1. Run Coleman run: With the play of Tevin Coleman and Ito Smith, the Falcons don't have to rush running back Devonta Freeman back from his knee contusion.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn said Freeman is “day to day.” It’s been reported that Freeman will be out two to three weeks. Under the two to three scenario, he’ll miss the Saints game and maybe the Bengals game.
Quinn likely wants the Saints to prepare for both Coleman and Freeman and thusly, will stick to his “day to day” statements. Freeman didn’t practice at all last week and is unlikely to go from 0 to 100 in one week.
Coleman and Smith both ran with speed and power against the Panthers.
Coleman led the Falcons with 16 carries for 107 yards. He also caught four passes for 18 yards.
It was his second 100-yard rushing game. He rushed for 110 yards in a 20-10 loss to the Vikings on Nov. 29, 2015
The last Atlanta running back to rush for more than 100 yards against the Panthers was Michael "The Burner" Turner in a 30-28 victory back on Sept. 30, 2012.
“It felt real good, to go out there with the (offensive) line, receivers, tight ends and fullbacks, they all did a great job in the blocking game and made holes clear for me to run through,” Coleman said.
Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly won some early battles before Alex Mack took care of him on Coleman’s 27-yard run in the on the first possession. The Falcons, who used a lot of double-tight end formations, stuck with the rushing attack.
“It’s a tough defense,” Coleman said. “Real tough defense, you know what I’m saying. You have to keep on running it and pounding it.”
Smith came on and rushed nine times for 46 yards. He caught a pass for 8 yards.
“He did an amazing job,” Coleman said. “He did what he was supposed to do. He ran through blocks. He ran hard. He made the plays he was supposed to. He did a real good job.”
Smith had a spin move to make Kuechly miss a tackle.
“Kuechkly is an amazing player,” Coleman said. “A good tackler. He’s a good pursuit guy. Being able to make him miss was very impressive.”
The Falcons had 27 designed runs and 28 passes against the Panthers. The Falcons want to maintain their run-pass balance against the Saints.
“Definitely, you’ve got to build each and every week and come prepared and come ready to do right each day,” Coleman said. “If we play hard and play off each other, we’ll be all right.”
2. Injury report: Quinn will issue the official report later today. Freeman (knee), cornerback Isaiah Oliver (ankle), long snapper Josh Harris (left hip), guard Ben Garland (calf), defensive end Takkarist McKinley (groin), Derrick Shelby (groin) are the known injured players. Quinn said McKinley and Shelby were day-to-day on his radio appearance this morning on 92.9 FM The Game and that he was hopefully they could make it back to play against the Saints.
3. Luck runs out: Here's Michael Cunningham's column on the issue -- The Falcons enjoyed remarkably good injury look over Quinn's first three seasons. They ranked second-, sixth- and second-best in Football Outsiders' Adjusted Games Lost metric, which accounts for the role of the players who miss games and includes those who take the field with reported injuries.
4. Film review report card: I will take it kind of easy early in the season on the grades because the teams don't get to hit and really don't practice anymore. They are basically playing tag. So that's why the tackling is off and you see a lot of outlier type games during the first four weeks of the season. Here's the report card from the Panthers' game.
5. Practice squad: The Falcons signed DB Taveze Calhoun to the practice squad and waived WR Julian Williams. He worked out with two others on Monday. The Mississippi State produce has been with Bears, Saints and Dolphins.
6. Neal had surgery: Falcons Pro Bowl safety Keanu Neal had surgery on Tuesday to repair his torn anterior cruciate ligament.
7. Dropped interception: With Neal out, the Falcons can't afford to drop interceptions. Neal forced eight fumbles over his career.
Safety Ricardo Allen, cornerback Desmond Trufant and cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson all had dropped interceptions against the Panthers.
Trufant dropped and did some push-ups in the game.
During the closed practices, Allen said they have to do 10 or 20 push-ups when they drop interceptions in practice.
8. Series history: The Falcons (1-1) are set to host the Saints (1-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes Benz Stadium. It will be the 98th meeting in the storied rivalry. The Falcons lead the series 51-46. The Falcons won 20-17 at home on Dec. 7 last season when Deion Jones made a spectacular interception in the end zone. The Saints won 23-13 at home on Dec. 24 when they put on a creepy -- and some contend classless -- halftime show with male cheerleaders making a 28-3 formation.
9. Depth chart: With Andy Levitre out for the season, Wes Schweitzer is the proverbial next man up at left guard for the Falcons.
Schweitzer lost the starting right guard battled to Brandon Fusco and was the backup swing guard.
Levitre was placed on injured reserve with a torn tricep on Tuesday.
Schweitzer started all 18 games last season, but received a 43.7 grade from profootballfocus.com and was the 54th rated starting guard in the league.
However, the Falcons have seen continued growth in Schweitzer and believes he is much improved.
“When Wes stepped in for Andy we certainly knew what to expect for a guy who had really put the time in,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said on Monday. “This summer, the battle that he had in him with Brandon to get going, we knew if he was going to go in the game he would be ready."
Here’s the depth chart the team provided in the weekly release for the Saints’ game:
OFFENSE
WR 11 Julio Jones ,14 Justin Hardy, 17 Marvin Hall
LT 70 Jake Matthews, 74 Ty Sambrailo
LG 71 Wes Schweitzer, 63 Ben Garland
C 51 Alex Mack, 71 Wes Schweitzer
RG 65 Brandon Fusco, 68 Zac Kerin
RT 73 Ryan Schraeder, 77 Matt Gono
TE 81 Austin Hooper, 82 Logan Paulsen, 85 Eric Saubert
WR 12 Mohamed Sanu, 18 Calvin Ridley, 83 Russell Gage
QB 2 Matt Ryan, 8 Matt Schaub
RB 24 Devonta Freeman, 26 Tevin Coleman, 25 Ito Smith, 32 Brian Hill
FB 30 Ricky Ortiz
DEFENSE
DE 44 Vic Beasley, Jr. 90 Derrick Shelby, 56 Steven Means
DT 99 Terrell McClain, 94 Deadrin Senat, 92 Justin Zimmer DT 97 Grady Jarrett, 95 Jack Crawford
DE 98 Takk McKinley, 50 Brooks Reed
MLB 42 Duke Riley, 36 Kemal Ishmael
WLB 54 Foyesade Oluokun
SLB 59 De’Vondre Campbell, 55 Corey Nelson
CB 23 Robert Alford, 20 Isaiah Oliver, 33 Blidi Wreh-Wilson CB 21 Desmond Trufant, 34 Brian Poole, 28 Justin Bethel
FS 27 Damontae Kazee, 35 Keith Tandy
SS 37 Ricardo Allen, 29 Jordan Richards
SPECIALISTS
K 3 Matt Bryant
KO 5 Matt Bosher
P 5 Matt Bosher
KR 18 Calvin Ridley, 14 Justin Hardy
PR 14 Justin Hardy, 17 Marvin Hall
LS 47 Josh Harris
H 5 Matt Bosher
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