Matt Ryan led a last-minute drive to set up the Falcons' game-winning field goal against the Panthers on Sunday. (US Presswire)

Matt Ryan drove the Falcons 77 yards in 54 seconds to set up Matt Bryant’s game-winning 40-yard field goal and left Cam Newton and the Panthers (1-3) nearly no time to respond. The Falcons' 30-28 victory improved their record to 4-0. Since 2008, they have now won 37 of their last 38 games when entering the fourth quarter with a lead.

But the comeback never would’ve happened had Newton held onto the football. With the Falcons trailing 28-27 and no timeouts left and just over a minute to play, Newton fumbled as he was fighting to convert what would’ve likely been the game's final first down. Even though the Panthers recovered, the ball had rolled back far enough to where Panthers coach Ron Rivera elected to punt it back instead of attempting the fourth-down try. 

The punt landed at the 1-yard line and Ryan’s heroics ensued. He found Roddy White for a 59-yard completion off of a play-action fake. Two short passes later, the Falcons were well within Bryant’s range. 

For the first three and a half quarters, the game had all the makings of a trap game for Atlanta. It was at home, facing a 1-2 team with few playmakers other than Newton. The Falcons failed to score on their first drive for the first time all season and generally came out flat against the Panthers, conceding numerous big gains on defense. Newton (86 yards rushing, one TD) made plays with his feet all afternoon, and TE Greg Olsen finished with six catches for 89 yards and touchdown, including the Panthers’ first TD just 3:15 into the game. 

Carolina DE Charles Johnson kept Ryan under duress all game long, forcing constant pressure from the right side against OLs Tyson Clabo and Mike Johnson. The Panthers’ defensive end finished with a career-high 3.5 sacks. His previous career-high was 2.0. In total, Ryan was sacked seven times on Sunday, the highest number of his career. The game looked to be over after one final 8-yard sack by Johnson, where he forced Ryan out of bounds with just 2:26 to play.   

When the game turned: Had Newton held onto the ball and converted the Panthers’ 22nd first down on a late-fourth quarter drive, Ryan never would’ve had the opportunity to salvage Atlanta’s first divisional matchup of the year. Instead, the referees ruled the ball down about a yard behind the first-down marker and gave Rivera no choice but to punt. 

Highlight moments:

There were a number of signature plays in Sunday’s 30-28 victory for the Falcons, but none more important than Ryan’s 59-yard heave to Roddy White, who came back to the throw and pressed it down against his chest to give the Falcons a short field with a reasonable amount of time on the clock. White, who benefitted from double-coverage on fellow receiver Julio Jones, finished with 169 yards and two touchdowns as Ryan’s primary target. 

Newton nearly thwarted the Falcons’ comeback with a six-play, 93-yard fourth-quarter drive highlighted by a 36-yard screen pass to Kealoha Pilares, who ran it in for the score. The play was a perfect call because Rivera sensed Atlanta’s six-man rush, let the rush flood the pocket, and dumped it out to Pilares for the go-ahead touchdown. 

Michael Turner took a screen pass 60 yards for a touchdown on the Falcons’ third play of the second half. Carolina rushed six men, and the Falcons offensive line let them through as Ryan dumped the pass to Turner, who took off into the secondary. Tony Gonzalez, one of the best blocking tight ends in the NFL, jammed the Panthers’ only safety back and sprung Turner for the score to give Atlanta the 24-14 lead. 

Down 7-0 to Carolina and having just thrown an interception on the last drive, Matt Ryan found White for a 49-yard TD pass play, set up by a play action to Turner. The fake handoff was built on two Turner runs that went for 28 yards before Ryan’s deep ball. It was the first of two touchdown catches White had in the first half along with 97 yards receiving. 

Top-shelf performers:

  • Ryan finished with 369 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. His 107.2 rating will hurt his NFL-best 114 quarterback rating which he had coming into the game.
     
  • Turner broke out for a huge game against the Panthers, rushing for a season-high 103 yards and catching three passes for 68 yards. His 60-yard score off the screen play was the first receiving touchdown of his career.
     
  • Newton did everything he could to get the Panthers their second divisional win, but his turnover ultimately cost them the game. He finished with two touchdowns on 215 yards passing and 86 rushing. His scrambling kept Falcons linebackers close to the line all game long and allowed for single coverage on his biggest target, Greg Olsen. The 6-5 TE finished with 89 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown in the first quarter, when he broke three Atlanta tackles to barge into the end zone.    

What they had to say about the final minute:

  • Mike Smith: “Very resilient group of men. Very resilient. They did what they had to when they needed to get it done.”
     
  • Ron Rivera: “Just a disappointment. When you get that close, you’ve got to win it. You’ve got to be smart at that point, and we weren’t. We wasted a great opportunity. There were 150 plays in this, there weren’t 149 perfect ones. This didn’t come down to one play.”
     
  • Greg Olsen: “We beat them for most of the game, but we lost the last five seconds or so.” 

Numbers you should know: Atlanta's 60-yard touchdown score on Turner's screen play was the longest scoring play of the year, and Ryan's 49-yard touchdown throw to White was the second longest of the year. The previous long was a 14-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones in Week 1. 

Going forward: Atlanta travels to Washington next week to take on Robert Griffin III, a fortunate schedule break given that Mike Nolan prepared his defense for Newton, a comparable scrambler to Griffin. ... The Panthers host Seattle, one of the league’s best defenses, and will be searching to break a two-game losing streak. 

For more Falcons coverage, follow Mike Singer @CBSFalcons.