The Falcons’ offensive line, which has put together two strong outings against Pittsburgh and New Orleans, will face a stiff challenge from Carolina’s defense.
“We’ve had back-to-back games with no sacks,” Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter said. “Jon Asamoah (back injury) unfortunately had to miss last week. Gabe Carimi stepped in there in a utility role and filled in. Jonathan Scott got his first action of the year late in the game.”
Asamoah returned to practice Wednesday on a limited basis.
“It still goes back to that we’ve been able to go seven weeks now with the same guys,” Koetter said. “We had to change the rotation last week. Those guys are definitely playing at a much higher level than when we started with (James Stone) in there as our third center and (Ryan) Schraeder hadn’t played yet.”
The Panthers are led by Pro Bowl linebacker Luke Kuechly, linebacker Thomas Davis and defensive end Charles Johnson.
“We’re happy with how they are playing right now, but they’ve got really good (defensive) line that we are playing against this week from Carolina,” Koetter said.
In the previous meeting on Nov. 16, Davis had 12 tackles, Kuechly had 11 and Johnson had six tackles, a sack and a quarterback hit.
“Charles Johnson is having another really good year,” Koetter said. “We have a lot of respect for him. Carolina, as a unit, is doing well on defense.”
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