Atlanta Falcons catching Sam Darnold at the perfect time

The Atlanta Falcons have found a bit of momentum winning three of their last four games as they get ready to take on the Carolina Panthers. It is a Panthers team Atlanta could not have caught at a better time considering the turmoil at the quarterback position.

Sam Darnold was benched in last week’s loss to the New York Giants and played terribly. It was the worst game of Darnold’s short Panthers tenure and resulted in him being benched in favor of P.J. Walker.

It appears Darnold’s struggles weren’t limited to the Jets’ ineptitude. He has struggled to play at a consistent level in Carolina since Christian McCaffrey was injured. Since the injury Darnold has turned the football over and been sacked with surprising regularity.

The Atlanta Falcons defense has a rare advantage against a quarterback that is quickly losing confidence

Watching Darnold against the Giants one thing was obvious, the Panthers quarterback had no confidence or conviction in the plays he attempted to make. He appeared to be ready to be sacked nearly every snap and bailing on every throw.

This is the Sam Darnold Atlanta hopes to see on Sunday, not the quarterback the Panthers saw the first three weeks with a healthy McCaffrey.

Sam Darnold is not in Matt Ryan’s league even on his best days. This struggling version of Darnold is going to give Atlanta a huge advantage over a roster that has more talent overall. While Atlanta has the best players in this week’s game it doesn’t take much investigating to find Carolina has more depth and certainly more defensive talent.

Atlanta can offset this advantage because of Darnold’s struggles and Matt Ryan’s consistency. If you’re Atlanta you couldn’t pick a better time to face this team, a team limping off a bad loss with a quarterback they just benched. This is a game where everything is swinging in Atlanta’s favor and they simply cannot afford to lose.