The Atlanta Falcons knew Cam Newton would run the ball. That was no secret.

They dissected his designed runs on film and practiced for them. They braced for the unscheduled scrambles, too.

Cam Newton's virtual dunk for a touchdown over Desmond Trufant in Week 9 summed up the Falcons' problems in stopping the Panthers' quarterback in the teams' first meeting. AP Photo/Mike McCarn

Despite the preparation, the Falcons still found themselves playing catch-up when they faced the Carolina Panthers quarterback in Week 9. One of the primary reason the Falcons lost 20-17 was their inability to contain Newton, who ran the ball nine times for a team-high 86 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown run.

With the playoffs at stake in Sunday's season finale, the Falcons can't afford to let Cam be Cam.

"Cam's going to do what he do," Falcons linebacker Deion Jones said. "You just gotta get him on the ground."

Sure, the Falcons may not be able to totally shut down Newton, the Atlanta native who would love nothing more than to come home and spoil his hometown team's playoff hopes. But the key word is "contain." Newton, who is averaging 5.4 yards per rush, is third all-time in rushing yards by a quarterback with 4,261 and counting, right behind former Falcon Michael Vick (6,109) and Randall Cunningham (4,928). In 13 career games against the Falcons, Newton has seven rushing touchdowns and has averaged 50.9 rushing yards per game --- more than Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart has averaged against the Falcons (50.7) in 15 career games.

In the November matchup, Newton broke loose for a 34-yard run off a play fake to Stewart; Falcons outside linebacker Vic Beasley Jr. succumbed to the trickery, giving Newton the edge. Fortunately for the Falcons, a forced fumble by Keanu Neal and subsequent recovery by Desmond Trufant negated that drive.

Later, Newton picked up 10 yards and a first down on a third-and-1 read-option play in which the Falcons missed two tackles. The Falcons were fortunate to force a punt on that drive. However, three other Newton runs -- including his touchdown scramble on third-and-5 when he virtually dunked the ball on Trufant -- were tied to scoring drives.

"I think it was more just playing the call out and not messing up; having mental errors," Beasley said of Newton's plays. "That's [what happened], especially on that big run that he had against us last time."

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Beasley, who made a tremendous read in last week's game against the New Orleans Saints to drop running back Alvin Kamara for a 7-yard loss, acknowledged that he might be called upon to "spy" on Newton. Whatever strategy the Falcons use, it won't be easy to corral the 6-foot-5, 245-pound Newton. Not to mention Newton, although not always accurate, has the potential to beat you down the field with his arm.

"Cam, he's just different," free safety Ricardo Allen said. "He's big. He's strong. So do you take power to him or do you take finesse? And they have other players who are tough tackles, too."

This would be the wrong time for the 9-6 Falcons to be undisciplined with their reads and tackling technique. A loss, coupled with a Seattle Seahawks win over the Arizona Cardinals, would knock them out of the final wild-card spot and leave the Saints and Panthers as the NFC South's postseason representatives.

Such an outcome would give Newton even more reason to gloat.