en better off just letting the ball drop foul. But, he said, "I do

Atlanta, GA (SportsNetwork.com) - Cam Newton smiled. As time wound down in a winner-take-all game that turned into a no-care-in-the-world laugher, the Carolina Panthers quarterback waved his arms up and down and nodded. On the Atlanta Falcons sideline, Matt Ryan grimaced. Newtons seven-win Panthers are headed to the NFL playoffs. Ryans six-win Falcons are not. Carolina returned two Ryan interceptions for touchdowns and scored 21 points off three turnovers in a 34-3 rout of the Falcons on Sunday at the Georgia Dome. Leading since the games first possession, the Panthers (7-8-1) clinched the NFC South for the second year in a row with the lopsided victory. They harassed Ryan all day, piling up six sacks. But the Falcons quarterback hurt himself, too. His overthrown pass was returned 31 yards for a touchdown by Roman Harper in the second quarter to help the Panthers build a 24-3 lead at halftime. And in the third quarter, Tre Boston picked off an underthrown pass and took it back 84 yards to put the game out of reach. They played the way you need to play in these types of situations, said Ryan. They executed at a high level and we did not, across the board. The Panthers became the first team to win consecutive NFC South titles and made the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time ever. They will host 11-5 Arizona in a wild-card game next week after winning four straight games to end the regular season. The streak followed a seven-game winless drought that started with a tie against Cincinnati on Oct. 12 and dropped them to 3-8-1 after a loss at Minnesota on Nov. 30. Newton passed for 114 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 51 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown scramble after a Falcons fumble in the first half. This game meant so much to, not only myself, but my teammates, said Newton. We were playing for so much. We did a lot that a lot of people didnt expect us to do. Jonathan Stewart carried the ball 13 times for 49 yards while starting again in place of DeAngelo Williams, who sat for the fourth straight game with a broken hand. Ryan threw 47 passes, completing 29 for 260 yards, including eight to Roddy White for 104 yards. Atlanta running back Steven Jackson missed the game with a quad injury but Julio Jones was active again despite a hip injury, catching four passes for 58 yards. The Falcons (6-10) eliminated the Saints from the division race with a 30-14 win in New Orleans last week to keep their playoff hopes alive, but will miss the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time since 2006-07. Not acceptable at all, said Falcons coach Mike Smith, who wouldnt speculate on his job security except to say that hes the coach until the team tells him differently. This is not how you want to finish, he said. The Panthers continued their recent history of successful Decembers, improving to 12-1 in the month since 2012. After Graham Gano kicked a 21-yard field goal on the games opening drive, the Panthers also scored on their second possession when Newton found Ed Dickson for a 5-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds of the first quarter. The Falcons drove to the Carolina 3-yard line, but settled for a Matt Bryant field goal, and Harper intercepted Ryan later in the second quarter, racing down the left sideline for his 31-yard touchdown. The Falcons turned the ball over again four plays into the ensuing possession when White was stripped by Adarius Glanton near midfield and Thomas Davis returned the fumble to the Atlanta 9-yard line. A 5-yard penalty moved the ball closer, and Newton powered across the line on the first play for a 24-3 Carolina lead with 1:47 remaining in the first half. Gano added a 48-yarder in the third quarter and Boston jumped a pass near the right sideline, then zig-zagged all the way to an 84-yard score with seven seconds left in the third quarter. Game Notes The Panthers had 17 first downs, only one more than Atlanta ... The Falcons gained just 288 total yards ... Carolina lost 23-10 to San Francisco in the divisional round last season ... The Panthers have won four of the last five meetings with Atlanta. Cheap Shoes .m. ET, CBSOPENING LINE — Packers by 3RECORD VS. SPREAD — New England 7-4, Green Bay 5-5-1SERIES RECORD — Tied 5-5. Discount Shoes .A. Dickey, even though he was coming off a Cy Young Award in 2012. Many felt the Jays would regret giving up righthanded pitcher prospect Noah Syndergaard and catcher Travis DArnaud over the long haul. https://www.fakeshoeswholesale.com/ ... as usual. Even with the salary cap being set lower than many general managers expected and hoped for at $69 million and whats considered a shallow pool of top-end players available, this unrestricted-free-agent period figures to follow the familiar script of teams bidding up prices to keep up with each other. Fake Shoes . -- Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno was admitted to the hospital Friday for observation due to minor complications from cancer treatments, his family said. Shoes Outlet . The former Edmonton Oilers defenceman was with the St. Louis Blues in training camp on a professional tryout. Whitney, 30, had four goals and 13 points in 34 games with the Oilers last season.PHOENIX -- Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo made a remarkable catch, tumbling into the photo well to snag a foul ball. And it might have cost the Cubs the game. Josh Collmenter threw seven sharp innings, David Peralta drove in a pair of runs and the Diamondbacks beat the Cubs 3-1 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep. The go-ahead run was waved home automatically in the sixth inning after Rizzo came down with the ball in his glove for the out. By rule, if a defensive player takes the ball out of play, each runner is awarded a base. The only run Collmenter allowed was Rizzos 23rd home run of the season, matching his total for all of last year. Collmenter (8-5) gave up just three other hits. "I was able to command the fastball both sides of the plate," he said. "With a lot of lefties in the lineup I was able to pitch in really well, got a lot of popups and ground balls and the defence made some great plays." David Peralta had a run-scoring double to tie it, then came home from third on Rizzos camera well plunge. Rizzo said it was "just instinct" that he lunged for the ball. "I didnt think I would go in (the camera well)," he said. "But it was a little farther then I thought." The Diamondbacks earned their second sweep of the season, first at home. The Cubs have lost 11 of 13 since Jeff Samardzija was traded to Oakland on July 5. Jake Arrieta (5-2), who had a stomach virus the past few days, allowed three runs and four hits in 6 2-3 innings for the Cubs. It was a tough series, tough game today," he said. "The challenge really for me was what I had to deal with the last few days, trying to hold fluids down. My body was weak not being able to eat any solid food. Addison Reed pitcched a perfect ninth for his 23rd save in 28 tries.dddddddddddd The Diamondbacks are 3-0 after the All-Star break for the second time in franchise history. The other was in 2002. The game was scoreless through five innings, then Rizzo lashed the first pitch he saw in the sixth into the seats in the right corner, moving into a tie for the NL homer lead with Miamis Giancarlo Stanton. Rizzo homered twice in the series opener. Arizona scored twice in the sixth, the first on consecutive doubles by Ender Inciarte and Peralta. Peralta scored from third when Rizzo caught Aaron Hills high pop foul as he fell over the bar protecting the camera well near the Cubs dugout. In hindsight, Rizzo might have been better off just letting the ball drop foul. But, he said, "I dont think there is any Cubs fan that wanted me to miss it or any Diamondbacks fan that wanted me to catch it." The Diamondbacks won a challenge in the seventh when Mark Trumbo was called out stealing second. After a review, the call was reversed. Trumbo scored when Peralta singled. Ryan Sweeney made two big catches in centre for the Cubs. The second was the most spectacular, when he ran deep toward the wall to barely flag down Paul Goldschmidts deep fly. Notes: Arizona came from behind in all three games. ... Chicagos Chris Coghlan has hit safely in 16 of his past 17 games. ... The Cubs have Monday off, then open a 10-game homestand with a three-game series against San Diego. The Cubs RH Kyle Hendricks (0-0, 6.00 ERA) makes his second big-league start in Tuesdays opener. The Padres go with LH Eric Stults. Arizona opens a three-game interleague series with Detroit. LH Vidal Nuno starts for Arizona, RH Rick Porcello (12-5, 3.39) for the Tigers. ' ' '