Panthers @ Falcons
Final Score: Falcons 37, Panthers 34 (OT)
Writer: Justin Havelock (@JustinHavelock on Twitter)
The Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers came into this divisional matchup under slightly different circumstances, but both had an unexpected chance at taking the lead in the NFC South. The Falcons are a team on the rise that are still several key pieces away from becoming a Super Bowl contender. Head coach Arthur Smith is starting to witness some of his young players step up who will likely serve as cornerstones of this franchise for years to come. Meanwhile, the Panthers and interim head coach Steve Wilks are in the midst of a fire sale, having already traded away both Christian McCaffrey and Robbie Anderson, and may yet make a few more moves before the upcoming trade deadline on Tuesday.
Carolina Panthers
Quarterback
PJ Walker: 19/36, 317 Yards, TD, INT | 1 Carry, 20 Yards
PJ Walker looked quite impressive this week, albeit against a rather weak Falcons’ defense. His 300+ passing-yard game was fueled largely by volume, as he racked up 36 pass attempts in Atlanta. Qualifiers aside, Walker looked pretty sharp this week. The Panthers picked apart the Falcons’ defense at every level and he was able to get the ball out quickly and accurately to his receivers. He even came up with two big rushing plays, one of which was unfortunately called back due to an offensive holding penalty. The pick-six was not a great play from Walker by any means but linebacker Lorenzo Carter just decided that the ball was going to be his birthday present to Falcons’ quarterback Marcus Mariota.
LORENZO CARTER WAS THINKING SIX@_zocarter x @AtlantaFalcons | 📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/5QHymkgwII
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 30, 2022
Running Back
D’Onta Foreman: 26 Carries, 118 Yards, 3 TD | 1 Target
Spencer Brown: 6 Carries, 27 Yards | 1 Target
The trade of superstar Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers and an ankle injury to Chuba Hubbard left the backfield wide open for D’Onta Foreman. Almost as wide open as the field itself, which felt like the Falcons had too few men on the field when Foreman ran the ball. In just one game, he answered all of our questions as to who the successor to McCaffrey was in this backfield. Foreman wore down the Falcons’ defense more and more as the game went on, going from explosive to outright Madden cheat code. After spending the last two seasons backing up Derrick Henry in Tennessee, as wild as this may sound, Foreman truly looked Henry-esque out there this week and it would be surprising if he didn’t have the lead-back role going forward now.
Spencer Brown had a couple of strong second efforts on the ground but overall didn’t make any particularly noteworthy rushes for the Panthers. When Hubbard makes his return to the field he should easily be able to supplant both Brown and Raheem Blackshear on the depth chart as the backup in this backfield. Barring an injury to Foreman, however, these three running backs would need to fall into the endzone in order for interim head coach Steve Wilks to notice that they’re wearing Panthers jerseys.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
DJ Moore: 1 Carry, 3 Yards | 11 Targets, 6 Receptions, 152 Yards, TD
Terrace Marshall Jr.: 9 Targets, 4 Receptions, 87 Yards
Stephen Sullivan: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 33 Yards
Laviska Shenault Jr.: 6 Targets, 5 Receptions, 26 Yards
Tommy Tremble: 4 Targets, 2 Receptions, 17 Yards
Ian Thomas: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 2 Yards
Shi Smith: 1 Target
DJ Moore was out to silence any doubts the football world has about him this week. He more than doubled his season-high in receiving yards and established some real chemistry with quarterback PJ Walker. I mean, just take a look at this hail mary touchdown to force overtime against the Falcons. The Panthers could have actually won the game on this play, but Moore got overexcited and took his helmet off on the field, earning a penalty that set up a 48-yard missed PAT. Oops.
PJ WALKER JUST DID THAT. HAIL MARY TO DJ MOORE. pic.twitter.com/dDYwoZhaGG
— NFL (@NFL) October 30, 2022
Terrace Marshall Jr. was a pleasant surprise in this game as he and Walker found a nice groove early on. Marshall was running plays up and down the route tree and that deception worked quite effectively against the Falcons’ defense. It’s worth noting that two of his drops were endzone targets that he wasn’t in any position to make a play on. So far Marshall seems to be the obvious beneficiary in this offense from the Robbie Anderson trade. If the Panthers continue to use Marshall this way throughout the season, he’ll be a lot of fun to watch.
Laviska Shenault managed quite a few targets in this game and actually came up with all but one of them, however, it was all on short-yardage plays designed to get the ball out fast (a common theme in this quarterback matchup).
