to get downfield.

Atlanta's average starting field position following Carolina's seven kickoffs was its 19. Twice the Falcons started at their 10.

"Great job by those guys," Falcons coach Raheem Morris said of the Panthers special teams. "Their knuckleball kick we knew about, prepared for and didn’t handle that situation well at all. And they took advantage of it all day.”

What needs help

The Panthers still need to get better against the run. They allowed the Falcons to run for 132 yards, but all things considered they did well considering they played without defensive tackle Turk Wharton and outside linebacker Pat Jones, two of the team's top free agent acquisitions. Bijan Robinson is difficult to handle, but the Panthers kept him out of the end zone and pitched its first shutout since Nov. 22, 2020.

Stock up

CB Jaycee Horn. The Panthers $100 million cornerback is off a great start and opposing teams are taking notice, purposely avoiding throwing in his direction. When they do, they aren't having much luck. The Panthers mainly kept Horn on the same side of the field, not specifically matching him up with Falcons star Drake London. The biggest thing moving forward for Horn will be staying healthy, which he has struggled to do during his career.

Stock down

RB/PR Trevor Etienne fumbled an easy punt in the first quarter and the Falcons recovered at Carolina 33. But the Panthers defense bailed out the rookie, forcing a three-and-out and a missed field goal. But it's a mistake that Etienne cannot make moving forward if he hopes to retain a spot on a active roster. David Moore replaced Etienne on the Falcons next punt and made a fair catch.

Injuries

The Panthers are still waiting on an MRI of TE Ja'Tavion Sanders' right foot, but Canales said the initial X-rays looked good. Sanders was in a boot after the game. ... Canales also said G Robert Hunt under went surgery on a torn left biceps and his earliest possible return is the end of the season. Center Austin Corbett did not have surgery on the MCL in his left knee but is expected to be out 6-8 weeks at least. ... Both Hunt and Corbett went on IR last week. The Panthers held out struggling WR Xavier Legette on Sunday because of a hamstring injury and he will be reevaluated later in the week.

Key number

0 — Number of times the Falcons got beyond the Carolina 30-yard line on Sunday.

Next steps

The Panthers will face Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, who grew up in the Charlotte area and was raised as a Carolina fan. Carolina is 0-2 away from home.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

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