ATLANTA -- The Falcons offense scored 10 points in the first two games of the 2007 season. The team needed just one half of work against the Panthers to double that total.
But penalties on both sides of the ball, including a foul-ridden series on a game-tying touchdown drive by the Panthers, clipped the Falcons wings as they were beginning to take flight.
As a result, the division-rival Panthers (2-1) left the Georgia Dome with a 27-20 win.
Quarterback Joey Harrington quietly had one of the best statistical games of his career. The quarterback threw for 262 yards in the first half (the highest first-half total of his career) and carried a 122.4 passer rating into the locker room. He finished the game with 361 passing yards and two touchdowns.
"That was a tough loss for us to take," Head Coach Bobby Petrino said. "There is no question about it. We had some guys that really played well and competed. As a team we pretty much did that. We had a good first half, but we didn’t get points when we needed to get points. That is continuing to be a problem for us and we need to get that corrected. In the fourth quarter, we have to be the team that is in control of the game."
The Falcons fell behind 3-0 on a John Kasay field goal with 10:53 remaining in the second quarter, but stormed back to take the lead on wide receiver Roddy White's first touchdown of the 2007 season. White, who finished the game with a career-high 127 receiving yards, stepped out of a tackle to spring free on a 69-yard catch and run with 9:19 remaining in the opening half.
He flipped head first into the end zone to ignite the frenzied crowd just a bit more.
“I think we did a pretty good job," White said. "We didn’t finish some plays. We could have caught some balls and stopped drives. We left some points out there. Overall, we did all right, but we left a lot of stuff out there. We could have got a lot more points.”
The score helped that crowd forget a number of first-quarter miscues by the Falcons, including a botched snap on a Morten Andersen field goal attempt and a Warrick Dunn fumble on the team's first drive of the game.
But the Panthers weren't rattled by the extra noise.
In a drive that employed more force than offensive precision, Jake Delhomme marched Carolina 80 yards and hit DeShaun Foster with a 13-yard scoring toss midway through the second quarter. The Panthers ran the ball five straight times on the drive, including 20 rushing yards by Foster to get into position for the score.
Facing a 10-7 disadvantage, Harrington led the offense back on the field and looked to spread the ball around.
Michael Jenkins caught two balls on the drive for 45 yards, including a 16-yard grab that set the Falcons up at the Carolina 38. A catch and shoulder-lowering blast from tight end Alge Crumpler put the Falcons in the red zone and set up a chip shot for Andersen just before the half.
The teams exchanged punts to open the second half and, on its second possession of the third quarter, Atlanta's offense found another gear.
A five-play, 67-yard drive was highlighted by a 26-yard run by Jerious Norwood and a 13-yard scoring grab by Crumpler.
“It was good to get out there and produce for our offense since I’ve missed a bit of time this season," Crumpler said. "I want to make some plays for our team. It is important to show the emotion I have for this game and for our team.”
With a 17-10 lead, the defense faced more of the Panthers air attack -- including a deep ball intended for Pro Bowl receiver Steve Smith, who was held to one catch in the game. A pass interference call on cornerback DeAngelo Hall gave the Panthers first down inside Falcons territory. On the next play, Hall was whistled for a personal foul.
But the defense -- led by John Abraham -- responded by bringing more heat on Delhomme.
Abraham's second sack of the day brought up a fourth down at the Falcons 29. But, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Hall gave the visitors a first down in the red zone. Two plays later the Panthers tied the game with a Delhomme to Jeff King touchdown pass.
"I was trying to quick-jam him as soon as they snapped the ball and I got flagged," Hall said. "The referee told me it was unnecessary roughness." The Pro Bowl cornerback said the second flag came when he and Smith were "jawing" at one another.
"I definitly take responsibility for my penalties," he added.
The Panthers also scored on their next drive, this time with a 10-yard run by Foster. David Carr late came in for an injured Delhomme, but it didn't slow Carolina's attack. Carr finished the game and piloted the Panthers to more of the team's 175 rushing yards and a game-clinching field goal.
For the game, Carolina had 313 yards of offense. The Falcons had more than 400.
"This is why we play the game because you never know how games can turn out," Harrington said. "There were momentum changes, but we have to play through the stuff that isn’t the best of situations. It is going to happen to every team in some form or another where there is adversity. I’m going to throw some incompletions or maybe some interceptions, but it is our job as a team to pick each other up no matter the situation.
"We have to play through that stuff and we will work on it in the future.”
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-PANTHERS GAME:
- GAMEDAY: All the coverage from the Panthers-Falcons game
- STATS AND PLAY-BY-PLAY: NFL.com Game Center
- GAME NOTES: Updates and injury news from the Georgia Dome press box
- INACTIVES: Inactives from Week 3
- QUOTABLE: Thoughts on the game from Falcons players and coaches
- VIDEO: Head Coach Bobby Petrino
- VIDEO: Quarterback Joey Harrington
- VIDEO: Safety Lawyer Milloy
- VIDEO: Cornerback DeAngelo Hall
- VIDEO: Wide receiver Roddy White
- HIGHLIGHTS: Game highlights from NFL Network
