At Carolina
1:00 p.m. ET
52 degrees
TEAM | PLAY CALLING |
PERSONNEL | GAME PLANNING |
IN-GAME ADJ |
CLOCK MGMT |
HCR |
ATL | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7.6 |
CAR | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7.0 |
Key Coaching Decision #1: (CAR ball, trailing 24-10 / fourth-and-1, ATL 6 / 8:36 Q4)
• Down by 14 points, Atlanta decided to go for it. Taylor Heinicke dropped back and his pass intended for Curtis Samuel fell incomplete and the Falcons took over.
Key Coaching Decision #2: (CAR ball, trailing 24-10 / fourth-and-10, ATL 30 / 6:42 Q4)
• The Panthers again had the ball deep in Atlanta territory and went for it on fourth down. They again came up short as Bruce Irvin sacked Heinicke.
Key Observations:
• Atlanta had a balanced attack as they had 194 yards rushing and 233 yards passing, which kept the Carolina defense off balance. Opening up the second half, Matt Ryan hit Calvin Ridley on a 75-yard touchdown pass that the Panthers couldn’t recover from.
• Carolina running back Christian McCaffrey had another amazing game as he had 178 yards of total offense. He was the only reliable option for an injury-riddled Panthers offense. McCaffrey broke the NFL record for receptions by a running back in the third quarter and now has 106 catches on the season.
• The Panthers ran 36 more plays than Atlanta and had the ball for 15 more minutes in the game, but couldn’t overcome four turnovers and multiple missed opportunities in Atlanta territory.
• Carolina lost its seventh consecutive game and third consecutive game at home.