Short takes: Newton and Panthers’ line dominate Falcons
Cam Newton blasts off for a 72-yard touchdown run, giving Panthers a 23-0 lead. (AP photo)
I’ll be back shortly with my column off of the Falcons’ game against Carolina today. Until then here are my three short takes on the game.
1. Defensive front dominated: The Falcons saw Carolina score on its first five possessions of the game (taking a 23-0 lead) and were just fortunate that the Panthers converted only two of those drives into touchdowns. Cam Newton was efficient and the Panthers ran the ball effectively. But the biggest reason for the early success was that the Falcons’ defensive front got dominated by Carolina’s offensive line. It didn’t help that defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux left in the second quarter with what was announced as a ribs injury. But it wasn’t all about Babineaux. This game belonged to the Panthers’ line, as well as … (see No. 2).
2. Cam Newton shows his upside: For all the criticism from “anonymous players” and “unnamed sources” about his maturity issues, Newton’s physical talents were on full display. He completed his first eight pass attempts. He threw for 178 yards in the first half on 17-of-25 passing. He had a 21-yard scramble in which he spun the Falcons’ Corey Peters in a 360 and a 72-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. It’s like he was back at Auburn again. For the game, Newton finished with 235 yards passing and two touchdowns and he rushed for another 118 yards and a touchdown. So that should quiet everybody for a while.
3. No running game… again: It’s not the only reason they lost the game. But the Falcons again failed to establish a running game, which is an increasingly bad sign in the first week of December. Jacquizz Rodgers (4 for 21) and Michael Turner (7 for 14) combined for only 35 yards rushing. When that happens, it allows opposing defensive linemen to ignore defending the run and enables them to tee off on the quarterback. Matt was sacked only twice but often pressured.
By Jeff Schultz
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219 comments Add your comment
Ryder
December 9th, 2012
4:55 pm
No big loss today, I mean the Steelers lost to Norv Turner (AT HOME nonetheless) and Chicago lost at Minnesota yet I don’t think their fans are about to jump ship, and neither should the Falcons. If anything they should make sure they are at their healthiest when they get to the playoffs. I would say that next week is the game they really need to come out and play well with the Giants coming into town.
falconsrus
December 9th, 2012
4:55 pm
No cookies for Choke well maybe some chumplate chips
Furman Bitcher
December 9th, 2012
4:55 pm
Ryan 54-21 as a starter.
Great Falconi
December 9th, 2012
4:56 pm
Like it’s been said already. The Falcons were missing half their secondary which included their best cove corner and their best safety.
That doesn’t explain how poor the offense was. We’ve had trouble getting people off the field on third down all year with Samuel and Moore in the lineup, so I don’t see how it made a huge difference today. Injuries can be reasons, but the lack of effort today was inexcusable, especially against a division opponent who called you out all week. Our guys should have been fired up and looking to beat the Panthers to sleep. Instead, they decided to sleep in for the first half.
kerryb
December 9th, 2012
4:56 pm
JSS
December 9th, 2012
4:54 pm
If you choose to assume (Tampa)… The issue was that you said the Packers were not very good in the NFC North that particular season. They also went to Foxborough and lost by 4… As a matter of none of their 6 losses were by more than 4 points the entire season… They’d shown a killer instinct at least earlier in the season winning games by 27, 28, and 38… It was a poor comparison…
_____________________________________________________________
The Packers were 9-7 and there was no indication they were going to go off in the playoffs like they did.
Answer This
December 9th, 2012
4:57 pm
Here is perspective….we lost and got beat by a team that came ready to play today. Still 11-2! We got alot of things to fix in 3 games…….what team doesnt? Still 11-2. Got to find out what is wrong with the O that we have had 4 bad weeks…….already in the playoffs….11-2. No spin, play like this and you lose in the playoffs…simple…..still 11-2 in the playoffs! We not a running team…..no more loyalty to Turner….Quizz should have become the man today and Mike would not let him……Smitty I admirr your loyalty because MT did it for you for three years……his time is up……still 11-2, got to fix the issues now and no better to do it against than one of the best pass rushing teams in the NFL…..fix it now and start your Rise Up for the Playoffs! Lots of holes like lots of teams…….deal is can coaching Coach…..11-2 says yes……now prove it! Stiill 11-2 still rising…..on one leg right now but still rising! Be calm Nation we will fix what the problem is!
IlliniDawg
December 9th, 2012
4:57 pm
CHOKE and kerryb and others would rather have Vick (no longer a starting QB), Flacco (lost today and not having a great season), RG3 (down with a knee injury and maybe out for the season), or Scam (won today but will be playing Super Bowl on his Madden 2012). I can’t understand why folks don’t appreciate what a solid QB we have. Today was all on the defense, not Ryan.
