Atlanta Falcons: Dan Quinn had team fired up in win over Panthers
The Atlanta Falcons played with the grit and fire required in their upset victory over the Carolina Panthers.
To defeat the Carolina Panthers, the Atlanta Falcons would need to play its best game of the season. The team would need to play with grit and be determined to overcome the team that walked all over them two weeks ago.
A lot of credit has to go with head coach Dan Quinn, who used all of the humiliation in the 38-0 loss at Bank of America Stadium two weeks prior to motivate his team and hand the Panthers its first regular season defeat for 392 days.
"“We certainly viewed this game as a measuring stick for us,” Quinn said. “I wanted to really see how we’d respond after our ballgame up there a couple of weeks ago. We certainly did.”“Having the grit, determination right down there all the way to the end to make some stops. Complete team win, and really proud of the effort today.”"
All of a sudden, achieving balance on the offensive side of the ball has resulted in back-to-back victories after losing the previous six. Against Carolina, Atlanta threw the football 30 times and also ran it 30 times. Talk about keeping a defense on its toes and taking the game to them.
And look what a difference it makes. Matt Ryan put in his best performance of the season, going 23-of-30 for 306 yards and a touchdown. Devonta Freeman looked much closer to his early-season self, running hard as he always does, posting 77 yards and a touchdown.
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The play of the day, however, belonged to Julio Jones. Jones has been bottled up by the Panthers in recent meetings, but he was outstanding in Sunday’s win.
With a crucial 3rd-and-13, Ryan extended the play, rolling to his left before slinging a deep ball to Jones, who overcame double coverage to haul in the catch, turn around and complete a momentum-shifting 70-yard touchdown.
With the score came a 14-10 lead, one the Falcons never surrendered.
The star of the show for the Falcons was the defense, not once being bullied the way it was two weeks ago. The unit held Cam Newton to 142 passing yards with no touchdowns. And while they surrendered 155 yards on the ground, the defense didn’t break, allowing just one touchdown all afternoon.
And how good was it to see rookie Vic Beasley, who has had an up-and-down season, come away with the game-clinching strip sack of Newton? Adrian Clayborn recovered the fumble to seal the victory.
The Falcons are out of the playoff race. But forget about that. Enjoy this victory. The Panthers have rolled past everyone this season, the Falcons included. But not on this day. The perfect season is no more, and the Falcons have won two straight.
And of all the eight victories this season, none are sweeter than this one.