TALE OF THE TAPE: Panthers vs. Falcons
Former Atlanta Falcons RB Jerious Norwood is upended by Carolina's Chris Gamble, left, and Charles Johnson. Rick Havner/Associated PresS
FLOWERY BRANCH – The Falcons pursued Carolina defensive end Charles Johnson during free agency, but backed out when the bidding got out of hand.
Johnson, the former UGA standout, signed a six-year, $76 million contract with $32 million guaranteed to stay with the Panthers. The Falcons then turned their focus to former Minnesota defensive end Ray Edwards and signed him to a six-year, $30 million deal.
Johnson has four sacks this season and Edwards has one.
Here are the 2011 regular season averages and NFL rankings for the Carolina Panthers and the Atlanta Falcons in some key statistical categories:
Carolina Atlanta
OFFENSE Avg. Rank Avg. Rank
Total Yards Per Game 428.2 5th 338.4 19th
Rushing Yards Per Game 116.6 13th 98.8 23rd
Rushing Yards Per Attempt 4.7 6th 4.3 14th
Passing Net Yards Per Game 311.6 5th 239.6 14th
Sacks Per Pass Play 7.3% 9th 10.0% 21st
Sacks Allowed 9 n/a 14 n/a
Third Down Efficiency 37.5% 14th 43.9% 7th
Points Per Game 23.2 15th 20.8 21st
DEFENSE
Total Yards Per Game 366.2 18th 383.4 24th
Rushing Yards Per Game 135.2 27th 89.2 8th
Rushing Yards Per Attempt 4.9 26th 3.5 6th
Passing Net Yards Per Game 231.0 15th 294.2 28th
Sacks Per Pass Play 8.1% 23rd 6.9% 25th
Sacks 8 n/a 9 n/a
Third Down Efficiency 43.1% 22nd 46.3% 30th
Points Per Game 26.4 26th(t) 26.0 24th(t)
Team Leaders
Passing Cmp. Att. Yards TDs INTs Rate
Matt Ryan, Atl 120 196 1,302 7 6 79.9
Cam Newton, Car 113 194 1,610 7 6 84.4
Rushing Att. Yards Avg. Long TDs
Michael Turner, Atl 84 360 4.3 61 4
DeAngelo Williams, Car 46 258 5.6 69t 1
Receiving Rec. Yards Avg. Long TDs
Roddy White, Atl 32 352 11.0 30 2
Tony Gonzalez, Atl 27 289 10.7 30 4
Julio Jones, Atl 25 358 14.3 49 0
Steve Smith, Car 27 609 22.6 77t 3
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
Get instant updates on Twitter at AJCFalcons and you can join the Facebook Fan page at AJC Falcons.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Guides
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2012 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
67 comments Add your comment
PMC
October 12th, 2011
10:39 am
Wow, the Rookie, in a passing league, has outdueled the veteran thus far. Terrible year to backslide for Matt Ryan.
PMC
October 12th, 2011
10:39 am
More attempts and 300 less yards. Just awful so far.
cb795
October 12th, 2011
10:42 am
All those negative comments about Cam playing QB in this league and all the possitive comments about Matty! Why are they called experts?
coachx
October 12th, 2011
10:46 am
Ryan has faced superior secondaries compared with Newton.
TroupDawg
October 12th, 2011
10:51 am
Time to place the AT&T call to Jon Gruden. The arrogance and pettiness demonstrated by the Falcon Coaching staff this week is wearing thin with the fans and based on player performance, them as well.
Detroiter
October 12th, 2011
10:51 am
Aaron has copmletions to 11 diffrent receivers. Ryan passed to 4, does this tell you something?
ATLDirtyBird
October 12th, 2011
10:55 am
Ryan has plaed superior secondaries compared to Newton? They’ve both faced Green Bay and Chicago (and the Panthers were much more competetive against them). Panthers faced Arizone (a bad team) and New Orleans (a good team). Falcons faced Philly (a bad team) and Tampa (an OK team). How do teams the teams the Falcons faced have superior secondaries? Newton torched Green Bay and Chicago. Ryan struggled against them.
michael
October 12th, 2011
11:02 am
Matt Ryan and Cam Newton both has played The Packers defense,what was the result:Ryan below 200 yards passing and Cam Newton 440 yards passing, a wrap.
