Panthers face Falcons in regular season finale

Minnesota Vikings plus-3 at Atlanta Falcons Nothing that has happened this season indicates the Falcons should be favored over the Vikings, not even at home.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) reacts as he leaves the field after defeating the Carolina Panthers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to clinch the six seed in the playoffs.

The Atlanta Falcons will be headed to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to face the L.A. Rams at home in the NFC Wild Card playoff this Saturday at 8:15 PM EST.

“We challenged the guys that tackling was really going to be on point in this game”, Falcons coach Dan Quinn said.

“Every time they got the ball to (McCaffrey), they were right there for him”, Allen said.

The Panthers were held to 248 total yards.

Worse, Rivera saw a few of his players get too worked up arguing non-calls by the officials, namely linebacker Thomas Davis (for a pick on tight end Austin Hooper), wideout Devin Funchess (who wanted a pass interference call) and tight end Greg Olsen (who took a shot to the helmet from safety Keanu Neal). “We just kept fighting and kept playing and that was huge for us”. The Saints and Panthers will play for a third time this year. The Minnesota Vikings also earned a bye in the first round by being the No. 2 seed.

The Atlanta Falcons showed they had more on the line on New Year’s Eve, silencing the Panthers for a 22-10 win. The Panthers earned a 20-17 win over Atlanta back on November 5 in what was one of their grittier wins this season.

“We do a very good job throughout the week of getting ourselves prepared and ready to play”, Ryan said Tuesday. “We don’t have time to let this loss linger on”.

Lions 35, Packers 11: Matthew Stafford threw three TD passes and Detroit beat turnover-prone and short-handed Green Bay in a matchup of teams out of the playoff race.

Newton completed 14 of 34 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown. A week away from receiving the 2010 Heisman Trophy, Newton led Auburn to a 56-17 victory over SC in the SEC Championship Game.

“Who cares?” Newton said. Obviously, we can do better, but today we did enough to win.

The AFC is more cut-and-dry, with the Patriots and Steelers the clear favorites to play for a trip to the Super Bowl. We put ourselves in a position to where we controlled our own destiny and we took advantage [of it]. They will have their hands full trying to score against anybody if Newton and his “misfit” wide receivers can’t figure out how to generate a passing game. He had 1,182 yards from scrimmage (865 rushing and 317 receiving) and scored eight touchdowns (seven rushing, one receiving).

Here’s four more things to know about the first Rams playoff week in 13 years.

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has a 94.1 passer rating in 19 career games against Panthers. The ball hit the ground after Sanu collided with Jones, who also was crossing to the middle of the end zone.

The Falcons settled for Bryant’s first 30-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead.

Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart will not play versus the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, due to back tightness.

Because of Sunday’s loss, the Panthers must now travel to New Orleans for a 4:40 p.m. kickoff Sunday against a Saints team that has already beaten them twice this season. But we knew we’d keep harping and digging to play and attack the ball.