Atlanta Falcons: Where does win over Panthers rank all-time?
We here at Blogging Dirty recently broke down what we believed to be the top 20 games in Atlanta Falcons history but the list just might have been compromised with Atlanta’s upset over the Carolina Panthers this week.
We based our list a lot on postseason play and seasons that actually mattered. technically, the 2015 NFL season for the Falcons will go down as a lost season due to the fact that they failed to make the playoffs, but the win has an argument to make the list.
Click here: Atlanta Falcons: Top 20 games in franchise history
Only one team, the New England Patriots have gone 15-0 in a regular season and the Panthers were one game away from becoming the second team to ever do that. In steps the rival Falcons. Atlanta knocked off the undefeated Panthers 20-13 behind stellar play on both sides of the ball.
Another important factor to look at is that Panthers quarterback Cam Newton very well may win the NFL MVP award and the Falcons will be credited with holding him to season lows. Newton was 0-of-7 on third and fourth down and completed less than 60 percent of his passes on the day.
Matt Ryan on the other hand was stellar and posted his best QBR rating since week three of 2014. Wide receiver Julio Jones dominated so-called elite cornerback Josh Norman all afternoon and hauled in a 70-yard touchdown to go with his 178 total yards.
The more I think about it, the more I think this game deserves a spot on the list. Does the game deserve a spot in the top 10? No it’s not that great just because there wasn’t really anything on the line for the Falcons but the game did have meaning.
If the Panthers win the super bowl this year, it would only amplify this games’ meaning and it would without a doubt deserve to make the list. As of right now this game ranks anywhere from 20-15 and could possibly move up a little bit if the Panthers win it all.
Either way this was a game for the ages and gave Falcons fans a much-needed boost and bragging rights heading into the long NFL offseason that looms in just a week’s time for Atlanta.