NFL Old School Game of the Week: Falcons Spoil Carolina's NFL Debut

 

On September 3, 1995, two new teams joined the National Football League as the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers made their debuts.

While the Jaguars hosted the Houston Oilers, the Panthers would travel down I-85 to face what would be their closest rival in the Atlanta Falcons.

Carolina was under the direction of head coach Dom Capers, who had been given the opportunity as the Panthers' first head coach thanks to his three-year stint as the defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

On the field, the Panthers would be led by quarterback Frank Reich who had spent his entire 10-year NFL career as the backup quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, who was really just a placeholder for 1st round pick Kerry Collins, who was seen as the quarterback of the future in Carolina.

While the Panthers were just getting their feet wet in the NFL, the Atlanta Falcons were entering their thirtieth season in the league which up to this point had included only six winning seasons and four playoff appearances.

The Falcons were led by second-year head coach June Jones, who had installed the "Run & Shoot" offense which was an offense that was built on the passing game, not the running game.

Atlanta had gone 7-9 in Jones' first season which saw wide receiver Terance Mathis catch a team record 111 passes for 1,342 yards and 11 touchdown receptions with most of their passes being thrown by quarterback Jeff George, who had been acquired by the Indianapolis Colts in a trade.

With the addition of the versatile Eric Metcalf to the backfield, the Falcons hope to reach the NFL playoffs for the first time since 1991.

After the Falcons went three-and-out to start the game, the Panthers got the ball at their 35-yard-line as Reich would complete all five of his passes for 62 yards on an eight-play, 65-yard drive that culminated with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Reich to tight end Pete Metzelaars for the first touchdown in Carolina Panthers history and a 7-0 lead almost six minutes into the game.

Carolina would get a chance to extend the lead after the ensuing kickoff when linebacker Paul Butcher knocked the ball loose from Falcons returner Roell Preston leading to a recovery by Vince Workman to give the Panthers the ball at the Atlanta 22-yard-line.

However, the Falcons defense would allow only one yard on the next three plays, forcing Carolina to settle for a 39-yard field goal by John Kasay to increase the Panthers' lead to 10-0 midway through the opening quarter.

Preston would make up for his fumble by returning the ensuing kickoff 44 yards to the Atlanta 44-yard-line to give the Falcons a short field for their next possession which would be a seven-play, 47-yard drive which featured a 36-yard pass from George to Metcalf to set up a 27-yard field goal by Morten Andersen to cut the Panthers' lead to 10-3 with 3:23 left in the first quarter.

The Panthers would start their next possession at their 20-yard-line with a 11-yard pass from Reich to Willie Green followed by a 46-yard bomb to Mark Carrier to put Carolina at the Atlanta 23-yard-line.

That is when the drive would stall as Reich would throw two incomplete passes and running back Randy Baldwin would be stopped for no gain, leading to Carolina to settle for another Kasay field goal, this one from 41 yards out to push the Panthers' lead back to 10 points at 13-3 with 1:17 to go in the first quarter.

Panthers quarterback Frank Reich would complete 23 of 44 passes for 329 yards and throw two touchdowns, but would be sacked nine times.

After both teams traded punts on their ensuing drives, the Falcons were pinned down at their two-yard-line when George went deep and found Bert Emanuel for 46 yards to give Atlanta a 1st down at its 48-yard-line.

From there, George would complete six of his next eight passes for 39 yards with his last completion being a 12-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Birden to end the Falcons 11-play, 98-yard drive to cut the Carolina lead to 13-10 midway through the second quarter.

Following a Carolina three-and-out, the Falcons got the ball at their 21-yard-line as George would hit Emanuel for 13 yards to start the drive, then connected with Terance Mathis twice for 21 yards to set up another Andersen field goal, this one from 51 yards out to tie the game at 13 with 1:41 left in the first half.

After a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, the Panthers would drive from their 20-yard-line to the Atlanta 45-yard-line until Reich was sacked by Falcons defensive ends Chuck Smith and Chris Doleman as time expired in the first half with the game tied 13-13.

Carolina would get the ball to start the second half but would go three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Falcons who would take over at their 42-yard-line when George found Mathis for 23 yards to start the drive and give Atlanta a 1st down at the Carolina 35-yard-line.

