After an the opening drive of the game yielded nothing for the Falcons offense (partially ended due to offensive PI called on Roddy White), the second go-around gave birth to an impressive 10-play, 62-yard scoring drive.
After converting on two big third-downs, the drive was capped off by Matt Ryan finding his favorite receiver White in the back of the end zone for the five-yard score, one of White's four catches on the drive. Tony Gonzalez also had a nice 18-yard reception.
On defense, the Falcons were just as dominant, causing the Panthers to go three-and-out on their first possession of the ball game. Ray Edwards would come up with a huge sack on second down, good for an 11-yard loss, that would force Cam Newton to pass in a third-and-long situation (not Cam's strong-suit).
However, as the quarter drew to a close Newton answered with a scoring drive of his own, mostly through the air. In fact, he would complete all five of his passes for 61 yards and ultimately find Jeremy Shockey in the back of the end zone for the score.
Considering the Falcons currently have two defensive starters listed as inactive (Brent Grimes and Stephen Nicholas), containing Newton will be essential to stopping the Panthers in a ball game that now sits tied at 7-7 through one quarter of play.
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