2023 Long Island EFL NFC Championship Game "A Classic War to the End" Atlanta Falcons (7-2) at Carolina Panthers (7-2)

[Long island EFL]

                                      Long Island EFL T O U R N A M E N T  OF C H A M P I O N S

 

Atlanta Falcons (7-2) at Carolina Panthers (7-2)

(Long Island Electric Football League NFC Championship Game) December 30, 2023. By Levi Vick. We are in the process of writing up LIEFL Super Bowl XVIII. For now here is the NFC Championship Game!

We could never ask for a better matchup than this classic NFC Championship Game between two division rivals in the Atlanta Falcons (7-2) and the Carolina Panthers (7-2). Both teams are on a collision path game to the road less traveled. Atlanta's posse of "Dirty Birds" came with all they had, and a coach with a nasty attitude in Coach Johnny-Freeport, who came with them. It will be hard to walk away from this game when all is said and done. The Falcons have played amazing in playoffs and LIEFL-Hall of Fame running back and NFC Offensive Player of the Year Gerald Riggs, has been perfect, nothing short of sensational! But so too have the Carolina Panthers. We expect this game might be a high-scoring game considering the two offenses that are playing and that rampage they have created throughout the Tournament of Champions! The winner will play the high-octane AFC Los Angeles Chargers (8-1)!

The Atlanta Falcons have the number two offense in the league with 128 points scored, but the Panthers are not far behind they were number three with 127 points, so expect fireworks! It's like we've seen in the tournament, every team playing the way tournament teams should play. On defense Atlanta ranked #18 in the league with 114 points scored against them. Carolina gave up 113 points ranked at #17. But all that stuff goes out the window in the playoffs.

When the Falcons beat the Packers, we knew they meant business and the same thing goes for the Panthers, but the Panthers were ranked at a higher seed, and they beat Atlanta in Week #6. Hall of Famer Gerald Riggs rushed for 152 yards against the Packers and he had a huge 89-yard run from scrimmage which sealed the deal in their game.

Against the Redskins Riggs had 64 yards rushing with one touchdown. Where Riggs has exploded as well is in all purpose yards category. He has 422 kick return yards on seven touches, and 66 yards in receiving with two touchdowns, totaling 30 touches all purpose for 704 yards with four touchdowns in the playoffs! Is he on fire?  He's a scoring machine, but the Falcons dropped their game to the Panthers in week #6 of the regular season, 21-17. The Panthers had the advantage playing at home. This will be a little bit of a different game judging by the way the Falcons have to played. If they play the same way they played against the Redskins, this will be a game that we won't leave our seats!

Coach Johnny-Freeport said, "Welcome to New York Football ...It's all about the matchups baby! And thank God these guys are in our division cuz we know every single player on that Panthers roster and what they can do, so they'll be no secrets. We're ready for war ... let's just get it on! Gerald Riggs was the NFC Offensive Player of the Year this season, so I'll take my chances. Let's not pick any bones about it, I don't like Matt-Zoo York or his team, and I don't care if he likes me either! This is a chance to go to the Super Bowl and win $3200 dollars. I'm not friends at this point! A lot of people don't understand what we play for in this hobby. We are serious and love competition. Money talks, and it changes everything about the game. The preparation for the game, the hours we put into it, the desire to win all comes with competition. In this league we play to win, we're not playing in some League like Levi Vick and Johnny Biggs played in with rolling dice, pivots, long counts, sticks, and the dilly dally. I'm your opponent, I'm your enemy, I'm here to try to win 3,200 dollars, and I'll be back next year for more. We are New Yorkers and if you never worked with New Yorkers or met New Yorkers you should try and meet a few. You will realize that we wear our attitudes on our sleeve. We don't pull punches with people. We will respect all but be disrespected by none!"

Panthers coach Matthew York said, "Oh God, every time Johnny-Freeport opens his mouth and starts talking this stuff, he raises my level of determination even more. He gives us New Yorkers a bad label. He talks more trash than the trash itself. I can't deny that he's had a great tournament, but I'm well prepared for this game strategically and mentally, and I believe my Panthers are too."

