The Falcons’ defense wanted to treat Carolina running back Jonathan Stewart as public enemy No. 1.
They watched Stewart run for 132 yards on 25 carries against the Washington Redskins last Sunday night. They knew they had to make the Panthers’ one dimensional and take Stewart away from the offense.
The Falcons swarmed to Stewart, who was held to 50 yards on 11 carries in the 33-16 victory on Saturday.
“Definitely, we had a game plan after watching film that if you hit him up high he was going to keep on moving,” defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux said. “So, today we had to get him in the lower body and make sure that we wrapped up and got him to the ground.”
Middle linebacker Deion Jones led the way with 13 tackles.
“We did well,” Babineaux said. “We gave up a few explosive plays, but we didn’t give up too many.”
Stewart’s longest run was a 20-yard gain.
“He’s short and compact, so it’s definitely tough to bring him down,” Falcons linebacker Vic Beasley Jr. said.
The Falcons knew if Stewart was slowed down that Carolina quarterback Cam Newton would have to be accurate in the passing game. Newton completed just 18 of 43 passes for 198 yards for one touchdown and two interceptions and was erratic throwing the ball.
Cornerbacks Brian Poole and Jalen Collins both had interceptions.
“The ball is everything,” Collins said. “That’s what we try to do. (Robert Alford) almost had one, too. Deion could have had one.”
