Category: Latest Panthers News

Behind Enemy Lines: How did the Falcons get here?

To learn more about what’s going on, we spoke with Matt Urben, managing editor of Falcons Wire.

The Panthers have not had much success against the Falcons in recent years, losing six of the last seven matchups. However, Atlanta has fallen on hard times this season and is already out of the playoff race.

To learn more about what’s going on, we spoke with Matt Urben, managing editor of Falcons Wire.

Panthers Wire: The Falcons come into this week at 2-7. What went wrong to get them in this spot?

Falcons Wire: The Falcons were supposed to be an offensive juggernaut and outscore people. Not only has the offense underachieved, the defense has played significantly worse than anyone anticipated. Injuries have hurt, but the team hadn’t played a complete game until last week’s win over the Saints.

PW: Atlanta held New Orleans to just nine points last week. Can you explain what changes they made on defense with the coaching staff?

FW: Head coach Dan Quinn relinquished defensive play-calling duties to linebackers coach Jeff Ulbrich and former wide receivers coach Raheem Morris. Ulbrich now calls plays on first and second downs, while Morris calls the plays on third downs and in two-minute situations. It wasn’t much of a schematic shift, but there clearly was better communication and the players were where they were supposed to be. This resulted in the Falcons harassing Saints QB Drew Brees for most of the day. The team nearly doubled its season sack total in Week 10.

PW: How much are the Falcons going to miss Austin Hooper and Devonta Freeman? Who needs to step up?

FW: Hooper leads all tight ends in receptions, so he is certainly a big loss. Meanwhile, Freeman has yet to get going this season as the team has been at or near the bottom and rushing yards per game all season. Still, with Calvin Ridley, Julio Jones and Matt Ryan the Falcons should be OK.

PW: What grade would you give Matt Ryan for his season so far?

FW: I would give Ryan a solid B. He hasn’t been great, especially for the first few games when the Falcons got into early deficits. He has been near the top of the league in passing yards per game and touchdown passes, though, showing he really hasn’t been the problem. Ryan needs to cut down on the turnovers, but he is not the reason his team is 2-7.

PW: The Panthers are 5.5-point favorites. What do the Falcons need to do to get an upset?

FW: The only way the Falcons have a chance is if their defense comes out as engaged as it was last week and doesn’t let off the gas. The team will have some trouble slowing down Christian McCaffrey, but if Atlanta can contain Kyle Allen, it has a shot to pull off the upset. The Falcons can’t risk falling behind and becoming too one-dimensional, as they have been all season.

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Pro Football Focus: Christian McCaffrey is the highest graded Panthers player in 2019

Christian McCaffrey is making a compelling case to prove them wrong this year. 

Some people will tell you that running backs don’t matter. They’re the most replaceable players on the roster and it’s not worth using a first-round draft pick on them, no matter who it is. Christian McCaffrey is making a compelling case to prove them wrong this year.

Coming into Week 11, McCaffrey ranks second in the NFL in yards from scrimmage – Dalvin Cook has 30 more yards and one more game played. He’s been by far the most valuable piece for the Panthers this season. Without McCaffrey’s contributions, Carolina’s offense would be effectively useless and the team’s record would certainly be much worse than 5-4.

It’s not just that McCaffrey is putting up high usage numbers – he’s playing at an extremely high level. Pro Football Focus has McCaffrey as the highest-graded Panthers player (89.3) this season.

“McCaffrey has been borderline superhuman this season. Yes, Jacobs has a higher overall grade than the Panthers back, but McCaffrey has played over 250 more offensive snaps than Jacobs in Weeks 1-10. McCaffrey has also earned an elite 92.1 receiving grade so far this season, which ranks second among qualifying backs.”

Unfortunately, it’s pretty much a one-man show for the Panthers offense. The next-highest graded player is second-year wide receiver D.J. Moore, who comes in 10 points lower than McCaffrey at 79.4. Then, there’s another significant drop down to tight end Greg Olsen, who has a 69.4 overall grade.