 

Yesterday's NFC Divisional Championship Game between the Chicago Bears and the Carolina Panthers was electrifying! Johnny-Freeport can say whatever he wants, but he knows Carolina is a mean lean fighting football machine. Nobody can deny that his Falcons and even the Ravens played some great football, which is Johnny-Freeport at his best. His Lions played great like this in 2016, it's whoever has the momentum. He always has some criticism for somebody. It's been wonderful that he's opened up his home for the last few games of this tournament. 

The Panthers rallied in a come from behind victory over the Bears in overtime 45-39, but Johnny-Freeport instead of watching the first half of football he watched the second half of how the Bears stopped the Panthers, and caught up to the power of the game and the speed! They now know Keary Colbert is a player.

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME OPENING KICKOFF:

There's a lot of nerves flying before the opening kickoff. Panthers Greg Jones ran the ball back 52 yards to start the game. On first down DeShaun Foster ran for 4 yards, but he met nothing but white jerseys and a posse Dirty Birds on the helmets of the Atlanta Falcons on both 2nd and 3rd downs. The Panthers tried to pass the ball but they were rejected and denied on a big hit by Julio Jones in the backfield. Carolina decided to go for it on 4th down it's short yardage and they were denied again by the Falcons defense. That might have been a big mistake for Coach Matt Zoo York. Maybe his ego is getting involved in this game? But Johnny Freeport jumped in the air with a yeah baby all day! The Panthers used up a lot of clock.

It was the Falcons turn. The Carolina Panthers defense came up huge on the first two downs, stopping Gerald Riggs in his tracks at the 46-yard line of Atlanta. But on 3rd down, it was Jamal Anderson who broke free for a 54 yard touchdown pass by Johnny-Freeport passing with the "Yellow Tudor kicker" right off the receiver's head. Freeport hit them on the fly after 34 yards so that was a great pass by Johnny Freeport with a little bit of luck involved! The Falcons take the lead 7-0!

On the Panthers next return Greg Jones ran a blazing 100-yard kick return into the end zone to tie the score at 7-7! What a run by Jones who flew into the end zone to get this offense ignited for Carolina!

On the last play of the first quarter Gerald Riggs ran back a lightning 86-yard kick return to the 9-yard line of the Panthers, as the first quarter closed. Oh this is a game! On first down, Riggs ran for eight yards, and on second down Gerald Riggs scored his first touchdown of the game from one yard out to give the Falcons the lead 14-7! 

The coach's roared watching Carolina Panthers Greg Jones run back his second consecutive 100-yard kick return of the half to tie the score at 14-14 with 11:39 remaining in the half! Greg Jones!

On the next Falcons kickoff return Gerald Riggs ran a 52-yard ball back to the 48 of the Panthers. Riggs ran for two yards on first down, and three yards on second down, but on third down the Falcons and Johnny Freeport connected on another great pass to his man Jamal Anderson for a speedy 41-yard touchdown scamper to make the score 21-14 Falcons, with 4:06 remaining in a half! Freeport is on fire!

On another great play by the Panthers in this fantastic game, Keary Colbert who was the star last game, broke Free from Jamal Anderson on a 40-yard pass play by Matt-Zoo York. Zoo threw 20-yards downfield with the Tudor Kicker, and he hit Colbert on the back to tie the score 21-21, with 1:43 remaining in the half! The Falcons called a time out! Johnny-Freeport wants more before the end of the half!

The winner of this game will play the Los Angeles Chargers and their high-powered offense! Their offense is a major threat with LaDainian tomlinson, Lance Alworth, and playmaker Kellen Winslow Sr., whose game against the Colts was unbelievable and unstoppable!

Back to the 1:43 remaining in the half. Oh my goodness! Gerald Riggs exploded for 100-yard kick return into the end zone to give the Falcons the 28-21 lead, with 1:30 remaining in a half and the Panthers called their first time out of the half with one remaining. What a run by Riggs! These guys really have elevated their game to an entirely different level tonight! And they're making it look easy! This is a really good Falcons team!

