ATLANTA _ The Falcons can pack their bags for the playoffs.
Kicker Matt Bryant made five field goals and the defense bottled up Carolina quarterback Cam Newton on the way to a 22-10 victory on Sunday before 71,141 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Falcons, the defending NFC champs, improved to 10-6 and earned the sixth and final playoff berth. They will be on the road throughout the playoffs.
The Panthers dropped to 11-5 and finished second in the NFC South.
The Buccaneers beat the Saints to drop them to 11-5. The Saints won the NFC South title because they beat the Panthers twice head-to-head.
Philadelphia (13-3) and Minnesota (13-3) have the first-round byes in the NFC.
It's been a long, bumpy regular-season for the Falcons, who stormed to the Super Bowl last season where they were defeated by New England in a historic collapse after leading 28-3.
Now, they are at least back in the playoffs and have a chance to atone for the crushing defeat.
The Falcons opened the season with three wins and then lost three in a row, including games to Buffalo and a Jay Cutler-led Miami team.
After reaching the halfway point of the season at 4-4, the won three in a row over Dallas, at Seattle and Tampa Bay. The over Seattle was key as both teams finished 10-6 and was the head-to-head tie-breaker that sent the Falcons to the playoffs.
The Falcons were beaten by Minnesota, beat the Saints and Tampa Bay before losing to the Saints on Dec. 24.
The Falcons were expected to be Super Bowl contenders if the offense continued to stay at an elite level and the defense was improved.
However, the offense regressed and was ranked 15th in points scored before playing Carolina. But the defense, which was young, improved immensely over the season.
Now, the Falcons will get another shot at the Saints, their arch-rival.
The Falcons got off to a good start against the Panthers.
Quarterback Matt Ryan hit Freeman out of the backfield for a 19-yard touchdown on the Falcons first possession of the game.
The Falcons scored a touchdown on their opening drive for only the fourth time this season. They also scored touchdowns against Green Bay, Detroit and Seattle and won all three of those games.
Julio Jones was walloped by Panthers safety Mike Adams while running a route across the middle. He left the game, but returned.
Left guard Andy Levitre tried to play with his triceps injury, but left the game in the first quarter. Ben Garland took over at left guard.
After the opening drive, the offense stalled and was forced to punt four times.
The Falcons didn't help themselves as they committed four penalties on special teams.
Brian Poole and LaRoy Reynolds had holding penalties on punt returns that set the offense back. Safety Damontae Kazee interfered with returner Kaelin Clay's opportunity to catch the punt. Instead of the drive starting at the 25, the Panthers started at the 40.
Reynolds also had the fourth special teams penalty, which was essentially a 27 -yard loss. Instead of starting at the Atlanta 47-yard line after a 23-yard return by Andre Roberts, the Falcons started at their 20.
Reynolds was busted for blocking Carolina's Shaq Thompson in the back.
Newton got off to a slow start, but started to heat up in the second quarter and led the Panthers on a 16-play, 78-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at 7, at the half.
Newton missed his first nine passes, but got hot. He hit seven passes in a row, including a third-and-23 to Brenton Bersin for 27 yards and a 4-yard touchdown pass to Devin Funchess.
The Falcons tried to get in field goal range with 50 seconds left, but they'd used all of their timeouts during the Panthers' touchdown drive.
The Falcons thought they had spiked the ball in time from Panthers' 36, but the clock ran out. The Falcons protested and would not immediately leave the field.
A false start penalty on tight end Austin Hooper was costly in the last-ditch drive.
After Reynolds penalty, Ryan drove the Falcons down for an apparent 12-yard touchdown on a pass to Mohamed Sanu. After review, the play was overturned. After an incompletion on third-and-10, the Falcons had to settle for a 30-yard field goal from Matt Bryant to make it 10-7.
Free safety Ricardo Allen intercepted Newton on the Panthers ensuing possession. The offense stalled and had to settle for a 42-yard field goal from Matt Bryant to make it 13-7 with 3:44 left in the third quarter.