On defense, there’s no outlier like McCaffrey. Despite what’s been an off season by his standards, inside linebacker Luke Kuechly has the top PFF grade at 81.3. Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is next at 79.0. First-round pick Brian Burns started the year off hot but a wrist injury has slowed him down lately and his grade has fallen to 59.2.

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Panthers vs. Falcons: Time, channel, stream for Week 11 matchup

Here’s all the info you need for this week’s game.

The Panthers haven’t seen much of their division rivals this season, aside from the Buccaneers. That changes on Sunday when they’ll host the Falcons.

Here’s all the info you need for this week’s game.

Game information

Atlanta Falcons (2-7) at Carolina Panthers (5-4)

Sunday, Nov. 17, 1:00 p.m. ET

Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC

Television: Fox

The game will be broadcast on Fox in the green area on the map below.

via 506sports

Broadcasters

Dick Stockton, Mark Schlereth

Referee assignment

Adrian Hill

Weather at kickoff

46 degrees

Precipitation: 0/%

Humidity: 60%

Wind: 12mph

Stream

You can stream the game live on Fubo TV. (Start your free trial).

Listen

The team’s flagship radio station is WBT 1110 AM.

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Panthers open 5.5-point favorites vs. Falcons for Week 11 matchup

According to BetMGM, Carolina opened as a 5.5-point favorite for this weekend’s matchup.

The Panthers will look to rebound from their heartbreaking loss to the Packers against a familiar foe this week. On Sunday, they will host the Falcons. According to BetMGM, Carolina opened as a 5.5-point favorite for this weekend’s matchup.

Atlanta might qualify as the most disappointing team in the NFL this year. Expectations were high for them coming into 2019 but they’ve managed to win just two of their nine games so far. The main reason why they have been losing is a porous defense that features the weakest pass rush in the league.

The Falcons did upset the Saints this week though and made some big changes to their coaching staff, so it’s possible they’ve turned the corner and will be tougher to beat going forward. Dan Quinn has surrendered play-calling duties and the defensive coordinator-by-committee they have going seems to be working.

The Panthers haven’t had much luck against Atlanta, lately. They have lost six of the last seven meetings and 30 of 48 all time.

[Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.]

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Panthers bring back CB Corn Elder by signing him off Giants’ practice squad

According to Joe Person at the Athletic, the team has signed cornerback Corn Elder off the Giants’ practice squad.

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The Panthers are bringing back another familiar face. According to Joe Person at the Athletic, the team has signed cornerback Corn Elder off the Giants’ practice squad.

Elder was one of former general manager Dave Gettleman’s last draft picks in Carolina. Gettleman selected him in the fifth round of the 2017 draft. Elder did not see the field much in his first run with the Panthers, though. He appeared in 13 games last season but only played 251 total snaps, mostly on special teams. He was one of the team’s first cuts this year.

Why bring him back now?

It may have something to do with both starting outside cornerbacks James Bradberry and Donte Jackson dealing with groin injuries. Bradberry sat out Sundays’ loss to the Packers and Jackson apparently re-aggravated his, which kept him on the sidelines three weeks earlier in the season.

When Jackson went out against Green Bay, slot cornerback Javien Elliott moved outside to cover for him. Colin Jones took over for Elliott in the slot, which is obviously not an ideal situation. Elder is best suited to play that nickel position.

He may be active against Atlanta, but we probably won’t see him play unless both Bradberry and Jackson are out. That seems unlikely, as Jackson returned against the Packers later on and made some big stops down the stretch.

Update:

The move to add Elder is official. To make room, the team waived OL Bryan Witzmann.

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Panthers drop to No. 10 in Week 11 power rankings

Panthers drop to No. 10 in Week 11 power rankings

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The Panthers had a chance to take down one of the NFC’s top contenders on Sunday, but they came up just a little short after a fourth quarter rally.

