THE PANTHERS

 

• Have won 13 regular-season games for the first time in team history.

• Have won 17 straight regular-season games, the longest streak in NFC history.

• Have won a league-best 10 straight games at home.

• Clinched a 1st-round bye.

• Became the eighth team in the Super Bowl era to start 13-0. Of the previous seven, five advanced to the Super Bowl and three won it all.

• Lead the NFC South by seven games.

• Beat the Falcons for the fifth time in their past six meetings. The combined score of the past two meetings is 72-3.

• Posted their first shutout since an identical 38-0 score against the Giants on 9/22/13.

• Turned their four turnovers into 10 points. They’ve now outscored opponents 117-22 off turnovers this season.

• Have scored 411 points this year. The most they’ve scored in a season was 421 in 1999.

• Are now leading the NFL in scoring at 31.6 points per game.

• Have scored at least 20 points in each of their 13 games. The franchise’s longest such streak before this season was nine games with 20 or more at the start of 2009.

• Have scored on eight of their 13 opening drives.

• Gained 260 yards in the first quarter, they most they’ve ever gained in any quarter.

• Tied a team record for most points in the first quarter. The only other time they scored 21 points in the first was on 12/16/12 against the Chargers.

• Have scored a league-best 129 points in the second quarter. They’ve also allowed the fewest points (44) in the second quarter.

• Are 28-for-39 (71.8%) in the red zone over their past nine games.

• Went 6-of-12 on third down, the fourth time in the past five games they’ve converted at least 50 percent of their third downs.

• Have rushed for at least 100 yards in 24 straight games, tied with Seattle for the longest such streak in the NFL. The last team to hit the century mark in as many games was the ’76-’78 Chicago Bears.

• Have allowed just 304 rushing yards over their past six games.

• Are 17-3 in December since 2011, matching Seattle for the best record in the month during that timeframe.

 

 

THE FALCONS:

 

• Were shut out for the first time since a 27-0 loss to the Bucs on 12/5/04.

• Are averaging 14.3 points in their past eight games after averaging 32.4 during their 5-0 start.

• Allowed more than 100 rushing yards for the fifth time in their past six games. They allowed 100+ just once in their first seven games.

 

 

PANTHERS:

 

QB Cam Newton:

Posted a 153.3 passer rating, the best of his career.

Had a season-low three carries. His four rushing yards tied for the fewest of his career (9/9/12 at TB).

Has thrown 19 touchdowns and three interceptions over his past seven games.

Has accounted for 22 touchdowns and four turnovers over the same time frame.

Passed Peyton Manning for the second-most touchdowns in a player’s first five seasons. Newton’s 150 total scores trail only Dan Marino’s 171.

Needs 636 total yards over his final three games to pass Manning (21,174) for most total yards in a player’s first five seasons.

RB Jonathan Stewart:

Was held out of the second half with a foot injury and finished with just 10 carries. That snapped a streak of eight straight games with at least 20 carries, the longest such streak in the league since Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch did it in 2011.

Ripped off a 44-yard run in the first quarter, his longest rush of the season.

Is 11 rushing yards away from his second career 1,000-yard season.

RB Fozzy Whittaker scored his first touchdown since January’s playoff win over the Cardinals.
 
WR Ted Ginn, Jr.:

Scored his first of two touchdowns on a career-long 74-yard reception.

Had 120 receiving yards, the second most of his career trailing only the 175 he put up for Miami against Buffalo on 10/26/08.

Became the first NFC player with 120 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in the first quarter since Green Bay’s Javon Walker did it in 2004.

Never had a game with more than one receiving touchdown before this season. He now has three such games this year and two in as many weeks.

Has 13 touchdowns catches in 29 games with the Panthers. He had six touchdown catches in 104 games with the Dolphins, 49ers and Cardinals.

TE Ed Dickson already has more receptions (15), receiving yards (121) and receiving touchdowns (2) than he had in 2014 (10, 115, 1).
 
DT Kawann Short had two sack-fumbles. He now has nine sacks this season, breaking Kris Jenkins’ (7.0, 2002) team record for most sacks by DT in a season.
 
LB Luke Kuechly tied a career best with his fourth interception of the season. His 11 picks are the most by a LB since 2012.
 
S Kurt Coleman upped his career high to seven interceptions. He’s had a pick in five straight games and six of his past seven.

 

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FALCONS:

 

QB Matt Ryan was sacked three times. He’s now been sacked 20 times in his past four meetings with the Panthers.