In what has been an all too familiar refrain this season, the Panthers blew yet another fourth quarter lead Sunday in a 31-23 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The Panthers led by 16 at halftime and by 6 entering the final quarter, but their offense bogged down, and they were outscored 24-0 in the second half at home.

It’s the sixth time this season the Panthers have led or been tied in the fourth quarter only to lose.

“We still have a long ways to go as a football team,” coach Ron Rivera said. “We are a young team that has to understand you have to keep going and put the foot down on the accelerator, which we didn’t do.”

Cam Newton started strong, completing 9 of 14 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns in the first half as the Panthers built a 23-7 lead. But Newton was intercepted twice in the second half, one of them on a poor decision when he tried to shovel the ball ahead with his non-throwing left hand as he was falling to the ground.

“Both interceptions were my fault and you can’t do that,” Newton said. “If you expect to win in this league, you have to protect the football. I did a poor job in doing that today. Without those two picks, the team would have had a better chance of winning today.”

Matt Ryan seems to have Carolina’s number. He’s won six of his last seven starts against the Panthers.

Ryan threw for 320 yards, and his four TD passes matched a career high. He threw two of them in the fourth quarter to rookie Julio Jones to lead the Falcons (8-5) back.

The first time the teams met, the Falcons trailed by three points in the fourth quarter but rallied for a 31-17 win Oct. 16.

Jones, who finished with 104 yards receiving, was quiet for most of the game but caught a 17-yard touchdown pass to give the Falcons a 24-23 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Despite their struggles in the second half, the Panthers looked poised to regain the lead, but Newton couldn’t hook up with Greg Olsen in the back of the end zone, and the Panthers had to settle for a 36-yard field goal attempt.

Olindo Mare, just as he’d done against Minnesota, pushed a potential go-ahead kick wide left.

“You can’t do that; you really can’t,” Rivera said.

Rivera said he planned to sit down with Mare — who was given a four-year, $12 million contract this offseason — to talk about what’s wrong.

“It’s the second one he’s hooked left, pretty much from almost the same area (on the field),” Rivera said.

The Falcons seized the momentum.

Two plays later, on second-and-11, Jones caught a pass over the middle, broke a tackle and raced 75 yards to the end zone.

Ryan was particularly sharp in the second half, throwing for 232 yards and three scores.

Looking to increase the tempo, the Falcons went to a no-huddle offense quite a bit in the second half and tried to take advantage of a matchup with reserve cornerback Darius Butler on Jones

Both of Jones’ touchdown catches came against Butler.

“You know, they were coming at me a few times with Julio,” Butler said. “They like that matchup. I made some plays early, and he made some big plays late. You’ve got to hold up. That’s the name of the game. You got to finish it out.”

The Panthers were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

A glum Newton called his decision to try a shovel pass to Jonathan Stewart as he was being tackled “terrible.”

“I tried to get the ball to Stew and tried to avoid the sack,” he said. “I should have just ate the ball and taken the sack.”

Earlier this week, Rivera said this was a statement game for his young team. The statement was that their youth still shows.

And the Falcons took advantage.

“This game is about playing 60 minutes,” Falcons coach Mike Smith. “They’re not 30-minute ballgames, and I think that’s what our guys did good today.”

NOTES: The Falcons are 21-0 when Ryan has a quarterback rating of 100 or more. … Carolina’s Steve Smith became the 35th player in NFL history to reach 10,000 yards receiving for his career on a 16-yard catch in the second quarter. … Travelle Wharton moved from left guard to left tackle for the Panthers to replace Jordan Gross, who sat out with a right ankle injury. Mackenzy Bernadeau started at Wharton’s regular spot at left guard. … With starting defensive tackles Sione Fua and Terrell McClain going on injured reserve earlier this week, Frank Kearse and Andre Neblett got the start for the Panthers.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez is still too busy catching passes to pause and appreciate all he has accomplished. Only one player — Jerry Rice — has caught more passes in the NFL than Gonzalez, whose 1,135 catches is
414 behind Rice.

With seven catches in a Falcons’ loss at Houston last Sunday, Gonzalez extended his streak of seasons with at least 60 catches to 13, an NFL record.

He is 189 yards from cracking the top-10 in career receiving yards, has 95 career touchdown catches and is insistent on ignoring Father Time’s effects on his soon-to-be-36-year-old body for as long as he can.

Gonzalez doesn’t just play tight end. He has redefined it.

“I am very proud of what I’ve done and deeply satisfied, but at the same time I don’t want to look back yet,” said Gonzalez, whose Falcons visit the Panthers on Sunday.

“If I look back, I might miss what’s going on now and being able to improve today. During the offseason is when I kind of look back, but, really more so when I retire, that’s when I’ll really take a look at it and say, ‘wow,’ I had a great career.

“But right now I still have something to prove. I’m always trying to challenge myself to be the best player I can be and not let the people say, ‘you’re 35 and you’ve lost a step.’ That kind of motivates me.”

On a Falcons’ offense that includes quarterback Matt Ryan, rumbling running back Michael Turner and razor-blade dangerous wideouts Roddy White and Julio Jones, Gonzalez remains a headache for opposing defenses. In his 15th season,
Gonzalez knows how to use his 6-foot, 5-inch, 247-body to play even larger than his dimensions.

He has transformed the tight end position, showing teams what having their own big, quick, multi-dimensional player who can work the middle of the field, mixing muscle with moxie can do. The Panthers have two Gonzalez prototypes in
Jeremy Shockey and Greg Olsen.

A former college basketball player at California, Gonzalez can be more dangerous than a wide receiver because of the way he works in traffic or block on running plays. In short-yardage and red-zone situations, Gonzalez has delivered for 15
seasons.

