FLOWERY BRANCH — The Panthers, as the Falcons did earlier, ran into a buzz saw in Cincinnati.
The Bengals, who pummeled the Falcons 35-17 on Oct. 23, steamrolled the Panthers 42-21 on Sunday.
The score was 35-0 by halftime. The Panthers put up some garbage-time/fantasy stat-filling scores to make the final score appear quasi-respectable.
The Panthers (2-7) are set to host the Falcons (4-5) at 8:15 p.m. Thursday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.
The Falcons defeated the Panthers 37-34 in overtime Oct. 30. The Falcons were beneficiaries of two missed kicks – a 48-yard extra-point attempt and a 32-yard field-goal attempt in overtime – and a questionable unsportsmanlike penalty.
“Thankfully, we just played Carolina,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “We’re very familiar with them. … It’s a big game for us.”
The Falcons are tied with Tampa Bay (4-5) for first place in the NFC South. The Buccaneers are set to play Seattle (6-3) at 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday in Munich.
The recent Panthers game will make the preparation easier for the Falcons.
“It doesn’t mean that it’ll be the same thing. They’ll adjust their plan, and we’ll have to adjust ours as well,” Smith said.
Quarterback P.J. Walker passed for 317 yards against the Falcons, including a potentially game-changing 62-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver D.J. Moore.
After a horrible start Sunday, Walker was benched in favor of Baker Mayfield, who came on and completed 14 of 20 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns. However, interim coach Steve Wilks said he plans to stick with Walker, a former XFL star. Walker was 3-of-10 passing for 9 yards and tossed two interceptions before he was yanked against the Bengals.
Wilks is sticking with Walker in part because of how he played in a win over Tampa Bay and against the Falcons. He missed a few wide-open receivers early against the Falcons before warming up. He completed 19 of 36 passes, tossing a touchdown and an interception. He finished with a passer rating of 80.4.
“We all have bad games,” Wilks told the Charlotte media. “P.J. wasn’t the only one. … I could bench everybody if we go off bad games, so we’re going to rally behind P.J. and definitely give him the things that he needs from a game-plan standpoint.”
The Falcons will prepare for Walker and Mayfield and even look at video of Sam Darnold from last season. Darnold, who’s coming off a high-ankle injury, was activated Monday. On Oct. 19, he was designated to return and has been practicing with the team.
“Certainly, it’ll be a little different of a look than P.J. or even if they want to bring in Sam Darnold,” Smith said about Mayfield. “Obviously, we played Sam last year, and if that’s the route that they go down, or Baker. (We saw) what he did yesterday, seen enough of how they use him offensively.”
The Falcons know the Panthers will be ready to rumble, no matter who plays quarterback for them.
“It’s a divisional game. We all know how these things go, and we’ve got to be ready to roll,” Smith said. “It’ll be a huge opportunity for us. As bad as that felt (losing to the Chargers on Sunday), you always got to flip the page even quicker.”
The Panthers fired two defensive coaches – cornerbacks coach Evan Cooper and defensive line coach Paul Pasqualoni – after the blowout by the Bengals.
“I can only speak for us, but they’ve got a good defensive unit out there,” Smith said. “They’re fast, they’re aggressive, and we know it’ll be a fight.”
The Falcons plan to adjust their game plan from their previous meeting, when the Falcons ran 37 times for 167 yards, and quarterback Marcus Mariota completed 20 of 28 passes for a season-high 253 yards. Mariota had three touchdowns and two interceptions on deep pass attempts to Damiere Byrd.
“It’s always a fine line there. You’re so familiar with them; you just played them,” Smith said. “It’s a very fast defense. I think they close the space in a hurry. There’s some things that we need to adapt to, and they’ll adapt. That’s what’s fun about coaching in the NFL, it’s good on good every week, regardless of what a record shows at that time.”
Carolina running back D’Onta Foreman rushed 26 times for 118 yards and three touchdowns against the Falcons. Moore was targeted 11 times and caught six passes for 152 yards.
“Foreman is a physical runner,” Smith said. “He makes that one cut, and he gets downhill in a hurry. That’s kind of the one where he puts his foot in the ground and the one where they scored in the red zone, where I thought he ran extremely hard. I mean, he’s a talented runner.”
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The Bow Tie Chronicles
Atlanta Falcons 2022 schedule
Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18: Rams 31, Falcons 27
Sept. 25 Falcons 27, Seahawks 23
Oct. 2 Falcons 23, Browns 20
Oct. 9 Buccaneers 21, Falcons 15
Oct. 16 Falcons 28, 49ers 14
Oct. 23 Bengals 35, Falcons 17
Oct. 30 Falcons 37, Panthers 34 OT
Nov. 6 Chargers 20, Falcons 17
Nov. 10 at Carolina, 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 20 vs. Chicago, 1 p.m.
Nov. 27 at Washington, 1 p.m.
Dec. 4 vs. Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
BYE WEEK
Dec. 18 at New Orleans, TBD
Dec. 24 at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Jan. 1 vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.
Jan. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, TBD
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