Panthers' once-solid run defense shaky again

By Darin Gantt - The Herald

ATLANTA -- Stopping the run used to be a strength of the Panthers.

You wonder if they can stop anyone anymore.

The Falcons rushed for 133 yards on the day, but gashed them for five touchdowns on the ground in their 45-28 win.

Michael Turner had 117 yards and four of the scores, establishing a record for touchdowns allowed by the Panthers.

That had them scratching their heads late, because that was something they were once good at. After playing stingy against the run early in the year, they've now given up 410 yards on the ground the last three weeks, and gave up as many scores on the ground as they had all season.

"I thought the run was not as good as we had expected," coach John Fox said. "I think we need to give credit where credit is due with Atlanta. I thought they had a great game plan. They were playing faster than us early."

Cornerback Ken Lucas called the effort "a humbling experience," and most of the Panthers' defensive players said they expected better after limiting Turner to 77 yards in the first meeting.

"That's tough," defensive tackle Damione Lewis said. "This is a guy we played last time, and we shut him down. And then coming into their place, we knew we were walking into a wasp's nest, we knew they were going to come out and try to stick it to us, and we didn't respond. He had a great day."

• SILVER LINING: On paper, it was another good day for Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams.

Williams rushed 19 times for 101 yards and a touchdown, adding a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter.

That gave him the franchise's all-time record with eight career 100-yard games, accomplished in his 13th start. It allowed him to tie the franchise record with his fourth straight 100-yard game, equaling the mark set by Stephen Davis in 2003 and Nick Goings in 2004.

He's also now the team's third-all-time leading rusher with 2,101 yards. He passed Fred Lane (2,001) for fourth on the all-time list on his first attempt, then tracked down Davis (2,085) late in the game.

• WELCOME BACK: The Panthers finally got wide receiver Steve Smith integrated back into the offense.

Smith had eight catches for 168 yards Sunday, his best yardage day of the season. He had just seven catches for 72 yards the last two weeks, and was looking to break out.

• ROAD WARRIORS NO MORE: The loss dropped the Panthers to 2-3 on the road this year, and put an end to one of their more unusual stats.

The Panthers are no longer better on the road than at home under Fox. They've maintained that unusual distinction throughout their 6-0 home start, but gave it up Sunday.

They're now 29-24 on the road (.547), and 30-24 at Bank of America Stadium (.556) since the start of the 2002 season.

• HOT UNDER THE COLLAR: Panthers general manager Marty Hurney got in the ear of the league's officiating supervisor during the fourth quarter, upset that the clock continued to run after three penalties, believing it to have cost them three minutes of game time.

In a statement to a pool reporter, referee Tony Corrente said the clock was administered correctly after an illegal substitution penalty on the Falcons and a pair of false starts by the Panthers.

"We kill (the clock) to administrate the penalty," Corrente said. "Then after the penalty is over we wind the clock again. That's just the way it is. That's part of the penalty enforcement.

"The clock is running. We have a penalty. We stop the clock and administrate the penalty. Immediately, the clock is restarted."

• SUNK COSTS: The Panthers made inactive two of what they thought would be their better free agent pickups from last offseason.

Linebacker Landon Johnson and wide receiver D.J. Hackett were on the sidelines in street clothes, representing two phenomenal wastes of money.

Johnson was given a three-year, $10 million contract, with a $3 million signing bonus last year. That means if they decided to cut him next year, he'd hit them for $2 million against next year's salary cap, for the prorated portion of his signing bonus.

Hackett was given a more modest two-year, $3.5 million, with a $750,000 signing bonus. That means he'd cost them a more palatable $375,000 in dead money under next year's cap.

Johnson was kept down so they could play former third-rounder James Anderson, himself a bust, but they're obviously thinking they'd get more on special teams out of Anderson.

Hackett was demoted in favor of second-year wideout Dwayne Jarrett. Team officials said they thought Jarrett and Hackett would be "week-to-week" decisions once both were healthy.