Falcons head coach Mike Smith always said his team was resilient and they always fight to the end no matter what the score was.
In the game against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, the Falcons proved their head coach right.
Being down 23-7 at halftime, the Falcons picked up the tempo in the second half, scoring 24 unanswered points en route to a 31-23 win over their division rivals.
After having a lackluster performance against the Houston Texans, Matt Ryan had one of his best days as a pro, throwing for 320 yards and four touchdowns. He also completed 22 of his 38 pass attempts.
His favorite targets were Tony Gonzalez, Julio Jones and Roddy White. Gonzalez had seven catches for 82 yards, Jones had three catches for 104 yards and one touchdown and White caught seven passes for 84 yards and one touchdown.
The Falcons offense was efficient at the start of the game, putting together a 10-play, 62-yard drive which ended with a Ryan 5-yard touchdown pass to Roddy White to give the Falcons the 7-0 lead.
But after that it would be all Panthers.
On the ensuing drive, the Panthers drove the ball 74 yards on nine plays, and Cam Newton ended the series with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Shockey.
The Panthers struck again midway through the second quarter when Antwan Applewhite sacked Ryan in the end zone and the Panthers scored a safety and were up by two. When the Panthers offense got the ball after the free kick, DeAngelo Williams scorched the Falcons defense with a 74-yard touchdown run and the Panthers were up by nine.
But hold on because they weren’t done yet.
With 3:03 left in the second quarter, Newton threw a screen pass to Greg Olsen and ran 44-yards for another Panthers touchdown. That play was possible because Newton had the entire defense going to the right and Newton had Olsen wide open on the opposite side of the field.
The Falcons knew that had to make some changes in order to make a comeback, so they took it one step at a time.
When the Falcons got possession forcing the Panthers to go three-and-out to start the third quarter, they put together a 10-play drive which led to a Matt Bryant 30-yard field goal and the Falcons cut the Panthers led to 13.
The Falcons got the ball back three plays later after Newton threw an interception to Mike Peterson, which led to a Ryan 31-yard touchdown pass to Jacquizz Rodgers ad that cut the Panthers lead to six.
The Falcons scored again early in the fourth quarter, putting together a 10-play, 90 yard drive and ended with a Ryan 17-yard touchdown strike to Julio Jones.
But just like the Panther not being done in the first half, the Falcons had one more drive left in them to end the game.
After Olindo Mare missed a 36-yard field goal which would have given the Panthers the lead with 5:16 in the fourth, Ryan hit Jones for a 75-yard touchdown to put the game away.
The Falcons win was much needed because they cannot afford to have too many slipups with Detroit and the New York Giants right on their heels for the final wild card spot. Nothing went right for the Falcons in the first half, but they were able to calm themselves down and put everything together in the second half.
The Falcons improve their record to 8-5 and are inching closer to clinching a playoff spot for the second consecutive year. One could argue this was the best win for the Falcons this season, considering how the game started.
Next up is the Jacksonville Jaguars at the Georgia Dome on Thursday night. Despite this game not counting against the division or conference, the Falcons have to treat it like a playoff game because there is no more room for error.
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