The Panthers found out that they couldn’t beat the Falcons with rookie quarterback Cam Newton throwing the ball 35 times in the previous meeting, so look for running backs Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams as the X-factors on Sunday afternoon.
Williams had 12 carries for 44 yards, and Stewart had only seven carries for 48 yards in the Falcons’ 31-17 victory on Oct. 16 at the Georgia Dome.
“The last couple of weeks have been very good for those guys,” Carolina coach Ron Rivera said. “The biggest part is that they understand their roles within our scheme. I’m pretty excited about what they both bring to the table. They are a dynamic duo.”
The Panthers have won two in a row and stayed committed to the run in victories over Tampa Bay and Indianapolis. Stewart and Williams combined for 25 carries and 139 yards in a 27-19 victory over the Colts on Nov. 27. They combined for 25 carries and 129 yards in a 38-19 victory over the Buccaneers on Dec. 4.
“They do a really good job of feeding off one another,” Rivera said. “When one guy is not quite there, the other guy seems to step up, which we saw last week. A couple weeks ago, it was DeAngelo, and this past week it was Jonathan. If one guy is not playing well, the other guy can step up for us.”
The Falcons are giving up 90 yards per game, which ranks third in the NFL.
“The backs we’re facing this week are two strong backs,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “They’re very similar to the guys that we faced last week. They probably have a little bit more speed.”
In addition to Stewart and Williams, the Falcons must account for quarterback Cam Newton as a runner, too.
“All three of them, Stewart, Williams and Cam Newton, they all have over 500 yards,” Falcons middle linebacker Curtis Lofton said. “They all have good averages per carry, too. We just have to treat them all like running backs and bring our pads.”
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