Week 16 Game Recap: Carolina Panthers 10, Atlanta Falcons 3

What you need to know

Carolina Panthers

The story of this game was the Carolina rushing attack. Carolina ran the ball 52 times out of a total of 61 offense plays. They totally dominated the time of possession by a margin of 41:47 to 18:13. Carolina came out with 12 straight runs to start the game. They ran the ball on 14 of their first 16 plays during their opening touchdown drive.

Foster and Williams carried the ball a combined 49 times for 184 yards. Foster carried it 28 times for 102 yards and Williams added 82 yards on 21 carries. They just continually exploited an Atlanta defense that was unable to stop the run. Williams had a lot of success on a direct snap play that Carolina ran a number of times on third down. Even though Carolina had the ball for so much time, they only got into the Atlanta red zone once.

The Carolina receivers were basically just blockers in this game. Steve Smith saw the most targets but officially didn’t have a catch. Weinke tried to hit him three times but they never hooked up. Keyshawn Johnson had one catch for 21 yards. Weinke connected with the two running backs on one pass each. Both running backs picked up five yards on their catch. Weinke only had four completions and was purposefully not part of the game plan. Ironically it was his touchdown pass to Jeff King that ended up being the winning margin in the game.

The Panthers defense played tough, holding Atlanta to just a field goal. Atlanta never even got into the Carolina red zone. The Carolina defense recorded three sacks and two interceptions. They held Michael Vick to just 32 rushing yards which is like a victory in itself.

Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta started off the game looking like they were going to boost their playoff hopes. They drove the field and picked up a field goal on their opening drive. After picking up three first downs on the opening drive, the Falcons only picked up five more the rest of the game. Atlanta turned the ball over twice and only had 177 total net yards. Not exactly the way to get it done when trying to make the playoffs.

Michael Vick became the first quarterback to ever rush for 1000 yards in a season. While he did cross the milestone, he only gained 32 yards on the ground for the game. He was sacked three times and was intercepted twice, one of which was on a Hail Mary at the end of the game. Vick connected on his first three passes and it looked like he was going to be sharp in this game. That was not the case as he finished with nine completions in 20 attempts and no touchdowns.

The Atlanta running game was held in check by Carolina’s defense. Dunn and Norwood were only able to gain 49 yards on 14 carries. They picked up just two first downs on the ground. Both of them came of medium length runs by Vick and Dunn.

Atlanta’s leading receiver was Lelie with three catches for 40 yards. Crumpler also caught three passes for a total of 39 yards. Besides those two, Atlanta had three other players with one catch each. Carolina’s defense was well rested due to the big time of possession differential and was just too tough for Atlanta this week.

What you ought to know

QB Chris Weinke, Pass: 4 - 7 - 32 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0

Weinke attempted just seven passes, completing four of them for 32 yards and one touchdown. He was just terrible in the pocket. He rarely moved when he got back there and was sacked three times. Carolina’s game plan was to run the ball as much as possible so Weinke would not have to try to move the ball down the field.

RB DeShaun Foster, Rush: 28 - 102 - 0, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets)

Foster was a workhorse in the game. He carried the ball 28 times for 102 yards. Foster got a chance at the one yard line but was stopped for no gain on first down. The next play was a touchdown pass to King. It was Foster’s only carry inside the red zone all game. Foster picked up three rushing first downs. His longest run of the game was 11 yards but his biggest contribution was clock control. He also caught one pass for five yards.

RB DeAngelo Williams, Rush: 21 - 82 - 0, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets)

Williams was the other workhorse for Carolina. He ran the ball 21 times for 82 yards. 11 times in the game, Carolina took out Weinke and ran a direct snap play to Williams. They ran the direct snap play to Williams eight times on third down. Williams picked up the first down on seven of those attempts. Williams picked up nine first downs in the game and had another called back due to a Carolina penalty. He had one red zone attempt, picking up three yards from the Atlanta four yard line. Foster got the next carry but couldn’t score. Williams caught his only pass attempt for five yards.