Then after the next two plays picked up only two yards, George connected with Metcalf for 19 yards and another 1st down at the Carolina 14-yard-line.

Two plays later, George would find Emanuel in the back of the end zone for a five-yard touchdown to give the Falcons their first lead of the game at 20-13 with just under 10 minutes to go in the third quarter.

From there, the game would turn into a defensive stalemate as both teams would trade punts until midway through the fourth quarter when Falcons running back Craig "Ironhead" Heyward fumbled the football after a hit by Panthers linebacker Lamar Lathon leading to a recovery by strong safety Brett Maxie to give Carolina the ball at the Atlanta 22-yard-line.

However, the Falcons defense would not only hold, they were push the Panthers out of field goal range as an incomplete pass and back-to-back sacks by defensive end Chris Doleman and defensive tackle Jumpy Geathers would push Carolina back to the Atlanta 44-yard-line where they would punt the ball back to the Falcons who took over at their 16-yard-line hoping to run out the clock.

The Falcons would pick up one 1st down but would be forced to punt the ball back to the Panthers, who would take over at their 20-yard-line with 1:15 left in regulation and needing a touchdown.

Falcons quarterback Jeff George would complete 27 of 45 passes for 290 yards and throw two touchdown passes.

The drive would get off to a good start as Reich would connect with fullback Bob Christian for 23 yards to give Carolina a 1st down at its 43-yard-line which was followed by two straight incomplete passes to bring up 3rd down when Reich found Willie Green for 13 yards and a 1st down at the Falcons' 44-yard-line with 35 seconds to play.

That is when Reich went deep and threw a pass down the left sideline for Green, who bobbled the ball at the Falcons' three-yard-line before cradling the ball to make the catch for the 44-yard touchdown to bring Carolina to within a single point at 20-19 with 26 seconds to go in regulation.

The assumption was that the Panthers would kick the extra point to tie the game but instead Capers kept the offense in and had them for a potential two-point conversion.

However, right tackle Derrick Graham would jump offside, drawing a five-yard false start penalty, which led to Capers to abandon the two-point try and settle for the extra point which Kasay made. 

Ron George would return the ensuing kickoff 16 yards to the Falcons' 36-yard-line, giving Jeff George a chance to hit a few passes to get into field goal range and give Andersen a chance at a game-winning field goal.

George would complete passes of 13 yards to Emanuel and 11 yards to Metcalf to put the Falcons at the Carolina 40-yard-line allowing for Andersen to come on to attempt a potential 58-yard field goal with three seconds to go.

Andersen's kick had the distance but it sailed wide left of the uprights as time expired with the score still tied at 20 as the two teams prepared for overtime.

Carolina would win the coin toss and elected to receive as they would start their overtime possession at their 20-yard-line as the Panthers would move 22 yards on four plays to set up a 3rd & 2 situation when Reich was sacked and stripped of the ball by Falcons defensive end Lester Archambeau who also made made the recovery to give Atlanta the ball at the Carolina 31-yard-line.

After a two-yard run by Heyward on 1st down, George would connect with Metcalf for four yards and then Emanuel for five yards to give the Falcons a fresh set of downs at the Carolina 20-yard-line as two straight running plays picked up four yards to set up 3rd & 6 when Jones sent in Andersen and the field goal unit.

This time, Andersen's kick would sail through the uprights for a successful 35-yard field goal to give the Falcons a 23-20 overtime win over the Panthers.

Morten Andersen would hit the walk-off field goal in the Falcons' overtime win over the Panthers.

Led by Emanuel, Mathis, and Metcalf who would all finish with over 1,000 receiving yards for the season, the Falcons would go 9-7 which was good enough to earn them a spot in the playoffs where they would be one-and-done as they would fall to the Green Bay Packers 37-20 in the NFC Wild Card Round.

As for the Panthers, they would lose their next four games before Carolina would claim its first ever NFL victory as they defeated the New York Jets 26-15 in week 7.

From there, the Panthers would win six of their last 10 games to finish with a 7-9 record, with thier last win being a 21-17 win over the Falcons, as Carolina finished with the best record for an NFL expansion team in its first season.

The following season, the Panthers would go 12-4 to win the NFC West division title and defeat the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC divisional round to earn a trip to the NFC Championship Game where they would fall to the Packers.