at the Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia Hoping to rebound from their Saturday night loss to the Cowboys and keep any playoff hope alive, the Falcons stayed at home for Christmas Eve as they played an NFC South grudge match with the Carolina Panthers.  In the first quarter, Atlanta struck first with kicker Morten Andersen nailing a 40-yard field goal for the only score of the period.  However, in the second quarter, the Panthers took the lead and won with QB Chris Weinke completing a 1-yard TD pass to TE Jeff King and kicker John Kasay completing a 42-yard field goal.  Afterwards, defense ruled the game and the Falcons ended up on the losing end.  QB Michael Vick would end up with a dismal 9/20 for 109 yards with No Touchdowns and 2 Interceptions, yet he would become the very first quarterback in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season before being suspended for the next two years. This would be the last time we saw Vick in a Falcon Uniform. The Bad News: Atlanta fell to 7-8 and also fell out of the playoff race with the New York Giants Week 17 Sat. night win over the Washington Redskins.  The Good News: Carolina also failed to make the playoffs.. How many points were scored the first quarter?