Carolina Panthers TE Greg Olsen, RB Jonathan Stewart having MRIs

"If it is and it's something I need to address, then I'll address it". The Falcons piled up some late stats at garbage time in the blowout. At the moment, they are favored to win the NFC Championship. Each week, more eyeballs are on Carolina, which can, of course, bring increased criticism.

Rust is certainly a worry for teams that rest players, with the possibility that with more than a week off, they could lose their edge.

"One thing I did tell these guys is to keep their personality", Rivera said. "When you are out there on that field, any of the 11 people there is at risk".

"That's what I expect from our club and that's what we will get done". The shutout was something for the Panthers to savor. "And I think we were not very good".

His injury, and a concussion that knocked tight end Tyler Eifert out of the game were a blow to a Bengals team that failed to clinch the AFC North division title.

The Panthers moved to 13-0 after routing the Falcons 38-0 on Sunday and remained on top of the latest AP Pro32 rankings.

Quinn said among the developments against Carolina that "jacked me up and ticked me off" were getting beat on both lines of scrimmage and failing to have a balance on offense. "It's about making sure we're healthy, we're judicious about who we play and don't play in times like that", Rivera said.

Kansas City extended their winning streak to seven games with a rain-soaked victory over San Diego at Arrowhead Stadium.

The pass-rusher exploited Texans right tackle Derek Newton for two strip-sacks of Brian Hoyer, the second setting up a James White touchdown run. "That's totally unacceptable all the way across, like I said, players, coaches, everybody in terms of style and attitude that we played with".

"That was one that I handled in-house with both of them", Quinn said.

And communication is really the only thing worth questioning in this case. With the Panthers playing great and Newton having a career year, there's no question as to why Newton is a prime MVP candidate.

SPECIAL TEAMS: D. Punter Matt Bosher had five punts for 228 yards (45.6 average). An unbeaten run is fun, but paving the clearest path to three wins in the postseason is what matters most. "It'll come", Rivera said.

With three games to play, the Falcons (6-7) are two games behind the Seattle Seahawks (8-5) and Minnesota Vikings (8-5) for the two NFC wild-card berths. It will be tough to trust any Atlanta players in the fantasy football playoffs. "We try to seize it as much as possible". O'Brien Schofield got a cheap unnecessary roughness penalty, where he took three steps before hitting Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.

All the credit goes to Pro Football Talk for doing the research because unless you've been following Newton and the Panthers for the past five years, chances are his prodigious scoring pace will come as a surprise.

Newton, likewise, threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Ed Dickson in the last few seconds during the first half before he left the game at the end of the third quarter, with the score at 38-0 with Carolina on top.

The Panthers running back is dealing with a sprain in his foot that will leave his availability "unclear" for Sunday against the Giants.

Carolina lost starting cornerback Bene Benwikere to a broken leg in the fourth quarter and he's out for the season. Defensive tackle Joey Mbu, who was promoted to the 53-man roster from the practice squad, played in his first National Football League game and had two tackles. K Graham Gano made his only field-goal attempt, and he and P Brad Nortman did a good job limiting the effectiveness of Atlanta returner Devin Hester.

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