Falcons coach Dan Quinn has let his team know that he will not tolerate a loss of poise in their second meeting the undefeated Carolina Panthers.
His memory is still fresh. The Falcons were a hot mess on Dec. 13 in Charlotte.
The defense was run out of the stadium, the Panthers putting up 21 points in their first 18 plays snaps.
There were several skirmishes and an ugly, Falcon-on-Falcon shoving exchange between defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman, some of his teammates and defensive line coach Bryan Cox.
Quinn pulled right tackle Ryan Schraeder after he tossed a Panther to the grass after the whistle and received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
This was all before Carolina cornerback Josh Norman and New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. had nearly 10 skirmishes last Sunday, which culminated with Norman receiving two fines and Beckham drawing a one-game suspension from the league.
Falcons wide receivers Roddy White and Julio Jones have both questioned Norman’s toughness and they will more than likely have words on the field.
Quinn and Carolina coach Ron Rivera have talked to their teams and both say they will not tolerate actions after the whistle is blown.
“We are going to play with a lot of energy,” Quinn said. “We are going to play really physical. It’s going to be a line-of-scrimmage game. That much we know. We want to establish our toughness right between the whistles.”
Rivera has been blamed in some quarters for not controlling Norman last weekend. He could have pulled him from the game like Quinn did Schraeder.
“We talked to our players about playing within the rules,” Rivera said. “There is a fine line. There is a certain respect level that you have to show to your opponents. Again, it’s about being smart, watching yourself and make sure that you are staying in line.”
The Falcons have not been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, while the Panthers are playing for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
“For us, we have to focus on playing the game,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said. “We have to focus on being our best from whistle to whistle.”
The Falcons weren’t proud of their showing in the previous game. It was the first shutout of Ryan’s career.
“We all know what we need to do,” Ryan said. “The most important thing is to remember why we are out there and that’s to win. It’s for no other reason.”
Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews knows the line must perform much better against Carolina’s defense, which had five sacks and 11 quarterback hits.
“They are undefeated and every team is going out there trying to beat them,” Matthews said. “That can get some guys riled up, but obviously we have to keep our composure. That stuff is only going to hurt us. Obviously, we don’t want to do that.”
While the Jones-Norman matchup will get a lot of attention, Quinn said he doesn’t feel he has to address the matter with his star wide receiver.
“We’ll all keep our poise, in terms of the way we play. But as we go into it, that’s nothing that I’ll have specific conversations about with Julio,” Quinn said. “He’s as professional as you get. He’s one of the best competitors I’ve ever been around, so no special comments to get him situated one way or another. I’ve got so much trust and respect in him. He’ll be ready to rock.”
However, Rivera did have a one-on-one talk with Norman on Monday.
“It doesn’t matter who you are playing, when you are playing or where you are playing. There is a fine line and guys do try to take it to a specific point,” Rivera said. “You, as a player and coach, have to know when to rein it in, when to be smart and, in some cases, when to just flat-out stop it. It’s one of the things that we talked about.”
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