Week 16: Falcons 20, Panthers 13
The details
It had been 392 days since the Carolina Panthers last lost a regular-season game.
But cornerback Josh Norman hadn’t forgotten what it felt like.
“Guys are not used to losing,” Norman said inside a quiet visitors locker room at the Georgia Dome. “It kind of sucks, man.”
The Panthers’ run at perfection came to an end at the place where they’d clinched the NFC South the past two seasons. But after a 20-13 loss, there were no “division champs” hats being passed out or music blaring inside the locker room – just a lot of downcast players trying to figure out where it went wrong.
And while the offense failed to muster another touchdown after its opening drive, the defense gave up 373 yards to a team it throttled in a 38-0 shutout in Charlotte two weeks earlier.
“I think we were just purely outplayed today,” strong safety Roman Harper said. “And we couldn’t come out there and win at the end. That’s all we’ve done is find ways to win all year and we couldn’t do that today.”
Panthers coach Ron Rivera won’t have to answer questions about playing his starters Week 17 against Tampa Bay. But he can expect more questions about a secondary that has given up pass receptions of 40 yards or more in four consecutive games.
Joseph Person
They said it
“He got some plays. He did. He fought well. He battled. He’s a strong guy. He’s one of the best receivers in the league …and he came to play today. We did as well. I think they just got one more play than we did.” – Norman, on Atlanta’s Julio Jones
“We had some good third-and-long situations and did not get to the quarterback.” – Rivera
“We picked a bad day to have a bad day. We knew this was their Super Bowl. We knew that their whole season came down to today.” – Panthers tight end Greg Olsen
“It didn’t tickle.” – Cam Newton, when asked how much the loss hurt
The weirdness
The group photo the Carolina Panthers took during the closing minutes of their 38-0 victory over Atlanta two weeks earlier didn’t sit well with Falcons linebacker O’Brien Schofield.
After Atlanta gained a measure of revenge by spoiling the Panthers’ perfect season, Schofield said the Falcons hadn’t forgotten the Panthers’ celebration near the end of the first meeting.
Newton gathered the offensive players around him for a photo on the sideline with two minutes left in the game. A national columnist took exception to it, and so did Schofield.
“We saw what happened, the whole team picture thing on the sideline. There’s a better way to win. There’s a better way to show class if you get a victory,” Schofield said. “They got off the field pretty fast today. It wasn’t like it was in Carolina.”
Hot take
Scott Fowler: The Carolina Panthers’ dream of an undefeated season died a slow and painful death. There was nothing fluky about it.
“We got our a-- kicked,” Newton said.
Yes, the Panthers did. The Falcons simply played better football than Carolina.
Their 14-1 record remains the best in the NFL, but Sunday beamed a spotlight on Panthers problems that have edged into the picture for much of the past month. Carolina had to escape twice in the previous three weeks with narrow road wins. This time there was no escaping a Falcons team that Carolina had blasted 38-0 only two weeks before.
Sunday pointed out what Panthers fans who haven’t seen their team lose since the Seattle playoff game way back in January had forgotten.
There are no guarantees in the NFL. No castles are built of stone. No matter how pretty they are, every one of them is made of sand. Anybody can truly beat anybody when the wind blows the right way.
“We are not perfect,” Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly said.
This was a shot to the gut. And now we all get to see how well the Panthers can take a punch.
This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 3:00 AM with the headline "Week 16: Falcons 20, Panthers 13."