Tight ends Stephen Sullivan, Tommy Tremble, and Ian Thomas really aren’t even worth mentioning here. Sullivan caught a nicely delivered post from Walker on 3rd & 6 for a solid catch-and-run. Don’t dwell on the bottom of the depth chart. Speaking of which, Shi Smith was in the starting lineup tonight, but do starting lineups really even mean that much anymore? He was targeted once and Walker didn’t go back to him for the rest of the game. I suppose you could say the team has Shi-ed away from involving Smith in this offense.
Atlanta Falcons
Quarterback
Marcus Mariota: 20/28, 253 Yards, 3 TD, 2 INT | 6 Carries, 43 Yards
Marcus Mariota celebrated his 29th birthday with an exciting overtime win that gave the Falcons control of first place in the NFC South. The Falcons’ offensive line must not have been invited to Mariota’s birthday party though, because they were giving up pressures all over the field and putting their quarterback in a tough position to succeed. Mariota gave up an interception on only the second play of the game but settled down as the game went on and allowed head coach Arthur Smith to play to his strengths- get the ball out quickly in the short and intermediate passing game or take it yourself and run.
Mariota did still struggle with his decision-making skills at times, scrambling wildly in the pocket and hesitating to just throw the ball out of bounds to avoid a sack. It’s possible we do see a change to rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder at some point before the season ends but for now, the job is Mariota’s to lose.
Running Back
Tyler Allgeier: 14 Carries, 39 Yards | 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 46 Yards, TD
Caleb Huntley: 16 Carries, 91 Yards, Fumble (Recovered)
Avery Williams: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 7 Yards
Tyler Allgeier appeared to be losing his grip on the lead-back role this week. He’s a perfectly average runner and has a good first step, but looked like he lacks the explosiveness needed to truly take control of a backfield. His saving grace right now is that Allgeier is the clear pass-catching back here and should continue to be one of the Falcons’ top receiving options each week.
Caleb Huntley and Allgeier complement each other quite well in this running back room. Huntley is not a receiving back like his teammate, in fact, he doesn’t have a single target yet this season, but he is a pure runner. Just watch how he weaves through all of this traffic here.
Huge run by Caleb Huntley! #DirtyBirds pic.twitter.com/eNLeHuQdO5
— Pro Football Culture (@proftblculture) October 30, 2022
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Kyle Pitts: 9 Targets, 5 Receptions, 80 Yards, TD
Damiere Byrd: 6 Targets, 3 Receptions, 67 Yards, TD
Drake London: 5 Targets, 4 Receptions, 31 Yards
Parker Hesse: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 9 Yards
Olamide Zaccheaus: 1 Carry, -6 Yards | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 10 Yards
Bryan Edwards: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 3 Yards
Birthday boy Marcus Mariota gave Kyle Pitts fans a reason to celebrate alongside him. The second-year tight end looked much closer this week to the player that we saw last season. Pitts managed to get to the inside to score a touchdown for the Falcons, but his best play of the day may have actually come right before halftime. Panthers safety Juston Burriss delivered an absolutely booming hit to Pitts, who was somehow able to hold onto the ball for a nine-yard catch and a first down. The Panthers’ defense inexplicably left Pitts wide open at times during the game and the young tight end took advantage of the opportunity to remind the NFL that he is a true threat to opposing defenses.
Real footage of Kyle Pitts scoring a TD in the year 2022:
(via @NFL, FOX)pic.twitter.com/EQFaD4x5u0
— Rotoworld Football (@rotoworld_fb) October 30, 2022
Damiere Byrd came up with a 47-yard touchdown just outside of the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter which almost won the game for the Falcons in regulation. Byrd showed an impressive burst on the play and deserves his due, but otherwise had a rather quiet game.
Head coach Arthur Smith seemed to be taking a back-to-basics approach with Drake London in order to try and spark some offense from his rookie wide receiver. Most of London’s receptions came on a quick flat route when the Falcons just wanted to get the ball out of Mariota’s hands on first read. London may need to prove that he can make some plays in the short passing game before Smith starts to trust him with the deep ball.
Tight end Parker Hesse, Olamide Zaccheaus, and Bryan Edwards only saw one target apiece as this offense runs through their ground game. Despite his relatively consistent role so far this season, Zaccheaus disappeared against the Panthers’ defense. It would likely take multiple key injuries for us to get a proper look at what the Falcons could do with Edwards, let alone Hesse.
Debbie Downer masterclass.