ATLDirtyBird
October 12th, 2011
11:06 am
Hope the Birds win this week and I believe we can. Panther’s defense is banged up and they don’t know how to win yet. But Newton and his offense are the real deal.
PMC
October 12th, 2011
11:06 am
It’s entirely possible that Newton’s OL is better, but his running game has been freaking horrid. Deangelo Williams prior to last week was stealing money on Dunta Robinson’s level. Cam probably has less quality at receiver too.
This has just been an awful year for the Falcon offense so far, no way around it. We;ve been one of the worst teams in the league at pressure while blitzing on defense, and we know they can’t really get pressure with the front 4 consistently.
So yeah, they are 2 and 3…. how did we manage to win 2 so far?
PMC
October 12th, 2011
11:07 am
Roddy has 7 drops through 5 games. SMH. It’s TO territory.
ATLDirtyBird
October 12th, 2011
11:25 am
I wouldn’t say the Panther’s run game is horrible. They’ve just been slow getting on track with a new passing attack. DeAngelo Williams has had two good weeks now and Jonathon Stewart’s is a starter on any other team. Receiver-wise, Steve Smith has the third most yardage in the NFL and they’ve got two good pass catching TE’s (Shockey/Olsen). Cam’s got weapons. But no defanse. That’s why Falcons will win (hopefully).
ASHCAN.
October 12th, 2011
11:28 am
@ATLDIRTYBIRD,because they always try to find excuses for ryan.They call him(Ryan) elite just because he calls audibles,all those audibles he called for three qtrs didn’t add up to squat diddly.He should have played the original plays and probably got better results.But nooooo what he(Ryan) seen was deception.You also have to ask yourself,the season is in week 6 and how many bombs have ryan throwed???? Grand total of 0,goose egg,why? because he has a weak jello arm.
ATLDirtyBird
October 12th, 2011
11:34 am
@ASHCAN. Dude, you’re being kind of hard on Ryan. He’s struggled. But I really think he’ll get back on track this week against a lower level defense. If, not, then maybe this season really is lost. Hope not.
ASHCAN.
October 12th, 2011
11:36 am
@PMC,i heard the same saying people finding excuses why the falcons would beat TB,didn’t happen.Also heard that they would run up the score and blow out seattle,didn’t happen in fact seattle almost won that game.Now people are trying to say what the panthers don’t have when they could very easily be 4-1.Every game they(Panthers) have played this year,they were right in it to the end.So the falcons and fans can’t right carolina off and over look this game,it don’t matter that the falcons are at home.
ATLDirtyBird
October 12th, 2011
11:41 am
@ASHCAN. I’m definitely not writing the Panthers off. They’re dangerous- that’s for sure. They’ve played the Packers and Saints better than anybody this season so far. But I feel we match up well against them. We’ll see.
PMC
October 12th, 2011
11:42 am
The Panthers don’t have Jon Beason, otherwise they might have a couple more wins.
I wouldn’t dare write them off, I’m trying to find reasons to believe the Falcons can stop Cam at this point. I’m not sure they can get to him first, and second actually bring the guy down, Decoud couldn’t tackle Rodgers, Cam is bigger and stronger than Rodgers.
It’s bad when you wonder, how you are going to score points and how your defense is going to prevent the other team from scoring points.
There’s nothing to hang our hats on at this point, they are litterally doing everything poorly.
PMC
October 12th, 2011
11:42 am
Well, I take that back, I think the linebackers are slightly better this year.
ASHCAN.
October 12th, 2011
11:42 am
@ATLDIRTYBIRD,just hard on him for just that game(GB) but sometimes you gotta be hard.To much is given much is required.Not saying he’s not good and i understand he’s in his 4th year but just thought he would be farther along by now.I don’t want another phillip rivers(Chargers) put up good numbers every year and get the praise but don’t be in the thick of the playoffs when it counts.
ASHCAN.
October 12th, 2011
11:46 am
@PMC,your right i forgot about beason being out,and yea cam newton is playing lights out so far even tho there record don’t reflect it.I think the panthers will be a spoiler team at the end of the season when teams are trying to get in the playoffs.
