Panthers, Falcons Overcome Poor Seasons; Face Win-and-In NFC South Title Match

Every Carolina Panthers fan would have taken this.

After losing the left side of the offensive line and the entire wide receiver corps off their surprising 2013 squad, they're back in the same position: one road game against the Atlanta Falcons away from repeating as NFC South champions.

Between the emergence of rookie wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, the maturation of quarterback Cam Newton and the steadily huge production of middle linebacker Luke Kuechly, the Panthers could hold onto their crown even without the services of monster defensive end Greg Hardy.

Every Falcons fan would have taken this.

After a stunning 4-12 collapse in 2013, the only thing standing between them and a division title is one home game against the Carolina Panthers. Quarterback Matt Ryan has found his form in the season's latter weeks, and receiver Julio Jones has asserted himself as one of the league's very best.

In a division many tipped to be the most cutthroat in the NFL—and it certainly was neck-and-neck all year—both teams are just one win away from putting a banner in the rafters.

Except.

The Panthers are gunning for just their seventh win, taking a 6-8-1 record into the Georgia Dome. The Falcons' record is even worse, at 6-9. For most of the 2014 regular season, the Panthers and Falcons have been two of the NFL's worst teams.

Coming into their Week 16 matchup against the Cleveland Browns, the Panthers hovered around the No. 20 mark in most major offensive categories: points for (21st), yards gained (18th), passing yards per attempt (22nd) and rushing yards per carry (20th).

Though they boasted the NFL's No. 2 scoring defense in 2013, without Hardy the unit's ranked among the same bottom-third doldrums as the offense: The Panthers ranked 22nd in scoring defense, 25th in per-play yardage defense, 12th in turnover rate and 23rd in scoring-drive rate.

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The Panthers went two full months, from October 6 to December 6, without a win.

The Falcons' malaise has been much less balanced. The Falcons entered their critical Week 16 matchup against the New Orleans Saints with the NFL's 10th-ranked scoring offense.

Ryan is having one of the best statistical seasons of his career, with a five percent touchdown rate, 2.2 percent interception rate and 96.0 NFL passer efficiency rating. Even his Pro Bowl-nominated performance of 2012 isn't better across the board.

Jones, though hampered by injury, already has career highs in receptions (93) and yards (1,428). Before catching seven passes for 107 yards against the Saints, Jones ranked third and second in the NFL, respectively, in those two categories. Even Steven Jackson's had a statistical pulse, leading a four-headed committee with 698 yards rushing and six touchdowns.

Against the Saints, the Falcons couldn't get anything going on the ground. Falcons tailbacks managed just 19 carries for 43 yards. They did, however, get the one play they needed in the third quarter to take control of the game:

Ryan was as efficient and effective as he's been all season, going 30-of-40 for 322 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He spread it around, finding 10 different Falcons to complete passes to.

The defense, for once, held up its end of the bargain.

The Falcons defense came into the game against the Saints ranked 28th in scoring defense and dead last in yards allowed per play. Yet it hassled Drew Brees and the Saints all game long.

If not for a 99-yard return of the opening kickoff and subsequent one-yard Mark Ingram touchdown plunge, the talented Saints offense would have scored just seven points.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Brees was picked off twice. He was sacked five times by a defense ranked dead last in the NFL in sack rate. The Saints, as a team, gained just 57 yards on the ground on 18 tries. The Falcons have won just six games all season, but they have won four in their last seven—and have a chance to make it five wins in eight.

If they take care of the Panthers at home in Week 17, the Falcons can pretend their 2-6 start never happened.

The Panthers, of course, will be doing everything they can to get in the way. 

Against the Browns, the Panthers showed flashes of their dominant 2013 selves. They knocked Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel out of the game and notched three sacks and an interception. Were it not for one blown coverage on tight end Jordan Cameron, they'd have held the Browns to just six points.

On the other side of the ball, Newton took charge of the offense. As a pure passer, he had an average day, completing just 58.1 percent of this 31 attempts for an average of 6.5 yards per attempt.

In the fourth quarter, though, Newton used his mobility to extend and make plays downfield. Besides racking up 63 ground yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, he also scrambled around until he found tailback Jonathan Stewart in the end zone for the game-winning score:

Incredibly, Newton's clutch performance extended the Panthers' winning streak to three games, half their total on the year.

After the game, Newton again showed how he's grown as a person and leader: Per Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk, Newton called Panthers fans "classless" for cheering Manziel's injury. "We're better than that," he said. It may not go over well with some fans, but people around the league, and locker room, will applaud Newton taking a public stance for the safety of his fellow players.

In most seasons, neither of these teams would make the playoffs. Thanks to the historically weak NFC South, though, a seven-win squad will not only go to the postseason but also host a game when it gets there.

Mike McCarn/Associated Press

Given an NFC playoff field that will include (and may exclude!) double-digit win teams, it's hard to imagine either the Falcons or the Panthers making a deep playoff run. Yet all the scores, records, stats and dry spells go away once the brackets are seeded—and both of these teams are built around many of the same players that got them past the first round in recent seasons.

Week 17's NFC South title game is a great matchup between two talented, closely ranked teams; both are going to fight tooth and nail to be the one that moves on.

The NFC South hasn't given the rest of the NFL a lot of good games this season, but it's giving football fans everywhere a great matchup to go out on. Panthers and Falcons fans wouldn't want it any other way.