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Week 8 Game Preview: Panthers at Falcons

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CHARLOTTE - The Carolina Panthers (2-5) hit the road with some momentum as they look to move to 3-0 in the NFC South with a game at Atlanta (3-4) on Sunday, Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. Sunday marks the third straight season that the Panthers have played Atlanta in Week 8.

Scroll below for more information on the Week 8 matchup, team connections, series history and stats comparison, presented by Amazon Next Gen Stats.

Game Reset

History: Panthers vs. Falcons

  • Carolina is 20-34 all-time against the Falcons | Series History
  • Current Streak: Falcons W1
  • Carolina has won two games in a row in Atlanta, but the Falcons own 19-8 all-time record at home

Player/Coach Connections

  • Falcons players Damiere Byrd and Dean Marlowe used to play for Carolina
  • Falcons offensive coordinator Dave Ragone was on Carolina's practice squad in 2007
  • Panthers players Derrick Brown, Cameron Erving, Tommy Tremble and Jaycee Horn all grew up in Georgia
  • Falcons players Colby Gossett (Appalachian State), A.J. Terrell (Clemson), Grady Jarrett (Clemson), Damiere Byrd (South Carolina), Byran Edwards (South Carolina) and Bradley Pinion (Clemson) all went to college in the Carolinas
  • Falcons head coach Arthur Smith played football at North Carolina from 2001-04

Statistical Comparison

Table inside Article
Category Carolina Atlanta
Offense
Total Yards/Game 271.9 (32nd) 308.6 (27th)
Rushing Yards/Game 102.1 (23rd) 156.9 (4th)
Net Passing Yards/Game 169.7 (28th) 151.7 (31st)
Sacks Allowed 20 (t-25th) 17 (t-23rd)
Third Down Efficiency 25.0 (32nd) 44.2 (5th)
Points/Game 17.7 (t-26th) 23.3 (12th)
Defense
Total Yards/Game 351.9 (18th) 406.9 (30th)
Rushing Yards/Game 120.9 (21st) 100.3 (5th)
Passing Yards/Game 231.0 (19th) 306.6 (32nd)
Sacks 10 (30th) 11 (t-27th)
Third Down Efficiency 40.0 (t-15th) 48.3 (32nd)
Takeaways 6 (t-26th) 10 (t-9th)
Points Allowed/Game 21.3 (17th) 24.4 (24th)

Notes and Trends

DJ Moore moving up the ranks

  • DJ Moore had seven receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown against Tampa Bay last week, moving him passed Wesley Walls into fifth place in franchise history with 328 career receptions.

Defensive First Quarters

  • This season, Carolina has only allowed 13 points scored in the first quarter, tying for first in the NFL.
  • They've scored a defensive TD and allowed just 5.33 yards per pass attempt in the first 15 minutes, good for third in the league.

Ickey's moving

  • Over the last five games, rookie Ikem Ekwonu has not allowed a sack and has a pass blocking rating of 98.2 (via PFF), eighth among offensive tackles. His run blocking grade in that stretch is 80.6, fifth among offensive tackles.
  • Against Tampa Bay, he recorded 317 yards running of 6.6+ MPH (according to Next Gen Stats), third-most among offensive linemen. He also had the fewest yards walking of any offensive lineman (<5 MPH).

Bozeman breakthrough

  • Center Bradley Bozeman made his first start at center on Sunday after Pat Elflein was put on IR.
  • He had an overall grade of 93.2 from PFF, best among all centers in Week 7.

PJ Walker with the W

  • PJ Walker improved to 3-1 as a starter with his best career performance on Sunday, throwing for 177 yards with two touchdowns and a passer rating of 126.5.
  • It was the third-best passer rating of any QB last week and his PFF grade of 94.9 led all qualified players in the NFL. Walker completed 72.7 percent of his passes which was 9.3 percent above expected (according to Next Gen Stats).

Foreman's big gains

  • D'Onta Foreman rushed for 118 yards and finished with 145 scrimmage yards, including a career-long 60-yard rush.
  • Foreman led a Panthers rushing attack that totaled 173 yards on the ground, the most since a win in Atlanta in Week 8 of 2021. Carolina's rush average of 6.4 yards per attempt were the most in a game since Week 8 of 2020.

Special teams strength

  • The Panthers rank third in the NFL with a total PFF special teams grade of 91.3.
  • This season, Carolina has blocked two field goals, ranks sixth with a FG made percentage of 92.3, ranks sixth with a net punting average of 44.4 and leads the league with 450 kick return yards.

2022 Statistical Milestones to Watch

  • Brian Burns (30.5) needs 2.0 sacks to tie Kawann Short (32.5) for seventh place in franchise history in career sacks.
  • Derrick Brown (14) needs four pass deflections to tie Julius Peppers (18) for the most by a Panthers defensive lineman in his first three seasons.
  • Shaq Thompson needs 54 tackles for his fourth consecutive season with at least 100 tackles. That would tie Jon Beason (4 straight) for third-most behind Thomas Davis (5 straight) and Luke Kuechly (8 straight).
  • Donte Jackson (13) needs one interception to tie Doug Evans and Richard Marshall for fifth in franchise history.
  • JJ Jansen (216) needs five games played to tie John Kasay (221) for most in Panthers franchise history.

Carolina is 21-35 all-time against Atlanta dating all the way back to 1995.

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