The Atlanta Falcons rolled over the Carolina Panthers, 29-3, to pick up their second consecutive win.
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Final Score
Atlanta Falcons 29, Carolina Panthers 3
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons finally showed up in a game after what has been a disastrous 2019. Matt Ryan and the passing game clicked throughout, with a number of deep connections to Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley.
Without Devonta Freeman, fill-in running back Qadree Ollison chipped in with a touchdown that helped extend Atlanta's already large lead on Carolina.
Ricardo Allen snagged a late second-quarter interception after a miscommunication between D.J. Moore and Kyle Allen left nobody near the pass. Ricardo Allen added a nice pass breakup in the fourth quarter to force a Panthers’ field goal. Adrian Clayborn collected a late second-quarter sack of Kyle Allen after bull-rushing Greg Little back into his lap. Clayborn added a second sack in the third quarter in this same manner.
Isaiah Oliver had a nice pass breakup of a first-quarter deep pass intended for D.J. Moore. Oliver added another pass breakup in the fourth quarter on a red-zone attempt to Moore. Desmond Trufant made an impressive play in coverage when he slid underneath Moore on a post route and intercepted the pass.
Carolina Panthers
Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy had a big day against Atlanta's interior defensive linemen. He consistently won his one-on-one matchups and was particularly disruptive in the passing game.
The Panthers' secondary was leaky all game, with James Bradbury being on the wrong end of a number of Matt Ryan‘s completions.
The combination of Kyle Allen’s four interceptions and his tendency in the first quarter to leave the back of the pocket which allowed rushers to out-leverage the blocks of his offensive tackles was too much for the Panthers to overcome.
Christian McCaffrey led the Panthers in both rushes and pass targets. McCaffrey topped the century mark as a receiver, but the Falcons’ defense didn’t allow McCaffrey to make any impactful plays.
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