3 Atlanta Falcons who let the team down in thrilling win over Panthers
By Nick Halden
2. Dean Pees
Let’s set the touchdown to D.J. Moore aside and focus on the rest of the game for this Atlanta defense. It is understandably struggling with key players injured in the secondary and young corners learning on the job, however, a large part of Atlanta’s problem on Sunday was due to poor schemes and Pees deserves some blame despite the Atlanta injuries.
Three times in this game Atlanta had Carolina backed up on a third and long and should have been able to get off the field. Each time the Falcons gave up a big play against P.J. Walker and a Carolina offense that has been struggling all season long.
Christian McCaffrey is gone and Baker Mayfield is benched with the Panthers turning to their third option and still searching for pass catchers beyond just D.J. Moore. For your defense to come into this matchup and fail so spectacularly with regularity at least a portion of the blame belongs on the shoulders of the defensive coordinator. It is hard to see things getting much better for this Atlanta secondary either with Justin Herbert rolling into town next week.