3 Atlanta Falcons who let the team down in thrilling win over Panthers

1. Marcus Mariota

The roller coaster that is Marcus Mariota was in full effect against the Panthers with Marcus showing his immense talent as well as demonstrating why he was benched by the Titans. Early on Mariota missed easy throws and threw an interception on what was essentially an arm punt on a ball that never should have been thrown. Mariota finished with 253-passing yards 3-touchdowns and 2-interceptions.

Shaking off the ugly start Mariota caught fire and did what the quarterback does best in the passing game playing point guard and allowing his receivers to make plays. Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and Tyler Allgeier all had impressive catches and helped to keep the Atlanta offense moving on a day that the secondary was shredded for the second consecutive week.

Mariota led a late clutch touchdown drive that looked to have decided the game. However, the late Moore touchdown gave the Panthers life and forced Mariota into overtime. Atlanta won the toss and somewhat predictably Mariota threw his second interception of the day setting up Carolina for a game-winning kick.

After the shocking miss Mariota came back out poised and led the Falcons down the field with a clutch scramble that would give Koo the chance to win the game. Mariota did a lot for the Falcons in this game but until he cleans up the mistakes and stops missing the easy throws there will be a portion of Atlanta fans who are more than ready to see rookie Desmond Ridder.