Carolina Panthers vs. Atlanta Falcons
After a historic 2015 season that went above & beyond expectations for Carolina Panthers fans, the Carolina Panthers entered today's tilt against the Atlanta Falcons 1-2. Many Panthers fans are in disbelief at how the 2016 season has begun. After a rough showing in week 1 in Denver where the Panthers still could have won, they ended up losing their first game of the season by a point. To the Panthers dismay they are going into this game with a losing record having lost badly to the Broncos & the Vikings. The Atlanta Falcons on the other hand have started their 2016 season at 2-1.
The beginning of the game hasn't gone very well for the Panthers on either side of the ball. The Falcons QB, Matt Ryan was able to throw the ball around the field early & often as his favorite targets such as Julio Jones amassed a lot of yards. The well respected Panthers Defense allowed two touchdowns early on to Falcons TE Jacob Tamme & Falcons RB Devonta Freeman. The Panthers Offense has also stalled out on several attempts....this is a synopsis of the 1st Quarter. Early in the 2nd Quarter the Panthers defense stepped up and got a "pick 6" from Kurt Coleman to bring the score to 14-7. On the next drive after the pick 6....Matt Ryan hit Julio Jones for a 53 yard strike to put themselves deep into the red zone. This also gave Julio Jones with almost 7 minutes left in the 1st half over 150 yards on the day. The Panthers were able to able to hold the Falcons to a field goal. On the following drive the Panthers responded with a 54 yard FG by Graham Gano to put the score at 17-10 Falcons with 3:07 left in the 2nd quarter. Toward the end of the half both teams offenses stalled out and that brought the game to halftime with the score still 17-10 with the Falcons leading.
To open up the 3rd quarter, the Falcons offense got the ball. Using a variety of receiving options, Matt Ryan was able to complete the majority of his passes to hit TE Austin Hooper for a 42 yard touchdown catch to cap a 10 play, 99 yard drive to expand the Falcons lead to 14 with a score of 24-10. On the Panthers 1st drive of 3rd quarter, they go "3 and out." On the Falcons 2nd drive of the 3rd quarter, they score again to raise their lead to 21 making the score 31 - 10. On the Panthers next offense series they go "3 and out." To make matters worse for the Panthers defense, it was officially confirmed that their linebacker Thomas Davis had a hamstring injury suffered earlier in the game and won't be returning to the game. The Falcons end the 3rd quarter on a efficient drive that will go into the 4th quarter. To conclude the drive, the Falcons Matt Bryant makes a 53 yard FG.
In the 4th quarter, Cam Newton finally is able to connect with Kelvin Benjamin for a TD....and then he was able to convert for a 2 PT conversion. This takes the score to Carolina 18 and Atlanta 34 with 11:42 left in the 4th quarter. In more unfortunate news for Panthers fans, Cam Newton leaves the game and heads to the locker room to go under the NFL Concussion Protocol. The Falcons offense goes "3 and out" on their drive and were forced to punt. To start the Panthers next drive, Derek Anderson enters the game at QB and the offense successful caps the drive with a 14 yard TD pass to TE Greg Olsen. Then they were able to convert another 2 PT conversion with another Anderson pass to Greg Olsen. This took the score to Carolina 26 and Atlanta 34....this brings Atlanta's lead down to 8 points. This is the smallest lead the Falcons have had since the 1st quarter. However, there is only 3:58 left in the game....it will now be up to the Panthers defense to get a stop and get the ball back to their offense. On the first play of the Falcons drive, Matt Ryan completed a 75 yard TD pass to Julio Jones to bring the score to Atlanta 41 and Carolina 26. With 3 minutes and 45 seconds left in the game it appears that the Falcons may have ended any hopes the Panthers had to come back and at least take the game to overtime. However, the Panthers wouldn't be daunted and scored on a 16 yard TD pass from Anderson pass to Corey Brown to bring the score to Carolina 33 & Atlanta 41. This brings the deficit to 8 points, but the Panthers only have 1:53 left in the game to tie the game. The Panthers lucked out with the Falcons going "3 and out" on the next drive with a minute and 32 seconds left. After the punt the Panthers offense has a minute and 25 seconds left in the game with no timeouts remaining.....and on the first play Derek Anderson throws a an interception that goes the other way for a pick 6 for the Falcons defense by Robert Alford....There is still a minute & 14 seconds remaining in the game, however now the Panthers are down by 15 points with the score Atlanta 48 & Carolina 33. On the Panthers final offensive drive of the game, Derek Anderson throws an interception after a pass intended for Ted Ginn, Jr. was tipped and caught by Robert Alford.
Takeaways: For Panthers fans, the beginning of the 2016 season has been nothing short of a nightmare. Questions such as: was GM David Gettleman correct in rescinding the franchise tag to former Panther CB Josh Norman? Was drafting DT Vernon Butler the right move when the Broncos exposed the Panthers O-line in SuperBowl 50? Prior to today's possible concussion some wonder if there is something wrong with Cam Newton this season perhaps dating back to week one.....or if the O-line simply isn't overachieving as they were last year? Why has Kelvin Benjamin almost disappeared from the offense? Should Gettleman look for some assistance for the O-line and perhaps the secondary? These are all fair questions for Panthers fans to ask moving on to the week 5 tilt against another division rival, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Most Panther fans did not expect the team's record to be 1-3 at this point and to add insult to injury be looking up at most of their division in the standings. Adjustments will need to be made immediately if the Panthers want to get back on the right track. The amount of adjustments needed on offense will depend on whether Cam Newton & Michael Oher (who missed this week's game) will be able to play next week. Defensive Coordinator Sean McDermott & the rest of the defensive staff appear to have more questions than answers right now as Falcons QB Matt Ryan threw for over 500 yards &Falcons WR Julio Jones had over 300 yards receiving in today's game. It doesn't take a genius to know that most teams will not win a game that way when you allow that kind of offensive output (save playing against someone in a game of Madden). Not to mention that it isn't a guarantee that LB Thomas Davis will be available next week. Everyone knows that coaches coach & players play.....for Panthers fans, this week's loss was truly a team effort in futility. The Falcons have a lot to be excited about starting the season 3-1 and already defeating two division foes going into next week. The Panthers will see this team again and Panthers fans can only hope that the outcome will be a different one on Christmas Eve. For now Panthers fans will have to hope for a different outcome next week against Tampa and New Orleans the following week before a Week 7 bye week.
