An Atlanta victory over Carolina would not have seemed so surprising at the end of September. Back then, the Falcons and Panthers were both 4-0, but Atlanta actually possessed a slightly better DVOA. Both teams had built those undefeated records with shaky one-score wins over mediocre NFC East and AFC South competition, so at least a slight amount of regression seemed imminent.
As we know, there has been nothing slight about how either team has trended since that point. From Weeks 5 to 15, Carolina ranked ninth in offensive DVOA (10.8%) and third in defensive DVOA (-23.