ATLANTA – After his flop of the first week in Philadelphia, Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian has been widely criticized by fans and highly respected analysts like Kurt Warner.

Sarkisian is in a difficult situation. Because he took charge of an offense that set all kinds of records in 2016, any regression like that of the Falcons in 2017 was going to be imposed on him. It does not help him to come from college with a little NFL pedigree. And there is no doubt that some of his calls to the play, especially in the red zone, gave skeptics a hard time.

But the NFL is also an execution game, and the Falcons simply did better in a 31-24 win over the Carolina Panthers. Quarterback Matt Ryan, who was oddly inaccurate against the Eagles, rebounded with a solid game, completing 23 of 28 passes for 272 yards against a young Panthers side. He also had two touchdowns for the first time in his career.

Although Devonta Freeman, who had a knee contusion, was able to keep the ball, Tevin Coleman had 107 yards on 16 carries and rookie Ito Smith scored 46 yards in nine attempts.

Perhaps the biggest relief of all is that the Falcons were 4-in-4 in the red zone, an area where they converted only 50% of their possessions into touchdowns last season, ranking in the bottom third of the NFL.

Atlanta led 24-10 before Cam Newton found Torrey Smith for a 3-yard touchdown with 11:23 to play. But the Falcons responded at 4:06 later, finishing a nearly seven-game, 75-yard pass with Ryan in the end zone between two defenders.

However, Atlanta had to fend off a last attempt from Newton, who recovered the ball with a time of 1:48 and a chance to score with a touchdown. Newton drove Carolina from the 16-yard line to the 31 Falcons, giving him one last shot in the end zone with five seconds remaining. But Newton's pass to DJ Moore was overturned by Robert Alford.

Here are three other things we learned from Panthers-Falcons:

Calvin Ridley had an evening out: The Falcons used their first-round pick on Ridley this year, claiming he could add even more stress to the defenses that already counted for Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu, as well as tight end Austin Hooper. Although Ridley was unassuming in the opening game of the season, the Alabama product showed he could be a legitimate option for Ryan with four receptions for 64 yards, including his first career touchdown. Although Jones remains the main option (he was targeted nine times by Ryan with five catches), the emergence of Ridley could really make the defenses rethink the way they want to defend Atlanta.

Damontae Kazee is probably heading for a suspension: The Falcons' safety depth was hugely successful when Pro Bowler Keanu Neal suffered an ACL tear in Week 1. This injury allowed Kazee, a sophomore player from the state of San Diego, to start. But the Falcons may have to look for secondary help, at least in the short term, while Kazee may well face a suspension after his move against Newton early in the second quarter.

After Newton took off for a first run, sliding to Atlanta 23, Kazee arrived very late and hit the helmet, causing a brief split between the two teams.

Although the spirits calmed down after a few seconds, Newton was shaken and Kazee was kicked out of the game. Although Newton was not seriously injured (he came back for the next game), it was a scary moment for Panthers fans and the kind of dangerous and useless move that the NFL clearly showed, it will take seriously .

Without Kazee, the Falcons had to use Jordan Richards, which they had acquired from the Patriots in an exchange just before the regular season. They will need Richards, who fought in New England, to play a major role if Kazee went out too long.

The Carolina pass was not effective without Greg Olsen: It looks like the tight finals of the Panthers are outside 4-5 weeks with a foot injury, according to several reports, which could be very bad news for Newton. The body of the Panthers' receivers is just a group of players, and the absence of a real No. 1 option was visible as Newton's most reliable target was the halfback Christian McCaffrey (13 receptions, 92 yards) . Devin Funchess had 49 yards on five receptions, but the absence of a real threat prevented Carolina from testing the back of an Atlanta defense.

Follow Dan Wolken on Twitter @DanWolken.