Tag: Carolina Panthers

Panthers vs. Falcons: 4 matchups to watch Week 11

The Panthers will be hosting the Falcons this week in their third NFC South game of the season. 

The Panthers will be hosting the Falcons this week in their third NFC South game of the year. A win should keep them afloat in a crowded wild card race, but a loss might effectively sink any realistic hope of making the postseason.

Here are four key matchups we will be watching on Sunday.

Panthers’ backup corners vs. Calvin Ridley

Calvin Ridley
(Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

James Bradberry missed last week’s game against the Packers, but he’s expected to play and should be able to hold his own against Julio Jones. However, Donte Jackson and Ross Cockrell might both be ruled out, which would leave Carolina rather thin at cornerback. That means Cole Luke and Corn Elder could both see significant playing time. With tight end Austin Hooper out, it will leave Atlanta’s options on offense very limited if they can shut down Ridley. In his two meetings with the Panthers last season, Ridley totaled 154 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He only needed seven catches to get those numbers.

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Bruce Irvin’s bad take on Baker Mayfield’s reaction to Myles Garrett incident

Panthers linebacker Bruce Irvin took to Twitter and said Mayfield was dry snitching by calling out his teammate.

At the end of Thursday night’s game between the Browns and Steelers, Myles Garrett made a shocking attack on Mason Rudolph. After a late hit, he stripped Rudolph’s helmet and then clubbed him over the head with it. A substantial fine and a lengthy suspension are certainly coming down the pipe for Garrett.

After the game, Baker Mayfield didn’t mince words. He knew what Garrett did was inexcusable and said as much.

Seems sensible enough, right?

Apparently not everyone agrees. Panthers linebacker Bruce Irvin took to Twitter and said Mayfield was dry snitching by calling out his teammate.

Irvin elaborated with another tweet, saying he’s all for being a leader but he says he’d never out his teammates on national TV ever.

Bad take.

Garrett outed himself on TV, so Mayfield couldn’t dry snitch even if he tried. Stating the obvious doesn’t mean Mayfield betrayed Garrett (who admitted he was wrong) in any way.

Having your teammate’s back does not require you to take their side when they have done something wrong. Period.

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Falcons Week 11 injury report: Matt Ryan returns to practice Thursday

Both Devonta Freeman and Austin Hooper are likely to miss this weekend’s matchup with the Panthers at the very least. The team got some good news though, as quarterback Matt Ryan returned to the practice field on Thursday.

The Falcons ended their six-game losing streak in Week 10, but lost two offensive starters in the process.

Both Devonta Freeman and Austin Hooper are likely to miss this weekend’s matchup with the Panthers at the very least. The team got some good news though, as quarterback Matt Ryan returned to the practice field on Thursday.

Ryan was absent on Wednesday, but that was likely a precautionary measure while he recovers from an ankle injury. Check out Atlanta’s complete injury report from Thursday’s practice below.

Player Injury Wed. Thur. Fri.
QB Matt Ryan Ankle DNP LP
RB Devonta Freeman Foot DNP DNP
TE Austin Hooper Knee DNP DNP
G Wes Schweitzer Head DNP LP
S Kemal Ishmael Head DNP DNP
TE Luke Stocker Knee LP FP
DE John Cominsky Ankle LP LP
S Sharrod Neasman Hamstring LP FP
CB Desmond Trufant Toe LP LP
P Ryan Allen Ankle LP LP
DB Damontae Kazee Shoulder FP FP

Check back after Friday’s practice for more Falcons injury updates.

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Report: Panthers don’t plan to be at Colin Kaepernick’s workout

That means Kyle Allen’s critics should get comfortable, because he’s not going anywhere unless he gets injured. 

The Carolina Panthers won’t be sending anyone to free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s workout on Saturday in Atlanta, per Joe Person at the Athletic. The team has been clear it has no plans to pursue a veteran QB at this point, as owner David Tepper told safety Eric Reid earlier in the week.

That means Kyle Allen’s critics should get comfortable, because he’s not going anywhere unless he gets injured.

Even if Kaepernick was never on the table as a backup option, there are others. A case could be made to sign someone like Taylor Heinicke, as he’s familiar with the offense and Will Grier might be a liability if he’s asked to do much at all in the event Allen goes down. However, there’s been no indication of any interest on the QB front so far in 2019. Like it or not, Allen is the guy at QB for the foreseeable future.