Buzzman
December 9th, 2012
4:57 pm
And you call this a playoff team!!!! Get real, we are the same as we have always been, we have just been lucky this year, we will again lose on the first playoff game, sorry to say………
Roach
December 9th, 2012
4:57 pm
Your playoff preview. Falcons don’t show up, get blown out. Again. Get your tickets now.
kerryb
December 9th, 2012
4:59 pm
Great Falconi
December 9th, 2012
4:56 pm
Like it’s been said already. The Falcons were missing half their secondary which included their best cove corner and their best safety.
That doesn’t explain how poor the offense was. We’ve had trouble getting people off the field on third down all year with Samuel and Moore in the lineup, so I don’t see how it made a huge difference today. Injuries can be reasons, but the lack of effort today was inexcusable, especially against a division opponent who called you out all week. Our guys should have been fired up and looking to beat the Panthers to sleep. Instead, they decided to sleep in for the first half.
_________________________________________________________________________
I know I would really get fired up to play a 3-9 team that is going nowhere.
Pigskin
December 9th, 2012
5:00 pm
I don’t see us winning another game this year. The decline started over a month ago and is getting worse.
It is what it is kids.
Good time to start playing the scrubs and get them some experience.
Georgia Dome has roaches
December 9th, 2012
5:01 pm
Kerryb is most certainly a woman.
Georgia
December 9th, 2012
5:01 pm
My direct tv lets me watch eight games at once. Redskins greatness. Dallas amazing. Sundays in the fall! Three games on right now. It’s five pm. Do you know where your brewskis are?
Norman Cochran
December 9th, 2012
5:01 pm
This was the worst officiated game I have ever saw. Carolina Offensive linemen where holding like crazy on nearly every running play. Nothing was called. Offensive linemen moved prior to snap and John Abraham had to point it out to the Refs. How much money did the Panthers have to pay the Refs to get the game to go their way.
lees
December 9th, 2012
5:02 pm
It’s getting a little late to fix the running game and O line. If it were going to get fixed, it would have been in the middle of the season. Credit goes to Carolina. They came to play!
TN Jeff
December 9th, 2012
5:02 pm
Falcons are in playoff mode early!
Ted M
December 9th, 2012
5:03 pm
Michael Turner needs to be the Falcons 3rd string running back. Screw loyalty.
ref
December 9th, 2012
5:03 pm
not much
kerryb
December 9th, 2012
5:05 pm
I would have been more worried if the Falcons played really bad the entire game and got completely blown out by the Panthers 30-0 or 30-7 but they didn’t. They got beat by 10 points. They played a pretty good second half scoring 3 TD’s. Not worried at all. Sometimes you come out in a game against a 3-9 team and play flat in the first half and they did this time. The Panthers still have a good RB and Steve Smith so they still have players. It might have been a little different if Samuel was covering Smith instead of Owens. It might have been a little different if Moore was coming up and smacking Newton when he tried to run. It’s just one game.
Big AL
December 9th, 2012
5:05 pm
Falcons have officially started their preparation for the annual post-season slide. Just like a fine watch. Right on time.
Dean
December 9th, 2012
5:05 pm
kerryb,
Yes, we’re 11-2. I take your point and I’m happy about that. But I still feel like we had a weak schedule and we have been more lucky than good. We could just as easily go into the playoffs 11-5, which you could also point out at the time. Most great teams have that extra gear that they shift into for the playoffs. I just haven’t seen that gear from this team, ever. It always seems that we are up against the red line during the regular season and have no upside for the playoffs. We’ll have to wait and see. I will not stop cheering for them and hoping, but I’m not holding my breath, either.
Georgia Dome has roaches
December 9th, 2012
5:06 pm
Norman Cochran
December 9th, 2012
5:01 pm
This was the worst officiated game I have ever saw. Carolina Offensive linemen where holding like crazy on nearly every running play. Nothing was called. Offensive linemen moved prior to snap and John Abraham had to point it out to the Refs. How much money did the Panthers have to pay the Refs to get the game to go their way.
Are you an adult? If so, what asylum are you confined in?
kerryb
December 9th, 2012
5:06 pm
Georgia Dome has roaches
December 9th, 2012
5:01 pm
Kerryb is most certainly a woman.
