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2022 · 3-7-0
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25-15 |
2022 · 4-6-0
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What We Learned from Panthers
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Early on, the Panthers made their offensive intentions clear. The Falcons were ranked 31st in pass defense heading into the game. How did the Panthers respond? On 17 of their first 23 offensive plays, they ran the ball. Coming in, Carolina averaged 105.3 rush yards per game, but by halftime it had 128 and finished with 232. Isn’t it strange that they traded Christian McCaffrey and then declared, “We’re a running team?” Why, yes! But with Steve Wilks at QB3 now with P.J. It’s clear the interim coach knows he needs to pound teams with D’Onta Foreman (31 carries!) and his friends, sprinkle in a Laviska Shenault carry and a Walker keeper now and then and shorten games by sticking with him after he could have easily switched on Monday. If he wants to win games, that’s the formula. It worked pretty well Thursday night.
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At this point, the Falcons’ offensive identity is unknown. Only the Chicago Bears had more rushing attempts than Atlanta entering the game. Running the ball has become the Falcons’ (temporary) identity this season, and it has been quite effective. Kyle Pitts and Drake London need more ball time — and we agree. The Falcons threw the ball early after running 37 times (to only 30 pass dropbacks) in their last meeting with the Panthers 11 days ago. No less, in the rain. On the first two drives, it was a 50-50 split, not counting penalties.
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The Falcons need to discuss Marcus Mariota at some point. As Mariota has had some good moments this season — the 49ers game, for instance, and most of the second half and overtime against the Panthers — it would be unfair to completely throw him under the bus. He hasn’t been great most of the season, was a liability in Week 9 and struggled on Thursday night. Not just struggling, it was making rookie mistakes: throwing across his body, taking awful sacks instead of throwing them away, overthrowing 6-foot-6 Pitts, throwing from his back without looking, etc. Carolina dropped at least two potential interceptions.
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A gem like Ikem Ekwonu could be a great addition to Carolina. It has been a pretty forgettable season for the Panthers in general, but Ekwonu has put together a nice rookie season. As long as Ekwonu continues to play as he has over the past few games, they will have snatched away the all-important left tackle position for quite some time. To be fair, there were a few rookie mistakes Thursday night, too, most notably back-to-back penalties when the Panthers were backed up, plus two more flags we cannot ignore.
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Is P.J. Walker the guy? Some were surprised when Wilks announced Walker would be his starting quarterback on Monday morning. Since he had two picks, three completions, and was benched against the Bengals last Sunday, Baker Mayfield has far outperformed him. If Wilks had gone back to Mayfield after Mayfield’s damage in garbage time, no one would have been surprised. He has tacked against the wind against everything that is seemingly backed by Matt Rhule, his former boss. Rhule has lost several of his assistants.
As a ball carrier, Laviska Shenault reached the fastest speed in his career of 20.29 mph on his 41-yard TD run. On the play, he was only expected to gain 18 yards, which had a TD probability of only 6.0%.