ATLDirtyBird
October 12th, 2011
12:13 pm
Match Ups:
QB: Cam has been playing better than Ryan. So, Adv PANTHTERS
RB: Turner can get it going against a week run D, although Panthers have
two pretty good RB’s. Adv: FALCONS
REC: Steve Smith will be the best WR on the field. But Falcons have more depth.
Roddy+Julio+Gonzo > Smith +Shocky/Olsen Adv: FALCONS
DLINE: Panthers DE’s get good pressure on QB’s. Falcons have not.
Adv: PANTHERS
LINEBACKERS: Panthers decimated by injuries and giving up a ton of rush yards.
We’ve actually improved a little here. Adv: FALCONS
DBacks: More injuires and youth for Panthers and alot of big plays given up.
Aside from the end of the GB game, we’ve been OK. Adv: FALCONS
Special Teams: Panthers have horrible Special Teams. Falcons are good here.
ADV: FALCONS
Coaching: Rivers is a rookie and has made some rookie mistakes. Go with experience.
Smitty>Rivera. ADV: FALCONS
Falcons need to run and run and run and hit occasional big passes along with special team weighing in Then they can win. Falcons 31 Panthers 28
.
PMC
October 12th, 2011
12:21 pm
I’d take 31-28
ASHCAN.
October 12th, 2011
12:23 pm
Being that the falcons are good at home,i agree with that score.
tidog
October 12th, 2011
12:27 pm
I think Carolina comes into the Dome with a lot of swagger (feeling good and confident about themselves) and may catch Atlanta licking their Green Bay wounds. Cam is putting in tremendous numbers against better coverage DB’s than the Birds. Atlanta is struggling big time. This is for sure a bigger game now than the Green Bay loss. If they don’t get the win Sunday with a healthy Ryan it’s ova. They have to be feeling the pressure to win but too also win play and well.
Dan
October 12th, 2011
12:32 pm
Ryan isn’t even the best QB named Matt in the NFL. I’d take Stafford or Schaub over Ryan any day.
PMC
October 12th, 2011
12:37 pm
Schaub? Schromo? Schaub is fools gold. He’s never taken any team to the playoffs.
Stafford is looking great and I wish Ryan had his arm, but you have to worry about Stafford being able to go to the post every week too.
ME TOO
October 12th, 2011
12:39 pm
Another team whose coaching staff has OUT COACHED the Falcons coaching staff.
tidog
October 12th, 2011
12:41 pm
We all know Atlanta isn’t playing good football. I’m not quite sure if a loss Sunday would be sudden death or slow death.
CGD..
October 12th, 2011
1:04 pm
Matt Ryan: The Man of Excuses…
The Real Falcon
October 12th, 2011
1:12 pm
There are a lot of Ryan apologists in the town.
Our team will NOT get better until we realize his limitations
and stop making excuses for him.
He has a less than strong arm. Okay so let’s get him back to the short passes
and please call a draw or screen pass to help with the rush.
His QB rating is in the low 70″s. Just the facts.
Sterling
October 12th, 2011
1:20 pm
When you win the team gets the credit. When u lose the qb gets the credit. We lose games because of play calling. Lets be real. When matt ryan goes into no huddle (when he calls his own plays) he completes over 80% of his passes and scores 90% of the time. Mike murlarky is an idiot and needs 2 get fired. The game vs the packers we were running plays that had the defense guessing the whole time, then mike murlarky tried 2 get conservative and you know what happened. Also our defensive coordinator, Brian Van Gorder, is a bigger idiot. He needs 2 get fired RIGHT NOW and Mike Smith needs to take over that defense. He was defense coordinator in jacksonville, y cant he run the defense on this team?
Season Ticker Holder
October 12th, 2011
1:28 pm
Since the falcons can’t depend on Matt Ryan’s passing game, they need to get back to running the ball and controling the clock to keep Cam Newton on the sideline. If not, Mr. Newton will upset the Falcons with a 400 yard passing game and at least 75 yards running the ball!
Hardy Falcon
October 12th, 2011
1:31 pm
We have the worst defense in the world and Van Gorder is falling into the catergory of Murlarkey. I hate to say it but the panthers will win Sunday.
