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The Carolina Panthers somehow found a way to have a last-gasp chance to beat the Atlanta Falcons after twice trailing by 14 points in the second half.Welcome back to the NFC South. It shaping up to be another entertaining race.Playing without injured running back Devonta Freeman Stitched Justin Bethel Jersey , the Falcons still had big production on the ground and survived Cam Newton's desperation pass to the end zone as time expired to beat the Panthers 31-24 on Sunday.It was a dramatic ending to a rivalry game."At the end, I don't think there was anybody who wasn't up and screaming and feeling wild," said Falcons coach Dan Quinn. "You couldn't hear anything."It was an important win for the Falcons (1-1) following last week's loss at Philadelphia in their opener. With another loss, they would have trailed the Panthers (1-1) and Tampa Bay by two games only two weeks into the season. Instead, they're one of three teams tied at 1-1, with only the Buccaneers still unbeaten in the division that sent three teams to the playoffs last season.Matt Ryan passed for 272 yards with two touchdowns and had his first career game with two rushing touchdowns for Atlanta. Freeman was held out with a sore right knee, and Tevin Coleman ran for 107 yards in his starting role. Rookie Ito Smith added 46 yards rushing as the Falcons ran for 170 yards.Atlanta led 24-10 following Ryan's 1-yard scoring run in the third quarter and 31-17 following his improbable 8-yard scoring run midway through the final period.Newton's 51-yard touchdown pass to rookie D.J. Moore cut the lead to seven points. Newton looked for Moore again on the game's final play. Moore couldn't adjust after linebacker De'Vondre Campbell missed a chance for an interception."I had a good shot at it but it just came down too fast through his arms as I reacted," Moore said.Here are some takeaways from the Falcons' win in their home opener:EJECTIONFalcons safety Damontae Kazee was ejected after leading with his helmet on a hit to Newton early in the second quarter. Newton slid after a run before the hit by Kazee, the fill-in starter for Keanu Neal, who will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.Newton was quickly checked on the sideline before returning to the field without missing a play."It was fine," Newton said. "It looked worse than it was. I'm just lucky that nothing pretty much happened. This game isn't fit for cheap shots like that but at the end of the day you can't blame him. He's playing as hard as he can, I'm playing as hard as I can."MEMORABLE TDsFalcons rookie Calvin Ridley got a chance to celebrate his first NFL catch . Then his first touchdown.The top pick out of Alabama hauled in an 11-yard scoring pass from Ryan with 4:03 left in the first half, erasing Carolina's early 10-3 lead. Ridley had four catches for 64 yards after being held without a reception in Week 1.Similarly Youth Justin Bethel Jersey , Moore's 51-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter was the first career catch for the Panthers' rookie.BRACE MALFUNCTION II: Matt Schaub made his first appearance since the 2016 season, but it was for only one ugly play.Schaub, Ryan's backup, entered the game after Ryan ran to the sideline following a 5-yard run in the first quarter. Ryan slid on the play, causing the brace on his left knee to move out of position. While Ryan was having the brace adjusted, Schaub was on the field long enough only for a fumble. He fell on the loose ball for a loss of 8 yards, and Ryan returned to the game.Ryan's knee brace also slipped out of position, again after he slid at the end of a run, in the Falcons' loss at Philadelphia last week. The Falcons called a timeout as personnel quickly cut off the brace.ROOKIE FILL-IN: Panthers rookie tight end Ian Thomas had two catches for 10 yards as the fill-in for Greg Olsen, who is out with a broken bone in his foot.INJURY REPORT: Falcons left guard Andy Levitre (elbow) and backup defensive end Derrick Shelby (groin) left the game. The Panthers lost starting strong safety Da'Norris Searcy (concussion) and cornerback Donte Jackson (hamstring). The Atlanta Falcons may be a step ahead of the New Orleans Saints in the search for balance on offense.That's not enough to make Falcons defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel rest easy. The Saints have Drew Brees, and the veteran quarterback's guile is enough to make any defensive coach lose sleep.Brees and the Saints (1-1) will try to establish more offensive balance when they visit the Falcons (1-2) on Sunday in an early test of NFC South rivals attempting to build off Week 2 wins.The Saints have relied heavily on the one-two punch of wide receiver Michael Thomas, whose 28 catches set an NFL record for the first two games of a season, and running back Alvin Kamara Stitched Jack Crawford Jersey , who has 15 catches. New Orleans is last in the league with only 52.5 yards rushing per game."That's definitely something that we recognize and we always talk about balance," Brees said Wednesday. "We want balance."Coach Sean Payton said he saw signs of an improved running attack in the second half of last week's 21-18 win over Cleveland ."Certainly Alvin and Mike are guys we want to get the ball to, and yet we recognize the importance of having that balance," Payton said.Brees, 39, has completed 81.3 percent of his passes (65 of 80) for 682 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions."He's a maestro now," said Manuel, who defended against Brees as a defensive back with six teams before coaching against the quarterback. "He was a magician before when he was dinking and dunking and hitting guys. Now he's a maestro."Matt Ryan and the Falcons found more balance in last week's 31-24 win over Carolina . Despite playing without running back Devonta Freeman, who could also miss Sunday's game with a sore right knee, the Falcons ran for 170 yards. Fill-in starter Tevin Coleman ran for 107 yards.Here are some things to know from the Saints-Falcons game:PASS PATTERN: Payton is confident Brees will spread the ball around more and said he wants to see third-round draft choice Tre'Quan Smith more involved. "We have to find ways to get him more touches," Payton said. "He is handling our installation. He knows what we are doing game-plan wise and I think he is ready to prove that."APOLOGY: Falcons safety Damontae Kazee apologized this week after his ejection for last week's hit to the helmet of Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. Kazee was making only his second career start."I've got to learn to try to keep my head up when I tackle," Kazee said. "It's a new rule now and I've got to adjust to that."Kazee said he must learn "when to take my shot and when not to take my shot. He was sliding and I tried to lean over to the left and hit him with my facemask. I apologize for the hit."RECEPTIONS FOR ALL: Ryan completed passes to eight receivers last week instead of relying heavily on Julio Jones. In one possession late in the first half, he completed six straight passes to five receivers Youth Jack Crawford Jersey , none to Jones. "I feel like as a quarterback you're just trying to make the right decision, go to the right spot with the football and trust whoever is in that spot to make those plays," Ryan said Wednesday. "That's just how it shook out in that game."NO RUNNING: The Saints' running game ranked fifth during their run to the NFC South title last season. They rank 31st this year with only 2.9 yards per rush. The absence of Mark Ingram, who has served half of his four-game suspension for use of a banned substance, gets some of the blame.Payton has said there is no evidence of a "crisis." New Orleans has played from behind for much of its first two games, causing Payton to call more passing plays. Payton said a couple Kamara runs during fourth-quarter scoring drives last week showed potential for success on the ground.INJURY WOES: The Falcons already have been hit hard by injuries , especially on defense where safety Keanu Neal and linebacker Deion Jones are on injured reserve. Coach Dan Quinn hopes Jones, who must miss at least eight games, can return this season. Defensive ends Takk McKinley and Derrick Shelby missed practice this week with groin injuries. Jones also missed time with a calf injury.Also, left guard Andy Levitre was placed on IR with a triceps injury. Wes Schweitzer, who filled in for Levitre last week, is expected to start.AP Sports Writer Brett Martel contributed to this report.