The Falcons are in a much better position to face the Carolina Panthers on Sunday than they were two weeks ago.
For one, the Falcons’ demoralizing 38-0 loss to the Panthers on Dec. 13 is fresh in their minds.
“For us, the advantage is a huge one because we had a bad performance, and we want to make sure we play football exactly the style we want. Having it come so quickly as far as another opportunity to (play Carolina), we’re thrilled with that,” coach Dan Quinn said. “We are absolutely jacked to get back and play in the (Georgia) Dome. Our team will bring the juice, and I know our fans will as well.”
Running back Devonta Freeman remembers well the Falcons’ first game against the Panthers.
“Some plays (against Carolina) I felt like I left out there. If I had been a little more patient, if I would have pressed my offensive linemen a little more, I probably would have created a better lane,” Freeman said. “(On Sunday) I’ll just attack more, be more physical at breaking tackles, making guys miss in the open field.”
Freeman ran for 40 yards against the Panthers, contributing to a team total of 54 rushing yards.
The Falcons (7-7) should also be more confident headed into this matchup with the Panthers because they’re coming off a win — something the team hasn’t done in six games.
In their 23-17 win over the Jaguars, the Falcons overcame some of the struggles on offense that plagued them in their losing streak. In the first four minutes, 12 seconds of the game, the Falcons pushed the ball 80 yards to score on a 5-yard touchdown run by Freeman, the team’s first rushing touchdown since Oct. 16 against the Saints.
“I think it was good for us last week to kind of come out and have that first drive and get started,” quarterback Matt Ryan said. “It was good for us to get (a win) last week, but what we did last week is going to have no bearing on what we do this Sunday. It comes down to getting ourselves prepared and having the best week of preparation we can possible have so that we’re ready to go out and play well on Sunday.”
Scoring early Sunday will be a challenge for the Falcons, who had 21 points wrung on them in the first quarter two weeks ago against the Panthers (14-0).
“Regardless of how this game shakes out, it’s about being consistent for four quarters,” Ryan said. “You know they’re going to have their moments. They’re a good football team, but we have to be able to weather those and be able to battle for 60 minutes and find a way to get it done.”
With a struggling offense that sits at 19th in the NFL in points per game (21.6) facing the Carolina defense that shut them out two weeks ago, Quinn recognized the game plan must be different.
“Any time you get whipped, for sure it leaves a scar in you,” Quinn said. “There’s certainly a long list of things that did not go well in that (Dec. 13) performance. That’s where we started. It went all the way back to two weeks ago where we wanted to make sure the things that did not go well, (we asked) ‘why’ and ‘how.’ (Making sense of the mistakes) was kind of the driving force going into this week.”
Although a challenge, frustrating the Panthers isn’t impossible.
Pushed to the final minutes of the game last weekend by the New York Giants (6-8), the Panthers showed signs of vulnerability on defense, allowing the Giants to score 21 points in the fourth quarter.
Against the Panthers on Dec. 13, the Falcons entered the red zone once, but turned the ball over on downs.
“We’ve got to find ways to get down the field. I think there are ways. I think when you watch the Giants’ game last week, they found ways to create explosive plays. We’ve got to do a great job of that,” Ryan said. “We’re going to work really hard this week to have the best plan that we can have against these guys on Sunday. And then as players it’s our jobs to go and execute on a high level.”
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