Mike Smith is in DENIAL, WE LOST TO THE PACKERS AND ALL HE COULD SAY WAS WE HELD THEM TO 12 POINTS LESS THAN THERE AVERAGE.
Michael M.
October 12th, 2011
1:58 pm
Panthers gonna blow up the Georgia Dome………better have Fema ready !
Hey and I usually pull for the Falcons, so what gives ?
Matt Ryan #2
October 12th, 2011
2:43 pm
I want to apologize to our fan base for under performing this season thus far. We have been working hard at correcting our problems as a TEAM. We understand that many calls may seem conservative but at times it seems these calls are what defines our TEAM. We won’t let our fan base down again Sunday. We are doing out BEST to WIN each and EVERY game. I will give you my word I will make sure my team stands TALL the rest of the season and push into the playoff race.
- Matt Ryan
terrell
October 12th, 2011
2:50 pm
If you look at the replay, it looks like Julio hurt his hammy trying to adjust to another poorly thrown ball by Ryan. He has to have a record of some sort for the most passes thrown out of bounds. Either intentionally(throw aways), or unintentionally(just bad passes).
Lets offer Matty noodles to the Dolphins for Jake Long and two 1sts. Draft a DE next year, and Aaron Murray or someone similar in 2012. Get us a strong armed qb in here for Julio and Roddy. Look what Stafford did for Detroits offense. Think Calvin is “megatron” with “Ice” as his qb? Those managing the game days are over with. Gotta be able to get the ball down the field. Playing in a dome and still trying to “manage the game”? We’re supposed to be the new greatest show on turf. Not the damn Pittsburgh Steelers. Here that Mularkey??? Im calling you out too. You’re either making Matt look like an avg qb at best, or he just isnt as good as we thought he was going to be? One or the other. Still tying to put my finger on it.
terrell
October 12th, 2011
2:54 pm
Steve Smith
27 catches for 609 yds
Roddy White
32 catches for 352 yds
Thats the difference between dinking and donking, and getting the ball down the field.
terrell
October 12th, 2011
2:58 pm
Go get T.O.
Too many younguns on the recieving core.
Maybe he can light a fire under their asses.
And btw, I’d love to see Chucky here. If Mike Smith dont hurry up and get rid of BVG and MM, it might happen sooner than later.
terrell
October 12th, 2011
2:59 pm
“Ryan has faced superior secondary’s than Newton”. LMFAO!
Season Ticker Holder
October 12th, 2011
3:03 pm
Matt Ryan. If you have to run the ball against the Panthers, DO NOT, DO NOT, slide 1 yard short of the 1st down. Sometimes you have to go head first to make a great play.
hiramsaint
October 12th, 2011
3:34 pm
it’s gonna be another sorrowful monday in atl.
warfalcons
October 12th, 2011
3:43 pm
From the statistical categories Falcons loss,wow
Sterling
October 12th, 2011
3:55 pm
I love you fellow falcon fans. U guys really no how to support your team.
Larry
October 12th, 2011
4:25 pm
Can we trade “terrell” for a, uh, nevermind…you can have him for free!
PMC
October 12th, 2011
4:26 pm
What are you supposed to do Sterling? All this comes from watching them play.
They have played poorly in all 5 games this season.
saintbim
October 12th, 2011
4:32 pm
checking out failcons home page, talk about doom and gloom. At this rate dirtybirds wont have any fans for next year.
ROZEMAN13
October 12th, 2011
4:38 pm
Please Falcons, Dont let Cam beat us in OUR HOUSE———————————–
True Falcon
October 12th, 2011
4:53 pm
Malarky is not the problem. If you’ve watched the Falcons over the last three years when Ryan is injured Redman puts the ball down the field. Malarky designs and calls plays based on the Ryan’s abilities. I am sick of excuses for this over paid mistake. The great ones rise up!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PMC
October 12th, 2011
5:17 pm
No one is leaving the Falcons as fans saintbim, there’s just been nothing to celebrate.
what,what,what??
October 12th, 2011
5:36 pm
time to shut up,and to put up falcons, (roddy,spoon,dunta,sam b.) word!