New Year’s Day means a change in lifestyle for many people. Not so much for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their losing ways, however. The Bucs (4-12) laid an absolute egg in the first half in Atlanta and fell 45-24 to the Falcons (10-6) – Tampa Bay’s 10^th loss in a row to close out a miserable season that ironically began with a promising 4-2 start.

“If I was in the business of working out my future, I wouldn’t be coaching,” said Raheem Morris shortly after. “I’m going to go to work tomorrow until they tell me to stop.” Unfortunately, that’s exactly what management told him to do on Monday. Unable to win a game since October 16^th, Morris was fired after 3 years as the Bucs head coach. A 42-0 first half lead for the Falcons pretty much sealed his fate.

Aware that a Lions loss in Green Bay would give them an opportunity to clinch the 5^th playoff seed, Atlanta held nothing back from the get-go. By the time the Packers had defeated the Lions 45-41, the Falcons entered the 2^nd quarter with a commanding 21-0 lead.

Matt Ryan touchdown passes of 17 and 48 yards to rookie receiver Julio Jones on the second and third Falcons’ possessions of the game, respectively, put Atlanta up three scores following a one yard rushing touchdown by rookie Jacquizz Rodgers to open the game. The first of Josh Freeman’s three interceptions set up Ryan’s second and final touchdown pass of the game.

Atlanta put up just as many points in the 2^nd quarter. A Freeman fumble put the Falcons at the Tampa 30, and Michael Turner finished off the drive with a one yard touchdown run on 4^th and goal to make it 28-0. Turner would add an 81 yard sprint to the end zone on Atlanta’s next possession after scoring on a 26 yard Curtis Lofton pick six.

Freeman struggled mightily yet again, turning the ball over a total of 4 times. His counterpart’s day was the exact opposite scenario. With a 35 point lead just before halftime, and a team record of 42 points in one half, Falcons coach Mike Smith had the luxury of sitting Ryan for the rest of the game after just 9 passing attempts.

Ryan also set the Falcons single season franchise record for passing yardage. With just 106 yards he totaled 4,177 on the year, breaking Jeff George’s 1995 mark. ”We had opportunities the week before and just didn’t make the plays,” Ryan said. “Today, we made the plays and I think that’s what we needed moving forward.”

The Falcons were only able to add one more field goal in the 2^nd half with Chris Redman taking snaps. This was of no concern for Atlanta though, as Tampa Bay fell three touchdowns short with just two touchdowns and a field goal for the remainder of the game. The Falcons will now head to New Jersey for a 1 p.m. Wild Card showdown with the Giants. They hope to rebound after a disappointing divisional round loss to Green Bay last year despite being the number one overall seed after a 13-3 record.

“Honestly, I’ve said it all year: I think we’re a better team than we were last year,” Gonzalez said. This is only the first time in Falcons history that they have made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. Now that the Bucs’ spiraling downfall has finally come to an end, they will search for a new head coach before seeking an impactful franchise player with the 5^th overall pick in the upcoming draft.

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Move over Peyton Manning. The all-time rookie passing record set by the Colts quarterback back in 1998 was broken on Christmas Eve by the electrifying Cam Newton.Newton surpassed Manning’s mark of 3,739 yards with a 171 yard display in the Panthers’ (6-9) 48-16 thrashing of the Bucs (4-11).

“It’s very nice to do something with a record that’s so prestigious in this league,” said Newton. The number one pick in this year’s draft accounted for 4 touchdowns on the day, 3 passing and one rushing – the exact figures he posted against Tampa Bay only 3 weeks ago, ironically.

As for the Bucs, the common theme during their 9 game losing streak plagued them once again – turnovers. Tampa Bay gave it away 4 times on Saturday, giving them an overwhelming total of 28 during their slide. Carolina turned takeaways into early Christmas presents, scoring half of their points off of them.

“The mistakes led to points, and that’s been the difference between this year and last,” said coach Raheem Morris. “When you can’t maintain possession, this is the result. It causes lopsided results. It causes mental mistakes. It causes poor performances on defense, and out-of-character offense. Things begin to spiral out of control.”

These turnovers are also making Morris’ seat hotter by the week. The Bucs look nothing like the team that came out of the gate 4-2. Carolina struck first blood on the game’s opening possession when DeAngelo Williams went untouched into the end zone on an 8 yard carry to conclude a 9 play, 80 yard drive. Sixty of the yards came on the ground for the Panthers, while the other 20 broke Manning’s record for Newton.

Williams added his second and final touchdown run in the 3^rd quarter with a 22 yard sprint down the right sideline on a pitch from Newton to give Carolina a 27-10 lead. Carolina players were definitely in the holiday spirit. Every player that scored a touchdown made his way to the stands and handed the ball to a fan. LeGarrette Blount’s fumble on Tampa Bay’s first possession would not be tolerated by Morris. Blount was immediately benched for the remainder of the first half.

After the Panthers turned the fumble recovery into a 21 yard field goal, it appeared that the Bucs responded to Blount’s benching, as they went on their longest touchdown drive of the year. A coach’s challenge overturned the initial ruling of an incompletion to finish off a 15 play, 9 minute and 20 second drive with a touchdown catch by Arrelious Benn.

Carolina went into halftime with a 20-10 lead after the team’s exchanged field goals following Brandon LaFell’s superb 91 yard touchdown reception. The play was the longest touchdown pass in team history for the Panthers. Josh Freeman’s interception on the first drive of the 3^rd quarter by Jonathan Nelson led to another Panthers touchdown. Nelson was signed off the practice squad just one day earlier.

A Kellen Winslow fumble later in the quarter led to an 11 yard touchdown catch by Jonathan Stewart on a 60 yard drive for Carolina. The Panthers would score two more touchdowns during the game – a 49 yard dash right up the middle for Newton and Jeremy Shockey’s 4^th touchdown of the season, thanks to a kickoff return fumble by Tampa’s Sammie Stroughter.

Freeman’s one yard touchdown sneak with about 11 minutes remaining would be the final scoring play for either side. Freeman passed for 274 yards, completing 28 of 38 attempts. Newton would be replaced by backup Derek Anderson after Tampa’s failed 2 point conversion attempt.

The Bucs defense will now look to rebound in Atlanta on New Year’s Day after giving up 48 points in a game for the second time this season. The last thing they want to do is send Morris off, having lost his final 10 games as coach. For the Panthers, it’s all about continuing to move in the right direction. A win at the Saints in Week 17 for first year coach Ron Rivera would mean a 5 game improvement upon the team’s 2-14 2010 campaign.

“I believe there is certainly that kind of talent in the locker room where we can certainly take the next step and become a very competitive football team (next year),” said Rivera. “We have that ability.”

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