Falcons vs. Panthers: 5 Key First-Half Stats for Carolina

In the wake of Cam Newton's controversial comments this week to ESPN, he and his non-lionlike teammates face off against their NFC South rival Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons are coming off a bad loss to the banged-up Houston Texans. Matt Ryan was manhandled by the Texans defense and had one of his worst games as a pro. So far, he's come out flat again, even as the Falcons need a win to solidify their playoff hopes.

After scoring what was for them an easy victory against the Colts last week, the Panthers are rolling again. You know what can fix a divided locker room? Winning.

Five key stats illustrate the flow of the game so far, and can give us some insight into what to look for in the second half:

14: That's the number of Panthers currently residing on Injured Reserve. This week, they added two more defensive tackles to the list in Sione Fua and Terrell McClain. The Panthers already came into the game ranked 27th in the league in rushing defense. Yet as of the two-minute warning, Atlanta only had 37 yards on the ground today. That's an awesome job stepping up by the Carolina defense, and it's been a big key to building their lead.

Three: By my unofficial count, in the first half, the Panthers ran the option, draw or wildcat three times as of the two-minute warning. It worked great for them last week against Indy, and they've had success again today. We'll see if they use more tickeration to put the nail in Atlanta's proverbial coffin today.

Four: Roddy White has been heavily involved in the first half. He's got four catches and one touchdown already. Some of these shorter routes to White could be setting the scene for longer passes to either White or Julio Jones in the second half.

Nine: On their first scoring drive of the game, the Panthers went 74 yards over nine plays. That's a great sign for the Panthers. For much of the year, they've done most of their work on big plays. The ability to control games with sustained drives is something Newton as a QB, and the Panthers as a team will need to improve to contend next year.

74: That's how many yards DeAngelo Williams scampered down the sidelines for his longest rush of the year. Is that the play that gets him going for the game, the season and into next year? Obviously, we won't know for a while, but the Panthers have been looking for him to break out and provide another weapon for their offense. At least for today, he's doing exactly that.