____________________________________________
well, you’re most certainly a POS
Answer This
December 9th, 2012
5:06 pm
@lees
not to late to fix the o line! Let them do what they are good at……pass block. Nothing wrong with the running game that Quizz and 15 touches a game wont fix……
spencer
December 9th, 2012
5:06 pm
Not just “one game.’ One loss. they managed to turn all of their other miserable performances into improbable wins. But when you are a team that enters December with three of your last four games being dreadful performances, and you continue to not be able to run and not be able to stop the run, and you had 10 days to prepare to shut up a Carolina team that has been showing you no respect whatsoever, well, when you have all of these things, and you sh-t on yourselves like they did today, you are a team that is going to be one and done in the playoffs. Mark my words, the only good thing about today is that it will be less shocking and it won’t sting as much when it happens, but it will happen. This team is playing its worst football right now. Oh, I forgot, there are three more games for it to get even worse. I think the team should be prosecuted for fraud. I felt sick after last week’s undeserved win. Now at least everyone sees the elephant in the room!
John Alexander
December 9th, 2012
5:08 pm
One team is going home, one team is going to playoffs. Simple as that! Guess which one.
Georgia Dome has roaches
December 9th, 2012
5:09 pm
kerryb’s overrated Falcons lose to a 3-9 Carolina squad, and she runs to the AJC blogs to pick a virtual fight!
Answer This
December 9th, 2012
5:11 pm
You a fan spencer? Or you just unhappy about being 11-2?
Big perry
December 9th, 2012
5:13 pm
falcons cannot run the football that right i am a falcons fan, i am not a band wagoner i been a falcons fan for a long time and this team haven”t change and i know, no one can tell me i learn not to trust the falcons when it come to teams with bad record and the playoff the falcons cannot handle this. less the 50 yards rush falcons fan wake up this team ain”t s- – t. And cannot not tackle get this want to be great football team off the field and get some playmaker.This team is a joke cam a qb out rush the falcons football team with a 72 yard td this is dam sad.And the fan got to cheer for this B.S. of a football team falcons fans please we as fans need more when it come to playmaking when it come to the falcons!!!!!!!
kerryb
December 9th, 2012
5:13 pm
Dean
December 9th, 2012
5:05 pm
kerryb,
Yes, we’re 11-2. I take your point and I’m happy about that. But I still feel like we had a weak schedule and we have been more lucky than good. We could just as easily go into the playoffs 11-5, which you could also point out at the time. Most great teams have that extra gear that they shift into for the playoffs. I just haven’t seen that gear from this team, ever. It always seems that we are up against the red line during the regular season and have no upside for the playoffs. We’ll have to wait and see. I will not stop cheering for them and hoping, but I’m not holding my breath, either.
______________________________________________________________________
So, this is the weakest team the Falcons has lost to this year but so have the other so called great teams in the NFC. The Giants lost to the Bengals, and the 49ers lost last week to the Rams. It happens. I think the Panthers are a better team than 3-9. A lot of the games they lost were close games. They could easily have 3 or 4 more wins
Rudy
December 9th, 2012
5:14 pm
I think the biggest problem has been Smitty thinking that he has a running game….please, go back to doing what you did in the 1st half of season….throw the ball on 1st down from the 1st play on…..throw to TE on seam plays….use the drag pass or crossing plays….use the pass to open some running lanes. Please quit running every 1st down, it puts the team in 2nd and long. The Giants will eat Ryan alive if he’s gotta throw long on every 2nd & 3rd down.
Bernie
December 9th, 2012
5:15 pm
At this rate the Falcons will be one and done in the playoffs and I hope Mr. Blank cleans house if this happens again. If the Falcons could have done in the first half what they did in the second half maybe they could have won the game. When you are behind like they were you can’t keep trying the same old things over and over. Sure looked like the old Mularkey plays today. You sure he wasn’t calling the plays. With all the weapons the Falcons have seems like we could dominate other teams but they got dominated today. One of the Panthers said they were better than the Falcons and I would agree with him today. The Falcons live on the edge all the time and I think the same conclusion will happen again when crunch time comes..
Tom(Independent Viet Vet-USAF)
December 9th, 2012
5:15 pm
Choke – My man, your boy Vick is not playing, having been beaten out by a Rookie QB! Ryan passed for almost 350 yds, 2 TD’s and played a decent game. He was pressured a lot. Our DL can not seem to consistently pressure other teams QB, must not be quick or strong enough, that will hurt us in playoffs, I’m afraid. But we are 11-2 not 2-11, do not forget that fans. We seem to play well at home, which is where we will be 1st round of playoffs! After that, who knows?
Answer This
December 9th, 2012
5:16 pm
Here is the real question if they would have neat Carilina and lost to the Giants next week….you would have said we cant beat a good team….sigh tough to be a Falcon fan and have to apologize for being 11-2.
Tampa lost to Philly
Ravens lost to Redskins
Beara lost to Vikings
Pittsburgh lost to San Diego…..yes san diego
come on blog trolls just recognize that any team any Sunday and stop the Falcon bashing. They got beat by a team more prepared to play today…it wad their playoff! Lol.
