Carolina Panthers’ bid for perfect season ends with loss to Falcons

There were those Chicago Bears teams of 1934 and 1942.

Somewhere, the 1972 Miami Dolphins broke out the champagne, knowing they’ll remain the only undefeated Super Bowl champion for at least one more year.

So these Panthers feel very bad.

After the Falcons gained a measure of revenge by beating the Panthers 20-13 on Sunday and spoiling their ideal season, Schofield said the Falcons hadn’t forgotten the Panthers’ celebration near the end of the first meeting. Atlanta’s pass and run game were simply too good for the Panthers to handle. “We, as players, we just have to play better”.

We’ve seen it already this year with Kentucky basketball and Serena Williams.

NEW ORLEANS – Drew Brees passed for 412 yards and three touchdowns despite his injured right foot. Ron Rivera didn’t go that far, but the Panthers coach did mention during his postgame synopsis to the media that he wanted to study his team’s “mentality” this week after they dropped their first game since November 30, 2014.

Newton threw for 142 yards and ran for 46 more, including an 8-yard scoring run to cap the Panthers’ opening drive.

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 6-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Eric Decker 2:37 into overtime Sunday gave the New York Jets a dramatic – and potentially controversial – 26-20 win over the New England Patriots.

Neither could climb with Jones, who leaped up, made the catch and strolled into the end zone for the winning touchdown for the Falcons (8-7).

Ryan took the snap, rolled to his left, pointed his finger at Julio Jones and fired a 53-yard pass through the air and the rest is history.

But on Sunday, he played perhaps his best game of the season – and tossed the 200th touchdown pass of his career – by going 23-of-30 for 306 yards.

But it was 7-7 at half-time after Falcons running back Devonta Freeman, who finished with 73 yards on the ground, went in from four yards out. We’re 14-1. There are 31 other teams that wish they had our record. Falcons showed a lot of pride. “We don’t wave a magic wand or anything like that”. And I’m talking with the mirror in front of my face.

Newton, though, was hardly pleased Sunday that his team couldn’t rally from a fourth-quarter deficit for the fifth time this season, losing 20-13 to the Atlanta Falcons. “At the end of the day, man it’s hard to win here at times”.

We don’t know if Belichick was trying to send a message to the Jets, or if it was just blatant arrogance on his part, but either way it obviously didn’t work out.

The Panthers nearly did it. This was despite Newton ending with a 69.0 passer rating.

Quarterback Kellen Moore could not spark the Cowboys (4-11), completing 13 of 31 passes for 186 yards and an interception.

After Cam Newton brought the dab to the National Football League earlier this season, it was only a matter of time before someone used the move against him, and that finally happened on Sunday after the Panthers were upset by Atlanta.

For instance, there was the Panthers’ brutal ending. The 6-9 Lions have won five of their last seven games, perhaps giving coach Jim Caldwell a chance to keep his job for a third season.

With all that said, the Panthers were exposed on Sunday in some areas that weren’t just a one-week thing.

Carolina’s drive to try to save its ideal season ended quickly as Vic Beasley stripped Newton on the second play of the drive, with Adrian Clayborn recovering the ball.