ATLANTA — Devin Lloyd has been a Carolina Panther for exactly two games.

Devin Lloyd is already being compared to the greatest linebacker in a franchise full of them.

But after what he did to the Falcons Sunday, in a dominant 34-3 win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, who is to argue? ​

Panthers head coach Dave Canales deemed it historic right out of the chute.

"I don't know if I've seen a better performance out of a linebacker in 17 years of coaching in the NFL," Canales said.

Those years included a lot in Seattle, when he had regular matchups with some guy named Luke Kuechly, and even though that guy was just inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it didn't seem excessive.

That's how good this game by Devin Lloyd was.

He finished with two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown, and mixed in a sack, two tackles for loss, and three passes defensed for good measure. Kuechly may have had better games, and in bigger spots than the second week of the regular season, but he retired after the 2019 season, so it's been a minute.

And historically, it stacks up. Since sacks became an official stat in 1982, no other linebacker has had eight or more tackles, two or more interceptions, a touchdown, and a sack in the same game.​

"Oh, he's just an incredible leader, incredible human, incredible talent, you know, to me he's a gold jacket guy, man," outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips said. "I'm honored to be on the same field as him.

"I mean, he was everywhere. He's a force to be reckoned with, and I've been saying this since OTAs that he's the best football player I've played with. Truly honored to be on the field with him and just excited to keep seeing what he does, and he just encourages all of us to play better, be better, lifts everybody up around him, and so it's a blessing to be on the same field with him."

Of course, that's why general manager Dan Morgan, another one of those linebackers, signed Lloyd this offseason. It's one thing to make plays, but leadership is another component of Lloyd's importance to this defense.

But there were so many plays made that those took center stage. The pick-six came off undrafted rookie Jack Strand on his first NFL pass, quickly extinguishing the one bit of excitement the Falcons fans had all day. They were chanting Strand's name all day, but Lloyd's touchdown effectively ended the game.

Defensive tackle Derrick Brown laughed and said that Lloyd better win NFC defensive player of the week honors, but that may not be aiming high enough.

"I mean, he's a baller, right?" Brown said. "You got to get to the ball, and it's one of those things where, Devin, every single day, there's not a bunch of players come this way, come that way. Devin's like, hey, we just stay doing our job, man. We just stay doing our job. That's it. We just stay doing our job, and we're going to have guys to execute.

"Like he's the most humble guy, and then just be able to go out there and do it like he did it today."

The one moment Lloyd broke that humility was when he admitted he knew he was scoring off the second pick, which cornerback Jaycee Horn tipped. But the quick reactions are part of his game.

"I knew I was going to score on the second one," he laughed, and the fact that it came after a 53-yard return of the other one with a stiff-arm made him specify.

But to Brown's point, he immediately went back to the importance of it for the team after giving up 59 points to the Bears last week. ​

"The momentum, I mean, really just coming out of halftime, just stay on it," Lloyd said. "I mean, regardless of what happened in the first half, just continue to fight, continue to put our best product on the field."

That ability to bring it back to center, even after a ridiculous individual game, was why so many people were willing to gush about him.

The scary part? They may have been underselling it.​

"I was young, and I wasn't a Panthers fan seeing Luke all the time, but you obviously see highlights and stuff," Phillips said. "I mean, Luke's best game, that one, who's to say? I mean, I don't know.

"The point being is it was an incredible performance, and if you want to compare it to Luke, I think his preparation and the just instinctive nature that he plays with, really definitely on par with things that I've definitely seen from Luke.

"But man, just a force to be reckoned with. I mean, it's great players, big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games. If I had to bet a lot of money, I would bet a lot of money on him continuing to do this on a consistent basis, and it's great, man. I think that we all played really good ball today, and it's exciting to see the direction that we're going in."

And on Sunday, they went exactly where Lloyd led them.