ATLANTA _ All-Pro wide receiver Julio Jones and quarterback Matt Ryan put on a passing clinic to carry the Falcons to a 48-33 victory against the Carolina Panthers before 70,508 fans on Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
Ryan passed for a franchise-record 503 yards and Jones hauled in 12 passes for a franchise-record 300 yards and one electric 75-yard catch-and-run for a key fourth-quarter touchdown.
The Falcons weren't safe until Robert Alford made two interceptions to close out the Panthers.
The Falcons made the Panthers pay for not keeping their top cornerback Josh Norman over the offseason. With Norman in Washington, Jones was free to terrorize the Panthers' defensive backs.
The Falcons improved to 3-1 and the Panthers dropped to 1-3.
Here are five things we learned from the victory:
1. The Julio Jones show. A week after having one catch for 16 yards, the Falcons opened the game by throwing three consecutive passes to Jones, who had gains of 22, 14 and 15 yards. He had six catches for 152 yards at the half. He finished with 12 catches for 300 yards, the most ever against a Carolina defense.
The Panthers gave up 208 yards to Washington's Rod Gardner on Oct. 21, 2001.
With Ryan and Jones connecting the Falcons raced out to a 14-0 lead.
Jones accounted for 51 yards of the opening 71-yard touchdown drive. Ryan tossed a 4-yard pass to tight end Jacob Tamme.
On their second possession, the Ryan tossed a 43-yard pass to Jones. Two plays later, running back Devonta Freeman darted up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown run.
The Falcons offense continued to operate at high level despite having very poor field position.
The Falcons put together a string of long drives against the Panthers' defense, which entered the game as the third-rated defense in the league.
The Falcons had scoring drives of 71, 98, 65 (field goal), 99, 92 and 53 (field goal) yards.
Their first eight drives started at the 29, 2, 1, 25, 25, 2, 1 and 8 yard lines.
With Jones dominating, Ryan was able to find Tamme, rookie tight end Austin Hooper and wide receiver Aldrick Robinson for touchdowns.
Ryan previous career-high was 448 yards passing, which he set in a 37-34 win over the Saints Sept. 7, 2014.
Jones previous high was 259 yards in a 43-37 loss to Green Bay on Dec. 8, 2014.
2. Pick six. The Falcons were cruising along, looking to build on their lead, when disaster struck.
On second-and-5 from their 6-yard line, Ryan's pass intended for Freeman was tipped by Panthers' linebacker Thomas Davis. Safety Kurt Coleman intercepted the pass and returned it 8 yards for the touchdown.
With the score 41-33, Falcons cornerback Robert Alford intercepted Carolina's Derek Anderson and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown.
3. Shutting down Newton. The Falcons knew they had to do a good job with Newton's designed running plays.
Linebacker Deion Jones and defensive end Vic Beasley both had open field tackles on Newton, who rushed for five times for 30 yards in the first half. His longest run went for 21 yards.
Jones had a hit on Newton on a two-point conversion run in the fourth quarter and knocked him out of the game. Newton went into the concussion protocol and was replaced by Anderson.
4. Covering the tight end. The Falcons defense continued to struggle to cover the tight end.
They have now given up a touchdown to a tight end in each of their game.
Carolina's Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen didn't catch a pass until the fourth quarter against the Falcons. He made a nice one-handed touchdown catch with 3:58 left in the game and made a grab won a two-point conversion to make it an eight point game, 34-26.
Falcons rookie safety Keanu Neal had Olsen on both of those catches. He had been doing a solid job.
5. The pass rush a factor. With veteran Dwight Freeney leading the way, the Falcons mounted a pass rush against the Panthers.
Freeney had a sack and a quarterback hit. Defensive end Ra'Shede Hagemen had a quarterback hit.
Also, defensive end Brooks Reed had a quarterback hit on a play where he appeared to get held.
Derrick Shelby had a stop in the backfield.