“Where you really have trouble with him is certain situations: third-and-6, third-and-5, third-and-4,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. “You know there’s a good opportunity the ball is going to him. I watch and some teams on third-and-4 are
actually doubling him with a linebacker and a safety. You look in the red zone and you see certain formations where they split him out and try to create a mismatch. Now you have a safety on him or a linebacker extended and you’ll see the ball
(go) to Tony.”

He’s less than 200 yards from cracking the top-10 in career receiving yards, has 95 career touchdown catches and is insistent on ignoring Father Time’s effects on his soon-to-be-36-year-old body for as long as he can.

Gonzalez doesn’t just play tight end. He has redefined it.

“I am very proud of what I’ve done and deeply satisfied, but at the same time I don’t want to look back yet,” said Gonzalez whose Falcons visit the Panthers Sunday.

“If I look back, I might miss what’s going on now and being able to improve today. During the offseason is when I kind of look back, but, really more so, when I retire, that’s when I’ll really take a look at it and say, ‘wow,’ I had a great career.

“But right now I still have something to prove. I’m always trying to challenge myself to be the best player I can be and not let the people say, ‘you’re 35 and you’ve lost a step.’ That kind of motivates me.”

On a Falcons’ offense that includes quarterback Matt Ryan, rumbling running back Michael Turner and razor-blade dangerous wideouts Roddy White and Julio Jones, Gonzalez remains a headache for opposing defenses. In his 15th season, Gonzalez knows how to use his 6-foot, 5-inch, 247-body to play larger than his dimensions.

He has transformed the tight end position, showing teams what having their own big, quick, multi-dimensional player who can work the middle of the field , mixing muscle with moxie can do. The Panthers have two in Jeremy Shockey and Greg Olsen.

A former college basketball player at California, Gonzalez can be more dangerous than a wide receiver because of the way he works in traffic or block on running plays. In short-yardage and red-zone situations, Gonzalez has delivered for 15 seasons.

“Where you really have trouble with him is certain situations: third-and-6, third-and-5, third-and-4,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. “You know there’s a good opportunity the ball is going to him. I watch and some teams on third-and-4 are actually doubling him with a linebacker and a safety. You look in the red zone and you see certain formations where they split him out and try to create a mismatch. Now you have a safety on him or a linebacker extended and you’ll see the ball (go) to Tony.

“Watch him at the 6 or 7-yard line going in, you’ll see he’ll become like a rebounder where he’ll get in position on just the other side of the goal line, positions his body and the ball gets thrown opposite of where the defender is on him. He’s very savvy.”

When the Falcons traded to draft Jones last spring, it brought a focus to their deep threats. But, a season after being the NFC’s top seed with a 13-3 record, Atlanta comes to Charlotte with a 7-5 record and caught in a fight for a playoff spot.

What seemed to come easily a season ago hasn’t been the same this season.

“I’ve thought about that a lot,” Gonzalez said. “The way I look at it is sometimes you’ve got to have some luck in this league. The ball has to bounce your way. Last week (at Houston) was the perfect example of it. We had two touchdowns called back for whatever reason and that kills you. You get the turnover and it nullifies it. It’s those type of opportunities we’re not capitalizing on this year.

“I remember last year the ball was going our way all the time. We were winning close games. We were making kicks, getting turnovers … It makes me optimistic and hopefully I speak for the rest of the team because it shows how good we can be and we are.”

The Carolina Panthers host the Atlanta Falcons on Dec. 11^th. The Panthers are coming off back-to-back wins as the Falcons lost their last game to the Houston Texans. Here are some keys to a Carolina victory.

Keep Michael Turner Quiet

In Turner’s career he has lit up the Panthers. He has amassed 707 yards averaging 4.7 yards per carry and scoring 11 touchdowns in his past seven meetings against the Panthers . He gained 139 yards and scored twice when the teams last met in Week 6. The Panthers already have a struggling rush defense, ranking 27^th in the league allowing 132.5 yards per game. It will be even more difficult for the Panthers with a further two defensive injuries. Defensive tackles Sione Fua (hamstring) and Terrell McClain (knee) will both miss out. Turner is also one touchdown shy of Gerald Riggs’ record of 48 set in 1988, so I expect him to be ready to go in this game. The Panthers could have problems stopping Turner, but they need to do their best to slow him down.

Cam Newton Must Continue To Not Throw Interceptions

Newton has gone the last two games without throwing an interception and both games turned out to be wins. Yes, they were both against weaker opponents, but not turning the ball over is a reason for that success. If you take care of the ball good things will happen. Facing a solid Falcons offense, it is imperative Newton doesn’t throw interceptions. If he does, it will give Matt Ryan and the Atlanta offense a shorter field and more opportunities to score. Newton threw three interceptions in his last meeting with the Falcons and this certainly can not happen for Carolina to have any chance in this one.

Continue Own Strong Rushing Performances

The Panthers rushing attack ranks 5^th in the league with 137.6 yards per game. A lot of that has to do with Newton who has 518 total yards on the season and the single-season rushing touchdowns record for quarterbacks with 13. He also has six rushing touchdowns over the last three games. However, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart have both been playing better over the last few weeks as well. The Panthers will need to continue this trend to control the game and keep the Falcons offense off the field. If they can do that and put up points of their own, they will be in a good position for the win.

*All stats found on espn.com

Although living several hundred miles from Charlotte, Matthew Levine bleeds Carolina blue. He has followed the Panthers since their inaugural season in 1995 and was absolutely heart-broken over the 2003 Super Bowl loss to the Patriots.

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