ATLANTA — A week ago, after giving up 552 yards and 59 points to the Bears, it would have been hard to imagine reading the following stat: The Carolina Panthers are no longer last in the league in defense. But it's true, they moved up two spots on Sunday, passing the Lions and Colts, and are now allowing a mere 419.0 yards and a 31.0 points per game.

Of course, when you cut the yardage total nearly in half (286) the next week and only allow a field goal, that's how averages work.

But despite feeling good about beating the Falcons 34-3 to even their record at 1-1, the Panthers remain aware that these kinds of wild swings in defensive performance aren't sustainable. They want to always look closer to the Falcons game, or better, but they know it has to smooth out at some point.

"I think for us it's about finding this level of consistency, right?" defensive tackle Derrick Brown said, moving his massive hands down and up to illustrate the vibe of the last two weeks. "Like you can't do this when you lose or get beat like we did last weekend, and you can't do this when you win, right?

"Like we learned that last year. So I think that's just one of the things we take moving forward."

There were a lot of things the Panthers can take away from this one, beginning with the way they took it away.

Against Chicago, Bobby Okereke's fumble recovery on the first series was the only one (and it only got worse from there in a 59-37 loss).

Sunday, his interception was one of five turnovers created, along with linebacker Devin Lloyd dropping Drake London for a loss on a failed fourth-down attempt.

"We stayed locked in because that's kind of how we started last game," veteran cornerback Jaycee Horn said. "Early turnover up and went and got seven, then it was downhill from there."

What a difference a week makes

Sunday began with rookie safety Zakee Wheatley punching the ball out on the first play of the game, and unlike a week ago, the momentum only built.

"It was very special for me," Wheatley said with a grin. "I've put in a lot of work this all season, my whole life, to get to that, get to this moment, get to this field, and at that point just trusting my teammates, trusting the call, going out there and playing my game.

"And then obviously, you know, we had a lot of turnovers after that. So I think that definitely helped the momentum of our defense and just the game in general."

And that might have been the best part Sunday — so many people had a hand in it. But even with Lloyd filling up a stat sheet himself, it was the kind of broad-based effort they'll need over the course of a long season.

"Everybody eats," Okereke laughed in reference to the turnovers, but he also knows there's still a lot to learn about a group that's still coming together. (He got here on cut weekend after the end of the preseason, same as defensive tackle TeRah Edwards, who played over half the snaps up front).

"I mean, it just shows that this is the NFL, it's competitive every week," he said. "And if we bring our best, the talent we have, we can show a very dominant performance. But if we don't bring our best, we can get beat by really anybody.

"So, just, more onus on us to really stay in our Ps and Qs, and just build off what we said our key to the victory was this week, which was physicality."

Panthers head coach Dave Canales challenged them on that point last week, after they were pushed around in the opener. The Bears ran for 291 yards, which is so off-the-charts that it's hard to fathom. And the Falcons ran for 157 Sunday, but they have Bijan Robinson, and that's what they do. But holding him to 72 yards and 4.5 yards per carry felt like a win, especially since he was under 4.0 yards per carry in the first half, which is about as long as the game was in question.

Then the Falcons got out of phase and had to pass, and Jaelan Phillips added his second sack of the season (and if he gets one a week, that'll average out nicely too), as the parts continue to come together.

"Yeah, just keep going, don't get too high, don't get too low," Phillips said of the coming challenge. "I said it before, but just because we won like that doesn't mean we've made it or that we're the best team ever, you know?

"We have to still be honest with ourselves and still make the improvements where we need to improve and just keep stacking the days."

And that extended to Lloyd, who, after a star turn that was getting him compared to Hall of Famers, dug back into the daily perspective on a day when the Falcons' third quarterback was getting booed from the second series, and their fourth one finished the game.

"I mean, the biggest thing is us coming out with the win, and I'm just grateful for the team to play great complementary football and finding a way to respond from last week and come out with the victory," Lloyd said. "We definitely knew we had to respond regardless of the quarterback that they threw out there. Arguably the best running back in the world, we knew they were going to try to establish the run game, so that was our focus point: just being physical and ultimately playing great football in the trenches.

"But yeah, definitely as far as just responding from last week, a game where we wanted to get back on track."

Of course, there's still a question about identity, because when you swing from one end of the spectrum to the other, it's hard to know which one is the real one. They hope this is closer to who they are, but they also know the challenge of proving that in the weeks to come.

For the elders like Brown (who, even if he isn't the oldest, is their center of gravity on defense), that means walking in this morning ready to see where they have to improve. A week ago, he was eager to move forward, after an uncharacteristic opener which included a pair of penalties that led directly to touchdowns. He knew that wasn't who he is, or who they were supposed to be, so getting back to work was the only way through it.

"I think we're rolling with the same confidence we left camp with, right? Like we left OTAs with," Brown said. "But I think for us it's just about execution, right? Last week we had a lot of plays where we beat ourselves, and today we're able to go out here and limit those plays.

"I mean, everybody else talked about it all week, but I put it to bed on Monday, and I think that's one of those things where you've just got to bounce back. . . . Damn right, I could have played again on Monday."

That's how eager the Panthers were to prove that the opener wasn't who they were. Now comes the challenge of proving their real identity in the months to come.