Panthers and Falcons post game notes and grades

[rayzor]

on the front page

Game Grades

post game write up

from the write-up...

The Defense

The Panthers cornerbacks are improving, but defending against the pass as a whole is still a problem, especially, when it comes to passes to the tight end. They were able to hold the two main Falcon wide receivers to 86 yards on nine receptions even though they were thrown to 17 times. The serious problem is that they are weak against tight ends and other receiving options that take advantage of the cushion that they are given.

Of Matt Ryan’s 21 completed passes, 16 were short passes to the right and left which turned into 130 yards. The majority of these short passes went to Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White. Gonzalez had 47 of his 71 yards come from six short passes. All of White’s six receptions and 53 yards as well as his touchdown were the result of short passes. The Panthers did well at containing them but just allowed too many to happen. They didn’t give up too much in the way of big plays, they just gave up too many plays as a whole and stayed on the field for too long. The biggest problem for the Panthers was keeping Matt Ryan from turning three of his passes into touchdowns.

and

Special Teams

Invoking memories of one of the few serious problems the Panthers had in the regular season last year, Jason Baker had a punt blocked. The Falcons punt returner left the field prior to the punt, but it didn’t matter as the Falcons had little intention of returning it. They sent a couple players back to help stop the gunners just in case Baker was able to get the punt off. With Baker bobbling the ball and the Falcon middle linebacker, Mike Peterson, left on the edge with only Gary Barnidge to block him, there was little chance that the Falcons weren’t going to be turning this into a big play.

The Panthers could not do much as far as returns go. Their kicker turned all of his kickoffs into touchbacks. The Falcon punting unit continues to be the best in the league only allowing only 17 yards on three punts. Meanwhile, Panther kick off specialist Rhys Lloyd only had two touchbacks while three of his kicks were returned for a total of 102 yards.

[PhillyB]

offense gets a B, IMO

[megadeth078]

completely disagree. won't read again.

[Peppers90 NC]

offense gets a B, IMO

no way, only 20 points and two turnovers.

[rayzor]

completely disagree. won't read again.

don't blame you.

[megadeth078]

don't blame you.

you didn't write that, right?

[rayzor]

i can say with 100% certainty that i didn't write at least one of them.

[Dpantherman]

special teams gets a Z minus. Defense gets a big fat F. offense did good, but it really doesnt matter. Im getting pissed again. maybe i should lay off the football for a while. i cant understand why we are so weak. I wish we could hit rewind back to the offseason. or fast-forward.

[MadHatter]

no way, only 20 points and two turnovers.

Delhomme threw for over 300 yds....RB's ran for 150 yards. The offense definitely did their part.

Our offense outgained the Falcons.....who could not stop us any more than we stopped them.

Soft defense and God Awful Special Teams were the downfall of this game. We gave them 3 short fields with the blocked punt and 2 terrible KO coverages.

Someone please explain to me why Danny Crossman is even allowed back into BOA Stadium.

[rayzor]

Delhomme threw for over 300 yds....RB's ran for 150 yards. The offense definitely did their part.

Our offense outgained the Falcons.....who could not stop us any more than we stopped them.

Soft defense and God Awful Special Teams were the downfall of this game. We gave them 3 short fields with the blocked punt and 2 terrible KO coverages.

Someone please explain to me why Danny Crossman is even allowed back into BOA Stadium.

crossman (kinda like foxy) bought himself a little time last year.

crossman is the first that should go.

why is it that the falcons PK was able to turn all of his kicks into touchbacks but the falcons were able to return 3? it was inside in a dome. wasn't rhys supposed to stop that from happening? was there something about being in that environment that kept him from doing it?

[Guest RT81]

Offense: B

Defense: D

ST: F

[WolfPack]

Offense: B

Defense: D

ST: F

The offensive grade must have been propped up by the running game, because passing was still a D even without a pick this week.

I had to TIVO the game as I was driving back down from NC, glad I was able to watch at an accelerated pace, because it gave me less time to be angry. While the game was more entertaining than last weeks, it still left a lot to be desired on both sides of the ball. The sad thing is, I wasn't even that mad when I realized the game stopped recording with 2:46 left in the 4th quarter.

[MadHatter]

The offensive grade must have been propped up by the running game, because passing was still a D even without a pick this week.

I had to TIVO the game as I was driving back down from NC, glad I was able to watch at an accelerated pace, because it gave me less time to be angry. While the game was more entertaining than last weeks, it still left a lot to be desired on both sides of the ball. The sad thing is, I wasn't even that mad when I realized the game stopped recording with 2:46 left in the 4th quarter.

You are apparently a Jake hater looking for something to bitch about.

How can you grade the passing game a D? Jake completed over 60% of his passes....for over 300 yards....and a TD. The interception was a chance he had to take. It was 4th and long...no one was open...he had to release it and take a chance with Smitty.

If you can't see that the offense (including Jake and the passing game) did their job, then you are a complete hater and idiot.

The loss was squarely on the defense and ST.

[Carolina Crazy V2]

Offense= B+ (People forget how good the Falcons defense actually is, compare our performance to Miami's in Week 1)

Defense= C- (Turner only averaged 3.8 ypc and besides Snelling's 20 yd run, our rush defense did well. They were on the field a lot, but there is no excuse for having no hits on Matt Ryan. They did well when it counted though.)

Special Teams= F (A blocked punt and a 34 average against on kick returns. The only thing keeping this from an F- is that they allowed no TDs.)