Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan likes to say if his unit isn’t getting better, then it’s getting worse.
Well, Shanahan’s offense can’t get much worse than its performance on Sunday at Carolina. After diminishing returns over the past five weeks, the Falcons’ offense hit rock bottom during a 38-0 loss to the Panthers.
The Falcons suffered their first shutout defeat since they lost 27-0 at the Buccaneers on Dec. 5, 2004.
“You play like that, it is embarrassing, no matter if you are playing against a team that is undefeated,” Falcons guard Andy Levitre said. “It’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable for us the way we came out and played.”
The Falcons failed to score on any of their 11 possessions of the game (not including a kneel down at the end of the first half). The closest they came was wide receiver Roddy White’s fourth-down catch in the fourth quarter, when he was stopped by the Panthers at the two-yard line.
The Falcons have had plenty of games this season in which they gained empty yards because of turnovers and squandered red-zone chances. This time they managed only 230 yards on 62 plays (3.7 average) and were a combined 5-for-18 on third and fourth downs.
“It was ugly,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said.
The Falcons punted on all four first-half possessions before the kneel down. Their first possession after halftime also ended with a punt, the next three were scuttled by turnovers and then they turned it over on downs on White’s reception.
At least the Falcons could say they didn’t turn the ball over in the first half. They came close, though, when Panthers tackle Kawann Short forced quarterback Matt Ryan to fumble and Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones recovered the loose ball 26 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
The Falcons started hemorrhaging turnovers after halftime. Running back Devonta Freeman lost a fumble at the Falcons’ 43-yard line, setting up a Carolina field goal. Ryan lost a fumble on another hit by Short, which led to a Panthers touchdown. And Ryan threw a pass that was intercepted by Luke Kuechly.
Backup QB Sean Renfree threw an interception on the Falcons’ final offensive play of the game.
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