Panthers stay in the hunt

After snapping a four-game losing skid, Carolina has a chance at the playoffs.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Last week the Carolina Panthers were moping around, injury-riddled and riding a four-game losing streak. Nearly every player acknowledged their playoff hopes were virtually over.
But one surprising win was good enough to get back into the race in the forgiving NFC. After Sunday's 10-3 victory in Atlanta, the Panthers (7-8) still have a chance to make the postseason.
It made their day off for Christmas Monday a little sweeter.
"It was a gut check," said cornerback Ken Lucas, who had an interception against the Falcons. "The season hasn't been going the way we wanted it to. There's still a slight chance we might make the playoffs, but there was no chance if we lost. So as long as we have hope."
And, amazingly, there is hope. Carolina got lots of help last weekend and would make the playoffs if three things happen on the final weekend of the regular season: The Panthers win at New Orleans Sunday, the New York Giants lose at Washington on Saturday and Green Bay loses at Chicago Sunday.
"We've squandered a lot of opportunities. I'm not surprised we're still in the running for the playoffs," linebacker Chris Draft said.
Improvisation
The Panthers had to improvise to beat the Falcons. Playing their third straight game without quarterback Jake Delhomme (thumb), the Panthers decided to run the ball -- even though they had managed 88 yards rushing in the past two games.
"Coach [John] Fox talked about it all week. He said we were going to run the ball until we got a first down," center Geoff Hangartner said. "Luckily that happened pretty early."
Carolina started with 12 straight running plays. It led to Chris Weinke's 1-yard pass to backup tight end Jeff King for the game's only touchdown.
DeShaun Foster rushed for 102 yards on 28 carries, while DeAngelo Williams added 82 yard on 21 carries while often taking direct snaps from center. The Panthers, who had the worst third-down conversion rate in the NFL, went 8-for-16 on third-down and seven conversions came on direct snaps to Williams.
"We needed a spark. We have not done too well over the last month," said Fox on the decision to use Williams on third down. "These guys have hung in there. We have been a little inoperable on offense and we just needed a spark. The key is that we needed to execute and we did execute and that was the key."
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