Jared Feinberg's Falcons v Panthers film breakdown

[TheSpecialJuan]

• The Panthers did a great job of countering the Falcons' pass rush in the run game. They utilized veteran wideout David Moore, a good run blocker on the perimeter, as the motion man to help with crack-toss plays and trap blocks. It was also interesting to see more Sean McVay wide zone concepts in Canales’ version, especially with the “insert” concept that is a table in these systems.

 

• Second-year cornerback Chau Smith-Wade didn’t come out of the gates hot, but settled in and put forth a fine performance. His spacing in zone coverage tightened up and it began to have an impact later on—like on his pick-six of quarterback Michael Penix Jr. He also showcased good matching capabilities while having some impressive man reps and tackles in space.
• You have to appreciate how well Ejiro Evero’s defense rallied to the football. Some runs that would, in the past, go for chunk yardage were contained. Tackling was improved on all three levels of the field.
• Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan was once again the leader in receiving yards (48) on Sunday, but he struggled away from the box score with a couple of drops. As head coach Dave Canales noted Monday afternoon, the Falcons did a great job staying in phases on McMillan, especially at the top of routes.
• Rookie safety Lathan Ransom showed more flashes of control as a tackler. He continues to show the physicality that is needed in Evero’s defense while having the athleticism and downhill burst to click and close sideline to sideline or north/south.

https://pantherswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/panthers/2025/09/23/panthers-film-review-falcons-week-3/86308214007/

[Murph]

No, I’m sorry but the Huddle gospel was that Moore was worthless and was only on the roster because he was butt buddies with the HC

[CRA]

7 minutes ago, Murph said:

No, I’m sorry but the Huddle gospel was that Moore was worthless and was only on the roster because he was butt buddies with the HC

if we are keeping the main thing the main thing..he isn't a good WR.  And he likely does have a roster spot simply because he is Dave's guy. 

I mean kudos on a good run blocking day.   But if all you can really do is run block AND you occupy every snap in a game on the outside......that's most likely going to limit the O and be a more of a net negative than a positive most days. 

 

[L-TownCat]

8 minutes ago, CRA said:

if we are keeping the main thing the main thing..he isn't a good WR.  And he likely does have a roster spot simply because he is Dave's guy. 

I mean kudos on a good run blocking day.   But if all you can really do is run block AND you occupy every snap in a game on the outside......that's most likely going to limit the O and be a more of a net negative than a positive most days. 

 

To be fair… the passing game isn’t exactly a threat.  Might as well put extra linemen out wide.

[TheSpecialJuan]

[ClawOn]

6 hours ago, CRA said:

if we are keeping the main thing the main thing..he isn't a good WR.  And he likely does have a roster spot simply because he is Dave's guy. 

I mean kudos on a good run blocking day.   But if all you can really do is run block AND you occupy every snap in a game on the outside......that's most likely going to limit the O and be a more of a net negative than a positive most days. 

 

That was the game plan.  It worked.  

I never planned to be the resident David Moore advocate but the guy went 32 for 351 and 3 TDs last year as the 5th option.  19 of the 32 went for 1st downs.  He's not restricted to blocking.  He's not elite.  He's a solid contributor as demonstrated above. 

Edited September 24 by ClawOn

[jb2288]

32 minutes ago, ClawOn said:

That was the game plan.  It worked.  

I never planned to be the resident David Moore advocate but the guy went 32 for 351 and 3 TDs last year as the 5th option.  19 of the 32 went for 1st downs.  He's not restricted to blocking.  He's not elite.  He's a solid contributor as demonstrated above. 

This place has very unrealistic expectations for a WR 5 

[brainless wuss]

One of the key stats that wasn't mentioned here was the Falcons average starting field position was their 19 yard line.  I really haven't watched much this season, so I don't know if our kicker did this in the first two games, but this dorky dude seems to make the point that the panther's ability to squib kick was instrumental and perhaps unique.

https://x.com/SyedSchemes/status/1955260481330950406

Sorry if not formatted correctly.

[PleaseCutStewart]

9 hours ago, Murph said:

No, I’m sorry but the Huddle gospel was that Moore was worthless and was only on the roster because he was butt buddies with the HC

I mean... If being good at toss blocks is your only good quality as a WR, you probably aren't good... Much easier to use him solely in that role when the falcons can't score a single point 

[TD alt]

All this is great, but still...Penix was awful---missing wide open  receivers left and right. We still may have won the game if he had just been decent, but it's just hard to get too excited. Let's see some continued growth from the rookies, and another good outing and more consistency from the defense in general. If this happens, then excitement may begin to overtake skepticism. 

We have to beat the Pats, or the raised eyes from the Atlanta beat down will become furrowed with the quickness, and any inkling of goodwill be lost.

Edited September 24 by TD alt

[kungfoodude]

7 hours ago, ClawOn said:

That was the game plan.  It worked.  

I never planned to be the resident David Moore advocate but the guy went 32 for 351 and 3 TDs last year as the 5th option.  19 of the 32 went for 1st downs.  He's not restricted to blocking.  He's not elite.  He's a solid contributor as demonstrated above. 

The David Moore hate is, quite frankly, absurd. He is good for what he is, a 4th/5th WR that is an excellent special teams player.

It's hilarious we have so many Moore detractors but then guys like XL get infinite passes.

Edited September 24 by kungfoodude

[Icege]

Penix was awful because the defense bottled up their run game and was finally getting pressure. It clearly rattled him, as it would most QBs.

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, Icege said:

Penix was awful because the defense bottled up their run game and was finally getting pressure. It clearly rattled him, as it would most QBs.

Eh.....I tend to disagree on the run defense but that's whatever.

The thing that struck me immediately was that they DID have ample opportunities to get yards on our pass defense but Penix was so frequently off target with the ball that it was nuts. Late, behind, too high, too short, etc. He was spraying throws everywhere but where they were intended to go.

I am a little reticent to give TOO much credit to our defense for that reason. They did generate a lot more pressure on the QB so that was great. 

It's a one game sample so I don't want to reset the expectations just yet. Hopefully it's a trend and not a statistical outlier.

 

[CRA]

5 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

Eh.....I tend to disagree on the run defense but that's whatever.

The thing that struck me immediately was that they DID have ample opportunities to get yards on our pass defense but Penix was so frequently off target with the ball that it was nuts. Late, behind, too high, too short, etc. He was spraying throws everywhere but where they were intended to go.

I am a little reticent to give TOO much credit to our defense for that reason. They did generate a lot more pressure on the QB so that was great. 

It's a one game sample so I don't want to reset the expectations just yet. Hopefully it's a trend and not a statistical outlier.

 

Yeah, I just think Penix had one of those nightmare games that had more to do with himself than our D.   Then the whole team around him sort of imploded too.  

but we were due for one of those going our way for a change vs us being the one gifting games to an opponent.