Just when you thought nobody could beat the Panthers, here we go with the Battle of their season on the line!

Again unbelievable! Greg Jones ran a blistering 89 yard kick return after being in the center of traffic at the 50 and he blazed another 40 yd before being tackled by a speeding Falcons cornerback Deion Sanders, almost as if they were alive and playing on the field. What a play by Sanders and Carolina calls their last time out of the half! Greg Jones is having the game of his life at 403 all purpose yards with two 100-yard kick returns for touchdowns!

This is a game with a bring it all and boy have they brought it and made it one of the most exciting NFC Championship Games in the history of this league! Two extremely exciting Electric football teams! Unbelievable!

The Panthers call their last time out of the half with 1:17  remaining. Imagine DeShaun Foster has only touched the ball three times and look at the offensive firepower that has come from Greg Jones this is what makes this team special. They had to get warmed up and they're warm up might have been too late because it gave the Falcons a chance to capitalize, and you can't make mistakes against Johnny-Freeport. One mistake can cost you the game.

After the 89-yard tech return by Greg Jones, Jeff King broke free on first down for Carolina at the 11 yard line and King went into the end zone on a great Zoo-York pass to tie the score 28-28 with 1:03 remaining in the half, and the Falcons take their last time out before the half ends! Again, what a football game!

This place is going wild! Gerald Riggs just exploded for his second 100-yard touchdown return! The special teams performances have been incredible and exciting! We can't even make this up. Riggs just blazed down the right sideline to give the Falcons the lead 35-28, and there's not enough time for the two teams to set up, or for Carolina to run one more back before the half! That gives the Falcons another advantage because they receive the ball in the second half, in an electrifying game indeed! Johnny-Freeport has lost his control, going crazy and for today anyway he has been able to back up his talk playing the psychological warfare game and it's working on Zoo, but Matt Zoo-York is not giving up. The Panthers are too good to give up. They have to find a way in the second half to stop Johnny-Freeports posse' and scoring machine that they have.

Gerald Riggs is at 352 all purpose yards at the half with three touchdowns, including two 100 yard runbacks and his posse' mate Jamal Anderson has 95 yards in pass receptions with two touchdowns! These two have amazing speed!

To kick off the third quarter Gerald Riggs ran back of 41 yard kick return. On first down, it was lights out Riggs launched a 59 yard touchdown run into the end zone for another Atlanta score just before the electrifying half ended, and the Falcons are starting to run away with it! Falcons 42 - Panthers 28, with 12:54 remaining in the third. Riggs is putting on a show! Johnny-Freeport is walking back and forth with his hands in the air! No doubt the Falcons are a team to be revered and for us, the Long Island Electric Football League gets better and better through the draft! This is a serious Falcons football team!

It's been all fireworks from two fabulous football teams going into the half with the score the Falcons 35 the Panthers 28!

 

Panthers outstanding return man Greg Jones ran back a 48 yard kick return on the Panthers first possession to start the 3rd quarter. Finally, the Panthers running game kicked in with a 12 yard first down by to DeShaun Foster and then on second down, Foster ran for 15 more yards, for another first down. After being stopped on two runs and pushed back four yards by the Falcons defense to the 28-yard line, the Falcons continued to force plays! The Panthers had to pass on third down with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter. Matt Zoo-York threw a beautiful pass to Keary Colbert for his second touchdown of the game!  This one was from 29 yards! The Panthers catching up and the Falcons were still in the lead 42-35, with 4:36 remaining in the third quarter!

Johnny-Freeport's Falcons have been relentless. After a 41-yard kick return for the Dirty Birds posse'  Gerald Riggs ran for seven, and then 12 yards to the 43 yard line of the Panthers as the third quarter came to a close! These two teams who are the beneficiaries of an outstanding LIEFL draft. The Panthers have been consistent for five straight years, so too have of the Falcons, but the battle has been between these two teams in the NFC South Division. The Falcons have upped their game this season, and this is a result of great work by Johnny-Freeport. It's not over yet. Atlanta may earn a trip to LIEFL Super Bowl XVIII for the first time in their history, to play the Chargers!

