5 things we learned from the Falcons' 31-24 win over the Panthers

ATLANTA — Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, channeling his inner Michael Vick, rushed for two touchdowns to power the Falcons to a 31-24 victory over the Panthers on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

There were 72,528 tickets distributed for the game.

The Falcons needed Ryan’s sixth and seventh career rushing touchdowns and a strong rushing performance from running back Tevin Coleman to earn the victory and improve to 1-1. The Panthers dropped to 1-1 with the loss.

The Falcons were not in the clear until Panthers quarterback Cam Newton’s pass for D.J. Moore was incomplete in the end zone at the buzzer.

Ryan completed 23 of 28 for 272 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He finished with a passer rating of 116.1.

Coleman rush 16 times for 107 yards. Ito Smith had 46 yards rushing on nine carries.

Here are five things we learned from the NFC South contest:

1. Red zone royalty: The Falcons scored touchdowns on all four of their trips inside the Panthers' 20-yard line.

Trailing 10-3, Ryan connected with rookie Calvin Ridley for an 11-yard touchdown pass. Ridley put a wicked move on Carolina cornerback Donte Jackson to get open on the slant route.

On the Falcons’ next possession, Ryan tossed an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Austin Hooper to help the Falcons build a 17-10 halftime lead.

On the third trip to the red zone, Ryan powered in behind center Alex Mack and left guard Brandon Fusco for a 1-yard rushing touchdown. The score put the Falcons up 24-10.

It was just the sixth rushing touchdown of Ryan’s career and his first since 2012.

After the Panthers scored to make it 24-17, Ryan went back to his scrambling ways. On third-and-5 from the 8-yard line, Ryan rolled out to his left and was looking to pass.

He pulled the ball down and powered his way into the endzone over safety Mike Adams for a touchdown.

The red zone performance was a marked improvement from the season-opening loss to the Eagles when the Falcons were 1 of 5 in the red zone.

After ranking 23rd in the league in red-zone scoring, the Falcons made that an area of emphasis over the offseason, but not necessarily with Ryan turning into Vick as a running quarterback.

2. Coleman and Smith. The rushing combination of Coleman and Smith worked well for the Falcons, who were without running back Devonta Freeman, who's out with a bruised knee.

He ripped off a big 36-yard gain in the second quarter. The run help set up the Falcons’ first touchdown.

Smith came in and ran the ball well between the tackles. He had a 18-yard gain around left end in the third quarter.

Coleman became the first running back to rush for more than 100 yards  against the stout Panthers’ defense in 22 games, which had been the longest streak in the NFL.

3. Secondary shakeup.The Falcons opened with Damontae Kazee playing free safety against the Panthers. Rico Allen played closer to the line of scrimmage at strong safety for Keanu Neal.

After Kazee was ejected for unnecessary roughness, Jordan Richards went in at strong safety and Allen went back to his free safety spot.

The Falcons played a lot of zone coverages and elected to come up and tackle, while conceding some underneath passes.

Allen had a shot at a deep interception, but couldn’t haul in the pass.

Richards had a stop on McCaffrey in the middle of the field, but couldn’t get him down.

On a blitz, Newton tossed the ball out to his right and cornerback Desmond Trufant dropped the potential interception.

Trufant did some push-ups to atone for the missed opportunity.

Allen came up an interception in the fourth quarter and had a nifty 26 yard return.

4. Riley stepped up. Duke Riley made the start for Deion Jones at middle linebacker. He had some help from DeVondre Campbell with getting the defense set.

He had five tackles in the first half to lead the unit.

He wasn’t able to tackle D.J. Moore, who rambled on for a 51-yard touchdown with 2:20 left in the fourth quarter.

Campbell and Riley led the Falcons with nine tackles each.

5. Injury report. Falcons starting left guard Andy Levitre (left elbow) left the game in the second quarter. Wes Schweitzer, who started 18 games at right guard last season, took over.

Backup defensive end Derrick Shelby suffered a groin injury in the second quarter and did not return to the game.

Nickel back Brian Poole, who was having a strong game, left briefly in the third quarter. Blidi Wreh-wilson came on for a play and nearly had an interception.

Cox Media Group