As for Kaepernick, a lot of people have questioned why the NFL arranged this workout. Saturday is certainly an unusual time of the week to do it, when most teams are preparing for games the next day. It’s also worth asking why the league gave Kaepernick’s reps such little notice and why interested teams themselves didn’t reach out to him instead of to the league.

For what it’s worth, Reid says the whole thing feels more like a PR stunt than a legitimate opportunity for Kaepernick to show what he can do.

Several teams will be attending, though.

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Falcons are 5.5-point underdogs vs. Panthers in Week 11

The folks over at Bet MGM have the Panthers as 5.5-point favorites over the Falcons Week 11, with the over/under set at 49.5.

The Falcons earned their second win of the season last week against the heavily-favored Saints in New Orleans. After making some minor coaching changes during the bye week, Atlanta’s defense dominated up front, sacking Drew Brees six times.

The team will look to keep the momentum going when it takes on another divisional foe in the 5-4 Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

The folks over at Bet MGM have the Panthers as 5.5-point favorites over the Falcons in Week 11, with the over/under set at 49.5.

It isn’t surprising that Carolina is favored. Running back Christian McCaffrey has been a one-man show this season, making a legitimate case for the 2019 MVP award.

With starting QB Cam Newton out for the season, Panthers backup Kyle Allen has played well above expectations. Allen has cooled off a bit in recent weeks, though.

Carolina has slowed down since winning four straight games, and has lost two of its last three.

This could be the perfect chance for the Falcons to win their second straight NFC South matchup and keep their extremely thin playoff chances alive for another week.

[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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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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Watch: Curtis Samuel’s fantasy football prospects vs. Falcons

Watch ESPN discuss Samuel’s fantasy prospects for this week.

In addition to being a critical division matchup, Sunday’s game between the Panthers and the Falcons has a lot of interesting fantasy football angles to consider. One of them is the outlook for Curtis Samuel, who is getting hot lately and has caught three touchdowns in his last four games. Watch ESPN discuss Samuel’s fantasy prospects for this week.

Samuel has been a legitimate fantasy sleeper several times this season. Whether or not he’s worth a start will likely depend on how well Kyle Allen can throw at him on deep passes. This year, Samuel has caught just half (34 of 68) of his targets, but in his defense many of those balls have been off-target by Allen.

While we like Samuel against Atlanta’s depleted secondary, Carolina’s other young gun at wide receiver is probably a better play.

Over the last two games, D.J. Moore has caught fire. He’s been targeted by Allen 21 times, catching 16 of them and producing 221 yards. Meanwhile, Samuel has had just 14 total targets. The downside with Moore is he doesn’t get much work in the red zone and is unlikely to score touchdowns – he has just three in his career. Samuel has 12.

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WATCH: Cam Newton is reportedly open to joining Chicago Bears next season

Cam Newton plans to have surgery on his foot and that the career-long Panther would be open to joining the Chicago Bears next season.

A little more than a week after the Panthers placed Cam Newton on injured reserve, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that the quarterback plans to have surgery on his foot and that the career-long Panther would be open to joining the Chicago Bears next season.

Newton has one year left on his contract with the Panthers after back-to-back offseason shoulder injuries, and now two consecutive seasons shortened by injury. The Panthers will owe Newton $19.1 million in 2020, with a salary-cap hit of $21.1 million, but that $19.1 million is not guaranteed.

The 30-year-old got hurt during the preseason, then again in Week 2 when a foot injury ended his season. Initially, the injury was not seen as being as severe as it became. Deemed a Lisfranc injury, the left foot injury could be made better by surgery to repair the torn ligament in Newton’s foot.

Surgery and an 8-10 week recovery period would make Newton “very tradable,” (according to Rapoport) to a team like the Bears. The plan is something that Rapoport says “from my understanding, Cam Newton would in fact welcome.”

Bears head coach Matt Nagy is in need of improvement at the quarterback position. Mitchell Trubisky, who the franchise drafted second overall in 2017, has regressed this season.

Panthers Cam Newton is open to joining Chicago Bears next season (Bearswire)

Cam Newton plans to have surgery on his foot and that the career-long Panther would be open to joining the Chicago Bears next season.

Cam Newton plans to have surgery on his foot and that the career-long Panther would be open to joining the Chicago Bears next season.

Panthers Cam Newton is open to joining Chicago Bears next season (Pantherswire)

Cam Newton plans to have surgery on his foot and that the career-long Panther would be open to joining the Chicago Bears next season.

Cam Newton plans to have surgery on his foot and that the career-long Panther would be open to joining the Chicago Bears next season.