Falcons Week #3: Carolina Panthers

Game Result
Week #3 (September 23, 2007)
Carolina 27
Atlanta 20

Game Analysis
Even though the Falcons lost this game, I was very impressed with the effort on both sides of the ball. The offensive line only gave up 1 sack and the wide receivers made some big plays. It goes to show that no matter who is under center, if you give an NFL quarterback enough time to throw the ball, they can complete passes and move the ball down the field. Joey had 361 yards with 2 touchdown passes and most important, no interceptions. He distributed the ball very well passing to eight different receivers and six of them having multiple catches and Harrington had a 70% completion percentage. Joey Harrington proved that even with all the criticism surrounding him the past week and with the Falcons bringing in Leftwich that he is and deserves to be the starter for this team and he should thank his offensive line for that. The offensive line really stepped up their pass protection in this game. Julius Peppers who usually is a Falcon sack master, did not get one sack and only had one pass block. The down side of the offense this game was the fumble by Warrick Dunn and the missed field goal attempt do to a bad snap and hold. With that being said, it was nice to see the football go through the yellow posts. Morten Anderson was perfect today on field goal attempts and extra points. The Falcons still had costly penatilies on kick returns and still need to finish off drives with touchdowns instead of field goals. Norwood had a couple of impressive kickoff returns. I only wish he could do punt returns also. Is it too late to get Rossum back?

The defense was just as impressive as the offense this week. John Abraham once again gave the opposing offensive line troubles. The Panthers had no answers on how to stop Abraham. He finished with 2 sacks. DeAngelo Hall basically shut down Steve Smith by only giving up 1 catch for 10 yards. However, Smith did beat him on one play in the third quarter and caused Hall to grab him and pull Smith down and was called for defensive pass interference. This put Carolina into field goal range and caused the turning point of the game. After that play, Smith started trash talking and D. Hall got frustrated. On the next play, D. Hall gave a shot to Smith’s chest (a horrible call in my book) and was called for a 15 yard personal foul penalty. The defense stepped up and forced the Panthers into a field goal try after sacking Delhomme, but Hall continued to trash talk Steve Smith after the play and was called for unsportsmanlike penalty and gave Carolina an automatic first down. A few plays later, the Panthers score and the Falcons sideline turned into a Jerry Springer show. It took several players and coaches to calm Hall down. Petrino was not happy with his behavior on the sideline and said that the Falcons would take disciplinary action towards Hall. This gave momentum to the Panthers and our defense was on the field way to much in the 4th quarter and could not stop DeShaun Foster.

In the last two games, the Falcons have had a chance to win the game, but have found a way to beat themselves. Whether it be penalities, missed field goals, or bone headed trash talking mistakes, the Falcons need to eliminate these errors at crucial times in order to pick up their first win of the season. In my opinion the Falcons should be 2-1. But obviously opinions and what ifs do not win games in the NFL.

Game MVP
DeShaun Foster for the Panthers
Roddie White and the entire offensive line.

Game Grades:
Offense = B+
Defense = B
Special Teams = C+
Coaching = B

Composite (Season) Grades

Upcoming Game Analysis
The Falcons will be at home again this week against former Falcon QB Matt Schuab and the improved Houston Texans. I am happy that Schuab is been giving the chance to be a starting quarterback in this league and it is good to see him being successful and bringing hope to the Texans franchise. But being a true Falcon fan, I hope he gets sacked 8 times and throws 3 interceptions. I really think the Falcons made huge improvements during the Carolina game and gave the offensive line and Joey Harrington a lot of confidence in each other. If the defense can continue to play well this week, for all four quarters, then I expect the Falcons to get their first win. With the Falcons being at home and hopefully wanting to prove that they can win without Matt Schuab, I predict that the Falcons will win this game 27-23.