FYI
49ERS tied 3 up
AINTS about to tie it up with those Might Giants u all love so much
Come on trollbloggers…..put it in perspective!
kerryb
December 9th, 2012
5:16 pm
Rudy
December 9th, 2012
5:14 pm
I think the biggest problem has been Smitty thinking that he has a running game….please, go back to doing what you did in the 1st half of season….throw the ball on 1st down from the 1st play on…..throw to TE on seam plays….use the drag pass or crossing plays….use the pass to open some running lanes. Please quit running every 1st down, it puts the team in 2nd and long. The Giants will eat Ryan alive if he’s gotta throw long on every 2nd & 3rd down.
_________________________________________________________________
Smitty is not the OC. The play calls are done by Dirk Koeter
JSS
December 9th, 2012
5:16 pm
“The Packers were 9-7 and there was no indication they were going to go off in the playoffs like they did.”
They were 10-6, and they hung 45 points on the NY Giants in week 16, and they shutdown a supposedly superior Bears team (who’d gone 7-1) in the final game… Sure, nobody saw it coming! Once they got past the Eagles, they were playing teams that didn’t match up well with them…
extremus
December 9th, 2012
5:19 pm
The lack of a pass rush, the lack of run defense, and the lack of a respectable running game have been a constant storyline for the 2012 Falcons, so Mr. Schultz’s synopsis of this loss comes as no surprise. Get any team in a deep hole quickly and they’re forced to go to the pass, which makes them prone to the occasional pick; take that situation as the default (as the Falcons have no running game) and Atlanta is dangerously one-dimensional since Ryan has no choice but to keep the ball in the air. Frankly I think Matt Ryan’s done an excellent job not being intercepted more than he has, let alone given the fact that his O-line seems to occasionally take plays off.
I’ve no idea how this team will respond after this loss or whether they’ll even finally get the “win in the playoffs” monkey off their backs this year. Just too many glaring weaknesses to even suggest they’re a lock to accomplish anything. As much as I still hold out hope for a Superbowl title this year, I have to confess that I’m already VERY much looking forward to seeing if Thomas Dimitroff can finally get us a power RB and get some defensive line guys in here who will smash some mouths and get to the QB this offseason. The window, as has been stated many times, isn’t getting any bigger.
falconsrus
December 9th, 2012
5:20 pm
answer this’ good question
Georgia Dome has roaches
December 9th, 2012
5:20 pm
@Answer This
Change your name to “Try and Answer This”. Good grief pal…did you finish elementary school?
Answer This
December 9th, 2012
5:23 pm
Is that roach in your mouth or roach in your house? I am out watching the game and typing on a phone used toilet paper! Now back to your roaches……
rm
December 9th, 2012
5:24 pm
Choke, please answer this question… how old are you?
Rudy
December 9th, 2012
5:24 pm
kerryb…who does the OC work for? Right, Smitty sets the philosphy for entire team! He says run the ball, throw short…you best do what the Boss wants
kerryb
December 9th, 2012
5:24 pm
Georgia Dome has roaches, Dude, just go somewhere else. You’re the cock roach. Man what a pest.
Georgia Dome has roaches
December 9th, 2012
5:25 pm
Answer This
December 9th, 2012
5:23 pm
Is that roach in your mouth or roach in your house? I am out watching the game and typing on a phone used toilet paper! Now back to your roaches……
I rest my case…
Who Me?
December 9th, 2012
5:27 pm
Now that we clinched the fans are panicking. Today was a showup and get by day to try and minimize injuries and give a couple of D starters a rest. Of concern was the lack of run defense and the 3 and outs by Matt Ryan’s O.
patience people, this is a work in progress. I’m just hoping that the O line and D line can hang in there relatively healthy through January…
Georgia Dome has roaches
December 9th, 2012
5:27 pm
kerryb
December 9th, 2012
5:24 pm
Georgia Dome has roaches, Dude, just go somewhere else. You’re the cock roach. Man what a pest.
Yes ma’am. Just wanted to remind you that your beloved Falcons just got THUMPED by a 3-9 team.
Answer This
December 9th, 2012
5:29 pm
Just reminding you that you on a blog of a team u dont like….rest my case coackroach!
5150 UOAD
December 9th, 2012
5:30 pm
To all those so sure the Falcons will not win a Playoff game, you need to come to the Stadium after the Falcons win their first playoff game. I am sure we can get the players or uniform guy to give us enough Game Worn Jock Straps so you guys can chew on them.
Georgia Dome has roaches
December 9th, 2012
5:31 pm
@ Answer This
I love you! Your spelling and grammar are horrible!
mock1
December 9th, 2012
5:31 pm
I am concerned about the Falcons on the offensive & defensive lines, i am afraid that the lack of QB pressure and the lack of run blocking will lead to another early playoff exit. These problem areas are already starting to show…SMH