After being stopped on first down Gerald Riggs ran for 10 more and another first down. After two runs Riggs was stopped by Panthers star Kawaan Short, and the Carolina defense forcing a third down pass play, which the Falcons came up five yards short of the first down at the Panthers 20 yard line. Atlanta kicked a field goal to make the score 45-35 with 8:23 remaining in the game!

After a 37-yard kick return by Greg Jones Panthers running back DeShaun Foster exploded on an amazing 63-yard touchdown run into the end zone! The Panthers are still in this football game, and the clock is running! On that touchdown play the score is Falcons 45 Panthers 42 with 4:34 remaining in the game!

Without being biased on an unbelievable kick return Gerald Riggs just returned his third 100-yard touchdown of the game and that is hard to compete with! The greatness of the Hall of Fame player! Riggs blasted free on the left side of the field to make the score 52-42! Falcons in the lead! The Panthers called their first time out with one more remaining at 2:59 in left in the game!

With the game in favor of the Falcons, Greg Jones returned a beautiful 56 yard kickoff return. And on a first down pass, it was Jones who broke free for a 44-yard touchdown right through the middle of the field to make the score 52-48, and the Panthers will go for two! From the minute we kicked off in one of the longest games we can recall, there's 56 seconds left in the game. Gerald Riggs will get one more return. Let's play the game!

Gerald Riggs just ran his fourth 100-yard touchdown back to end the game with the Falcons dismantling the Panthers 59-50 in one of the greatest games in the history of the league. How does he do it? What a incredible game for Riggs! Now that is a Hall of Fame player Gerald Riggs! Riggs ran his fourth 100 yard kick return for a touchdown and he just exploded! Johnny-Freeport is going absolutely wild! One thing is for sure, the Falcons know how to score points and today Johnny Freeport exploded after the game! For the first time ever the Atlanta Falcons will head to LIEFL-Super Bowl XVIII to play the Los Angeles Chargers a hefty opponent in Ed Viggs. And what a season the Panthers had! They will take another crack at it next season but Johnny Freeport eliminated Matt Zoo- York. And it's going to be Johnny-Freeport's Falcons against elite coach Ed Viggs Chargers in a $3200 dollar Super Bowl battle!

Gerald Riggs finished the day with Hall of Fame Numbers. Riggs rushed 13 times for 102 yards with two touchdowns, but on special teams, he killed it, with 8 touches for 620 yards with four  100-yard kick returns for touchdowns. Riggs had an unbelievable six touchdowns in the game! The Falcons are a relentless scoring machine. Jamal Anderson had two receptions for 95 yards with two touchdowns! The Atlanta defense battled head-to-head with  great Panthers team who battled ferociously right till the end, but the NFC Offensive Player of the Year Gerald Riggs outlasted the Carolina defense! Carolina's offense was spectacular! DeShaun Foster was kept in check by their division rivals, but Greg Jones had a day! Jones returned the football 8 times for an incredible 542-yards, with two sensational 100-yard touchdown returns, a testament to the year the Panthers had. Receiver Keary Colbert had a second great game in a row, with three catches for 71 yards, with a 29-yard touchdown in the game!

 

 

The MVP Trophy goes to Gerald Riggs!  This is a showcase player, one of the best in LIEFL History! Johnny-Freeport said, "Matt Zoo-York now knows who the best coach in this league is, and we shut down their offense which was enough to walk away with the NFC Championship. Time to focus on Viggy now and his Chargers.  The game is at my place!  I knew I'd be here in this game, but I didn't know it would be my posse' who'd be the team winning!" Matt Zoo-York said, "You can't win them all, but the pace of the game from the get-go was one of the best games in any league I've ever been involved with. I am cheering for Viggy, not Johnny-Freeport!"

This game might be the best LIEFL Super Bowl matchup ever. So, it's the Los Angeles Chargers, one of the most prolific teams in the league versus the Atlanta Falcons in what may turn out to be a high-scoring epic battle!

 

 

Edited January 2 by Long island EFL
INFO ADDED