Some losses hurt worse than others, as the Baltimore Ravens learned when they gave up the winning touchdown with 20 seconds left and the division lead up for grabs last week in Atlanta.
Luckily for the Ravens, the perfect opportunity to rebound presents itself Sunday as Baltimore travels to Charlotte to take on the woeful Carolina Panthers.
The Ravens (6-3) are tied with Pittsburgh for the AFC North lead, but they can't help but think they should occupy that spot alone after a 26-21 loss at Atlanta last Thursday.
Baltimore's once-vaunted defense gave up an 80-yard game-winning touchdown drive to Matt Ryan and the Falcons after taking the lead on Joe Flacco's touchdown pass to Todd Heap with 1:05 left.
The Panthers (1-8) ought to provide the perfect pick-me-up Sunday.
Injuries continue to ravage an already struggling Carolina offense, which ranks last in the league with nine touchdowns and 11.6 points per game.
Rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen, re-installed as the starter after Matt Moore was placed on injured reserve, won't play Sunday because of a concussion. Rather than start fellow rookie Tony Pike, the Panthers announced Thursday they will go with journeyman Brian St. Pierre, who was signed to the active roster Tuesday.
St. Pierre has thrown only five passes in eight NFL seasons and wasn't even with the Panthers until he was signed to the practice squad last week.
The news isn't much better at running back, where leading rusher DeAngelo Williams was placed on injured reserve Wednesday with a sprained foot. Backups Jonathan Stewart (concussion) and Tyrell Sutton (ankle) both missed practice Wednesday, making it look like second-year back Mike Goodson will make his second start.
Goodson became the first Panthers' back to rush for 100 yards this season with an even 100 in last week's 31-16 loss at Tampa Bay.
The Ravens' loss at Atlanta came in spite of another strong performance from Flacco, who has an NFL-best 114.2 passer rating over the past four games and has passed for 1,016 yards and 10 touchdowns with just one interception during that stretch.
Flacco threw for 215 yards with three touchdowns and an interception against the Falcons. With 50 career touchdown passes, he needs only two to surpass Vinny Testaverde for the most in franchise history.
Baltimore could use more out of its ground game, though, as leading rusher Ray Rice has only one 100-yard game and two rushing touchdowns this season.
Carolina has won all three meetings, but the teams haven't met since 2006, when Jake Delhomme led the Panthers to a 23-21 win in Baltimore.