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Panthers’ run defense? ‘Terrible.’ How the guilty parties reacted might surprise you.

Well, there was no dancing around the question.

Of all the eyesores that presented themselves Sunday during the Carolina Panthers’ 31-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, run defense would certainly rank near — or at — the top of the list. The Falcons snapped Carolina’s 21-game streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher, as Atlanta backup Tevin Coleman ran through and around the Panthers’ defense at will. Even Atlanta’s third-string back, Ito Smith, averaged more than 5 yards per carry to compliment Coleman’s 107 yards.

And so disappears what was the longest such streak in the NFL, and the longest ever for the Panthers’ historically defensive-minded franchise.