As expected, the loss to the Packers hurt their position in Touchdown Wire’s power rankings. Last week, they came in at No. 7 on Doug Farrar’s list. This week, they’ve dropped down to No. 10. If you’re looking for a culprit, the run defense is the reason.

“Carolina is tied with Cincinnati in allowing a league-worst 5.2 yards per carry, and it’s never good to be tied with the NFL’s worst overall defense. . . The Panthers will try to fix this issue against the Falcons and their 3.8 yards-per-carry average next week. Long term, this is the kind of thing that could upend everything else as the Panthers try to contend for the postseason.”

Indeed.

Yesterday, coach Ron Rivera told reporters that there’s no magic fix for the team’s issues defending the runs. That may be true, but it doesn’t mean that Rivera is doing enough to help. Schematic changes may be needed to give his front seven more chances to make stops.

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Report: Panthers claim former Bears RB Mike Davis off waivers

According to a report by Ian Rapoport at NFL Network, the Panthers claimed former Bears running back Mike Davis off waivers.

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According to a report by Ian Rapoport at NFL Network, the Panthers claimed former Bears running back Mike Davis off waivers.

After playing college ball at South Carolina, Davis (5-foot-9, 221 pounds) was a fourth-round pick by the 49ers in the 2015 draft. He spent two years there, then two with the Seahawks before going to Chicago. He’s played 42 games, totaling 887 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 245 career carries.

Adding Davis now might mean the Panthers are intending to give Christian McCaffrey a lighter work load. Given his build, it makes sense for Davis to get opportunities in short-yardage situations and at the goal line, which has been a problematic area this season. Davis could purely be about depth, though.

Update:

The team has confirmed the news. In a corresponding move, they have waived wide receiver/returner Greg Dortch.

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Panthers submitting Gerald McCoy penalty to the league for clarification

Coach Ron Rivera says he plans to submit the call to the league for clarification, per David Newton at ESPN.

Panthers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy was called for one of the worst roughing the passer penalties in league history on Sunday. His tackle of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in his own end zone should have resulted in a grounding penalty. Instead, Green Bay got to continue a drive that lasted for the rest of the second quarter, robbing the Panthers of a crucial chance to score before the half.

Coach Ron Rivera says he plans to submit the call to the league for clarification, per David Newton at ESPN.

“Panthers coach Ron Rivera plans to send the controversial third-down roughing the passer penalty called on Gerald McCoy in the end zone with less than 5 minutes left in the first half to the league for clarification.”

McCoy says the officials told him that the flag was thrown because he landed with his full weight on Rodgers. Except that’s the exact opposite of what McCoy did.

If you watch the play, you’ll see he did everything in his power to shift his weight and slide off to the right instead of driving Rodgers into the ground.

Ridiculous.

Hopefully the league admits Jerome Boger’s crew made a mistake, but it won’t help now.

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Ron Rivera says there’s ‘no magic fix’ for Panthers’ run defense problems

Speaking with the media today, head coach Ron Rivera said there’s no magic fix, according to Jourdan Rodrigue at the Athletic.

For a team that prides itself on stopping the run, the Panthers have done an awful job of it this season. Only three NFL teams have allowed more rushing yards per game and the problem seems to be getting worse with each passing week.

On Sunday, the Packers ran all over Carolina, averaging six yards per carry and scoring three touchdowns on the ground. There were other factors in the loss, but that was by far the biggest one.

Speaking with the media today, head coach Ron Rivera said there’s no magic fix, according to Jourdan Rodrigue at the Athletic.

Losing Kawann Short to injured reserve was always going to be a big deal for this defense, even if it didn’t show early on.

You can’t blame Rivera for Short’s absence, but he hasn’t done enough to make adjustments in the two months since he’s been out. One thing he should consider is abandoning his 3-4 looks, which aren’t working when it comes to stopping the run. The front seven (especially inside linebacker Luke Kuechly) seem to constantly be out of position.

Switching back to a 4-3 may or may not fix things, but Rivera has to consider that and anything else that might help.

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