By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA (AP) — Bryce Young passed for a career-high and franchise-record 448 yards and Ryan Fitzgerald kicked a 28-yard field goal in overtime to lift the Carolina Panthers to a 30-27 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Young’s 54-yard pass to Tommy Tremble set up the winning kick for Carolina (6-5), which completed its sweep of NFC South rival Atlanta.
The Falcons (3-7) suffered their fifth straight loss, including back-to-back overtime defeats.
Young completed 31 of 45 passes with three touchdowns. He threw a go-ahead 12-yard touchdown pass to Tetairoa McMillan with 1:08 remaining to give Carolina a 27-24 lead. But Zane Gonzalez kicked a 45-yard field goal for Atlanta with 16 seconds remaining to force overtime.
Bijan Robinson ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns, but the Falcons couldn’t overcome the loss of Michael Penix Jr. to a knee injury in the third quarter. Backup Kirk Cousins couldn’t move the offense in overtime.
McMillan had eight catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
Young’s go-ahead scoring pass was set up by Rico Dowdle’s 28-yard run to the 10. A replay review ruled Dowdle stepped out of bounds on what was initially ruled a 38-yard touchdown run by the officials.
Atlanta’s secondary was short-handed with cornerbacks Dee Alford and Mike Hughes inactive. Young and the Panthers targeted fill-in cornerback Natrone Brooks often, including on Young’s 36-yard scoring pass to Xavier Legette in the third quarter, cutting Atlanta’s lead to 21-16.
Brooks then fumbled the kickoff return, giving the Panthers the ball at the Atlanta 32. Young was stopped by Kaden Elliss on a fourth-down run from the Atlanta 8. Fitzgerald’s 34-yarder late in the third quarter pulled the Panthers to within two.
Penix left in the third quarter with a left knee injury with Atlanta leading 21-16. Penix missed the Falcons’ 34-10 loss to Miami on Oct. 26 with a bone bruise on his left knee.
Penix completed 13 of 16 passes for 175 yards after struggling with accuracy in last week’s 31-25 overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Berlin.
The Panthers had an injury scare late in the first quarter when Young remained down after being sacked by Billy Bowman Jr. for a loss of 8 yards. Young eventually walked off the field and was escorted to the locker room and was announced by the team as questionable to return with an ankle injury.
Backup Andy Dalton replaced Young for only one snap, a holding penalty, early in the second quarter before Young was back on the field, his right ankle taped.
Young was 7 of 8 for 67 yards, including a 7-yard scoring pass to McMillan, on Carolina’s opening drive. The strong start gave him half of his full-game total of 124 yards passing in last week’s 17-7 loss to New Orleans.
Injuries
Panthers: LB Trevin Wallace was held out with a shoulder injury he suffered last week. Claudin Cherelus moved up as the starter.
Falcons: WR Drake London was ruled out with a knee injury at the start of overtime after he had seven catches for 119 yards. … The defense was short-handed as Alford (concussion), Hughes (neck), DE Leonard Floyd (hamstring) and DL Zach Harrison (knee) were inactive. Another notable inactive was LG Matthew Bergeron (ankle), while RG Chris Lindstrom (foot) started after returning to practice Friday.
Up next
Panthers: Visit San Francisco in a Monday night game on Nov. 24.
Falcons: Visit New Orleans next Sunday.