What a day for the Falcons. They have flat out smacked the Panthers in this divisional rivalry game. The most optimistic Falcons’ fans couldn’t have possibly dreamed about this kind of a result. Panthers just did not have the answer for this dynamic Atlanta duo.
Panthers defense was at the top of their game last season, but this year they aren’t looking so impressive. Something happened, and Matt Ryan and Julio Jones had a great connection and nobody on Carolina’s team couldn’t do anything about that.
Let’s start with Falcons’ quarterback. He went 28/37 and 503 passing yards to go along with his 4 TDs and 1 pick. What a day for Atlanta’s signal-caller. He had a great start of the season just like this whole Falcons offense, but most of the people predicted that he will slow down this week. Well, he had the best game of the season for sure, maybe even the best performance of his career. More importantly, it was against more than a decent opponent.
Julio Jones was just as spectacular as his QB. He finished the game with an amazing 300 receiving yards and 1 TD. He was catching those deep balls all night long as he had couple receptions for over 50 yards. His longest reception was a 75-yard gain.
Cam Newton suffered a big hit and went to the locker room in the final quarter of the game, Derek Anderson took over and was able to lead his team to a Touchdown, but it didn’t matter much as the match was already over at that point. He had one last final shot to force the OT but got intercepted; it was a pick-6, and this game was pretty much over.
In the end, 48 points on the scoreboard for the Falcons are just unacceptable for a team like Panthers who are trying to reach the Super Bowl. Atlanta now has a 2-game lead in their division, and it’s going to be interesting to see how will Carolina respond.
