After a slow start to the season, Atlanta Falcons running back Michael Turner has found his stride over the last two weeks. With Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis suffering a season-ending injury last weekend, Turner's job this Sunday just got a bit easier.

Atlanta will try for just its second road win of the year and a season sweep of its series with Carolina this weekend at Bank of America Stadium.

Turner finished second in the NFL with 1,699 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns a season ago. Coming off a league-high 376 carries, the second-year Falcon's 105 rushing yards versus the Panthers in Week 2 represented his only game of breaking the century mark through his first six contests of 2009.

However, the 27-year-old back has posted 317 yards over his last two games. He notched what was then a season-high 151 yards versus New Orleans on November 2 before posting 166 yards on 18 carries in last weekend's 31-17 victory over the Washington Redskins. Turner added touchdown runs of 30 and 58 yards, with his second score coming early in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Atlanta leaned heavily on Turner, as quarterback Matt Ryan attempted a season- low 24 passes, completing 17 of them for 135 yards, which also Ryan's lowest total of the season. Still, the young signal-caller was able to get the scoring going with a two-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tony Gonzalez and played relatively mistake-free football, tossing just one interception.

Defensively, Atlanta allowed 312 total yards but notched a club record-tying five sacks in the first half, while corner Tye Hill returned an interception 62 yards for a score.

The victory improved the Falcons to 4-0 at home on the season, but the team brings just a 1-3 road record into this contest. Getting better on the road is key to Atlanta's long-term success this season, as it will have a hard time securing a home playoff game since it trails the first-place and undefeated Saints by three games in the NFC South.

The Falcons visit the New York Giants next Sunday.

Carolina, meanwhile, had won three of four prior to last weekend's 30-20 loss to the Saints. The Panthers actually jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a pair of touchdown runs by DeAngelo Williams -- including a 66- yarder in the game's first minute -- but New Orleans crept back into the game and went ahead on John Carney's 40-yard field goal with 4:36 to go in the fourth quarter.

Any comeback hopes ended for the Panthers when Williams fumbled at his own one-yard line, a gift that New Orleans took into the end zone.

With quarterback Jake Delhomme struggling, Carolina ran the ball 39 times versus the Saints, notching 182 yards. The Panthers defense, meanwhile, held the Saints to just 84 yards on the ground, although New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees completed 24-of-35 pass attempts for 330 yards.

The biggest thing to come out of the game for the Panthers, though, was the loss of Davis. The outside linebacker suffered a torn ACL in his right knee, an injury that landed him on injured reserve Tuesday. Davis had notched 61 tackles, two interceptions and a safety in seven games this year.

With several other Panthers hurting, the fact that Carolina will play two games in five days starting on Sunday (it hosts Miami next Thursday) is what could bury the team for good just one season removed from a division title.

SERIES HISTORY

Atlanta leads the all-time series with Carolina, 18-11, including a 28-20 home victory over the Panthers in Week 2. The teams embarked on a conventional home-and-home split last season, including a 24-9 win when the Falcons visited Charlotte in Week 4. The Falcons last won in Carolina in 2007.

Panthers head coach John Fox enters Sunday's contest with a 6-9 career mark against Atlanta, while the Falcons' Mike Smith is 2-1 against both Fox and Carolina as a head coach.

WHEN THE FALCONS HAVE THE BALL

While Turner (720 rushing yards) had been struggling to pick up yards, he has had no problem finding the end zone. He has scored a touchdown in seven straight games, amassing 10 in that span to rank second in the NFL. Turner's ability to score has the Falcons 11th in the league at 25.3 points per game, though Ryan (1784 passing yards, 13 TD, 10 INT) deserves credit there as well. The quarterback has a touchdown pass in all but one game this year, though he has also been picked off nine times over his last five games. He also hasn't thrown for more than 200 yards in three of his last four outing, as Atlanta has dropped to 19th in passing offense (215.8 yards per game). That has had an impact on wideout Roddy White (570 passing yards, 6 TD), who made just three catches for 27 yards last weekend. He also had a string of four straight games with a touchdown catch end. Gonzalez (434 passing yards, 4 TD) made a team- high five catches for 41 yards versus the Redskins. Perhaps part of Ryan's struggles are pressure-related, as he has been sacked 10 times in the last three weeks after going down just twice in the first five games.