CHARLOTTE – (Wire Service Report by Field Level Media) – D’Onta Foreman ran for 130 yards and a touchdown and the Carolina Panthers avenged a loss sustained 11 days earlier by defeating the Atlanta Falcons 25-15 on a rainy Thursday night in Carolina.

Panthers quarterback PJ Walker threw for 108 yards on 10-for-16 passing in a game that was close but didn’t quite have the drama of Atlanta’s overtime victory in the first matchup between the NFC South teams on Oct. 30.

Eddy Pineiro, who missed two potential winning kicks in the game at Atlanta, booted four field goals for the Panthers (3-7). Foreman had 31 carries to spearhead a Carolina ground game that produced 232 yards on a whopping 47 carries.

Marcus Mariota threw for two touchdowns and rushed for a team-best 43 yards for the Falcons (4-6), who’ve lost two games in a row. He was 19-for-30 for 186 yards in the air with an interception.

Trailing 22-15, Atlanta got the ball back with 2:33 to play, but two sacks on the ensuing possession doomed the Falcons. The Panthers recorded five sacks.

The Panthers built a 13-0 lead over the game’s first 28-plus minutes with Pineiro making field goals of 46 and 49 yards on either side of a Laviska Shenault Jr. 41-yard scoring run.

Atlanta didn’t score until Younghoe Koo’s 33-yard field goal on the last play of the first half.

Still, it was a big contrast from the last game for Carolina, which trailed 35-0 at the break Sunday at Cincinnati in an eventual 42-21 loss.

The Falcons perked up in the third quarter, with Mariota’s 7-yard pass to Drake London giving them their first touchdown and drawing them within four. Koo missed the extra-point kick.

Foreman’s 12-yard touchdown run with 1:51 left in the third quarter also was followed by a missed extra-point kick.

Pineiro made amends with a 40-yard field goal for a 22-9 lead with 9:22 left in the game.

Mariota threw 25 yards to KhaDarel Hodge for a touchdown with 2:56 to play, but Koo’s extra-point try was blocked.

The only scoring from that point was Pineiro’s insurance 37-yard field goal for the game’s final margin with 10 seconds to play.

–Field Level Media

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LOS ANGELES – (Staff and Field Level Media Report) – The coaching change with the Carolina Panthers has been a much-scrutinized topic this week. Perhaps to some degree that has overshadowed the struggles of the defending Super Bowl champions. The Los Angeles Rams are 2-3 and looking shaky, particularly on offense.

They’ll try to get that turned around against the visiting Panthers (1-4) today in Inglewood.

Matt Rhule is out as Carolina’s coach, unable to make it through his third season. Steve Wilks, with a background as a defensive coach, takes over as interim head coach.

“I want to be a part of trying to turn this thing around,” Wilks said. “My history with this organization before is when we won three straight NFC South championships, so I know what it takes.”

This is the second time in four seasons that the Panthers have an interim coach. Ron Rivera was fired before completing the 2019 season, with Perry Fewell taking over for the rest of that season, though that move came in early December.

There’s more time to salvage this season, though it looks like the Panthers will have to do it with a backup quarterback. Nearly lost in all the news coming out of Charlotte is that quarterback Baker Mayfield is likely to be out with an ankle injury. He didn’t take any practice reps Wednesday.

So, this means P.J. Walker will be ready to make his first start of the season for the Panthers. He ended up in a fill-in role last year.

“This situation coming up now, we’ll see what happens on Sunday,” Walker said. “Every day I prepare as if I’m playing, so I never really got away from being prepared for games.”

The Panthers have won just one of four home games this season, most recently tumbling 37-15 to the San Francisco 49ers.

The Rams have scored one touchdown in each of their past two games in falling to the 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. Despite those shortcomings, receiver Cooper Kupp has maintained strong production with a league-leading 49 receptions to go with 105.4 receiving yards per game. He has scored four touchdowns.

But in general, finding the right formula remains a quest for the Rams.

“We’ve got a decision to be able to make about how we respond and I do trust that this response is in alignment up to this point with exactly what we’re hunting up to have a good performance against the Panthers,” coach Sean McVay said.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford is conducting the offense, so the Rams should be well-equipped to turn it around. The problem has been an injury-riddled offensive line that has stripped the unit of much continuity. Matt Skura was signed this week and could be the fourth center used this season.

That has shown up with Stafford being sacked 21 times. Those turned into a pair of fumbles in the Dallas game, pushing the Rams’ turnover total to 12 for second-most in the NFL.

“It’s really hard to beat the other team if you don’t stop beating yourself,” McVay said.

Rams linebacker Bobby Wagner said: “We’ve got to understand that we’re close. We just have to eliminate some of the plays that have hurt us.”

Meanwhile, LA running back Cam Akers will not play for the Rams because of personal reasons, signaling his future with the team suddenly is clouded. The third-year back out of Florida State did not practice Thursday and on Friday.

Panthers starting cornerback Jaycee Horn (ribs) did not participate in Wednesday’s practice.

Carolina is 12-9 all-time against the Rams’ franchise.

–Field Level Media

NFL

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