CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It was an ugly sight for the Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon in Bank of America Stadium as it was blitzed by the visiting Atlanta Falcons, 29-3.
“(It was) road mentality,” said Falcons’ head coach Dan Quinn. “(It was) a vision game. We all know how tough they are. (It was) a true team performance in every sense. Offense, defense and special teams. Complimentary football. Those are the things that we’ve been working hard to establish.
“We had great takeaways and field position. That’s the complimentary football that we’re looking for.”
The Panthers – led by quarterback Kyle Allen and running back Christian McCaffrey – couldn’t get it together thanks in large part to a hounding Falcons’ defense.
In terms of its defensive intensity, Atlanta swarmed McCaffrey to almost shut him down.
“They got some explosive guys,” said Quinn. “All week we knew quite a bit of the offense goes through (Christian) McCaffrey. He’s an explosive player in the run-game, the pass-game… Great speed on the outside. I thought (Isaiah) Oliver was the one who stood out to me on the outside. As much nickel as we played, I thought that he was on point…The secondary, in general, I thought [did] a good job staying on top.”
McCaffrey, who ranked first in rushing yards per game at 109.9 coming into Sunday’s match-up, could only muster 70 yards on 14 carries. McCaffrey collected 67 yards on 13 carries through three quarters. He finished averaging only five yards per carry.
Nevertheless, McCaffrey was the go-to guy in the passing game as he garnered 121 yards on 11 catches.
When it came to Allen, though, the Falcons dominated him as it forced four interceptions on the day – three coming in the first half.
“Definitely a drought for sure,” said Quinn jokingly about the lack of interceptions since Week 2 of this season. “We put the work in on that. We know that they have a chance to come in bunches. To see some of the guys take points off the board, I thought that was a big deal today.
“I thought Rico (Allen), in particular, had a pass break-up and interception. Anytime you get the chance to intercept the ball down in the red zone, those are points off the board. More than anything, just the communication all across I thought was good stuff.”
Allen’s first interception was thrown in the first quarter.
On 3rd-and-4, Allen dropped back and misfired on a pass short to the right intended for DJ Moore as Atlanta’s De’Vondre Campbell secured the ball at the Carolina 30-yard line with 10:55 left in the first quarter.
Allen threw two more in the second quarter (the first to defensive back Desmond Trufant in the end zone with 10:49 left in the quarter and the other to Ricardo Allen on a deep pass down the right side intended for DJ Moore with 17 seconds left in the first half.)
Allen finished the game with 325 yards and was sacked six times to go along with his interception count.
“We saw a little bit of a shift in our second half against Seattle, and we’re starting to improve and come together of course last week (against the Saints) and into this week,” said Quinn about the change in play the last couple of weeks on defense. “Each week is different, you know. You can’t gauge what you did last week into the next one, so what I loved about the guys this week (were) all the things they put into the game and the space where they can play well together.”
On offense, the Falcons did well in the passing game as quarterback Matt Ryan connected on 14 of his 20 attempts in the first half for 215 yards with a 48-yard shotgun pass going to wide-out Julio Jones with 1:49 left in the half.
That play would set-up a Qadree Ollison 2-yard touchdown run to give the Falcons a 20-0 lead followed by kicker Younghoe Koo’s PAT to lead going into the break.
Ryan connected on five passes to Jones for 80 yards, four passes to Calvin Ridley for 81 yards, two passes to Russell Gage for 32 yards and two passes for 14 yards to Justin Hardy in the first half.
The run game wasn’t anything to call home about for the Falcons with starter Devonta Freeman on the inactive list, but Brian Hill did okay as he had 30 yards on 15 carries.
In the second half, the story was much of the same as Ryan saw his receivers and connected with them time and time again.
Jones finished the contest with 91 yards on six grabs while Ridley was the leading man with 143 yards on eight receptions including a 6-yard TD grab in the third quarter.
“I thought his week in practice, there was something leading into that,” said Quinn about Ridley’s strong play. “We talked about some of the guys that had a good week (in practice.) Matt (Ryan) was one. Cal (Ridley) was one.
“So, as his role has grown bigger and bigger over the last month, (Ridley’s) responded. A big shot play today in the first quarter, I thought, changed field position right off the bat…so it shows the chemistry that the two are starting to build.”
KEY PLAY:
On special teams, Atlanta tailback Kenjon Barner took a huge punt return (a 78-yarder) home for a TD in the first quarter with 1:18 left. This scorcher of a play was crucial in the turning point of this contest, having only been up, 3-0, at the time on a 38-yard field goal by Koo.
UP NEXT:
The Panthers (5-5) face the New Orleans Saints (8-2) on the road on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. E.T.
The Falcons (3-7) take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-7) at home on Sunday at 1 p.m. E.T.