RB Brad Hoover, Rush: 1 - 4 - 0

Hoover ran the ball one time for four yards. He picked up the first down on a third and one play.

WR Steve Smith, Rush: 1 - -5 - 0 (3 targets)

Smith was targeted just three times in the game. The first time a pass was thrown his way was not until 9:36 was left in the second quarter. He caught the pass but a false start on Keyshawn Johnson negated the play. Weinke tried to hit him deep down field twice but both attempts were incomplete. Smith should have had one of them but he bobbled it while going out of bounds before gaining control. He also tried an end around but lost five yards on the play.

WR Keyshawn Johnson, Rec: 1 - 21 - 0 (2 targets)

Johnson caught one pass for 21 yards on a second and 29 play. His only other target was an incomplete pass on third and four from the Atlanta 25 yard line.

TE Jeff King, Rec: 1 - 1 - 1 (1 targets)

King caught the only pass thrown his way. It went for a one yard touchdown. The refs didn’t catch King flinching just prior to the snap. Carolina got lucky it wasn’t called back due to a false start.

TE Michael Gaines (1 targets)

Gaines only had one pass thrown his way. The pass was incomplete. Atlanta was flagged for 12 men on the field on the play as well.

PK John Kasay 1 - 1 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points

Kasay hit his only extra point attempt. He hit his one field goal attempt from 42 yards.

CAR Rush Defense

The Carolina rushing defense was very good against Atlanta. They allowed a couple of runs of 14 and 18 yards, but overall they were able to keep Vick and Dunn in check. Vick gained just 32 yards and Dunn only 29 yards. Norwood added 20 yards on five carries. Atlanta only picked up two first downs on the ground. The Carolina rush defense forced Vick to beat them in the air and he was unable to do it. With Carolina running the ball 52 times in the game, their defense was well rested being on the field for a total of only 18:13 in the game.

CAR Pass Defense

The Carolina pass defense was strong. They held Vick to just 109 yards on nine of 20 passing. They sacked Vick three times and also intercepted him twice. Atlanta’s first drive of the game was their best. He started sharp and was able to move the ball against Carolina’s defense. Atlanta drove the field and kicked a field goal on their opening drive. After that, Carolina basically shut them down. Atlanta picked up three first downs on their opening drive and then only had 5 more the rest of the game. The Panthers got their first turnover in four games when they picked off Vick in the second quarter. The play was challenged and upheld. It led to a Panthers field goal and a 10-3 lead. Carolina came up big late in the game when Atlanta was facing a fourth and four at the Carolina 35 yard line. Carolina tipped the ball and it fell incomplete for a turnover on downs. The Panthers second interception was on the final play of the game with just throwing up a Hail Mary in a desperate attempt to tie the game with no time left on the clock.

QB Michael Vick, Pass: 9 - 20 - 109 - 0 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 4 - 32 - 0

The only positive Vick could take out of this game was the fact that he reached the 1000 yard rushing milestone. He’s the first quarterback to ever do it. He would probably have rather won the game instead though. Vick had a terrible game, throwing for just 109 yards and two interceptions. He completed less than half of his passes, going nine for 20. His first interception led to a Carolina field goal. His 32 rushing yards was one of the lowest outputs he has had this year.

RB Warrick Dunn, Rush: 9 - 29 - 0, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets)

With Atlanta being behind and Carolina holding on to the ball for so long, Dunn only carried nine times for 29 yards. He had a 14 yard run in the third quarter but the drive stalled and Atlanta was forced to punt. Take out that run and he was eight for 15 yards, not even two yards per carry. Dunn caught just one pass for nine yards.

RB Jerious Norwood, Rush: 5 - 20 - 0 (1 targets)

Norwood had just five carries for 20 yards but did not pick up any first downs. Atlanta never got into the red zone so he didn’t have a chance to score. He was also thrown to once but it fell incomplete.

RB Fred McCrary (1 targets)

McCrary had a pass thrown his way but it was intercepted along the sideline. Atlanta challenged the play but it was upheld.

WR Ashley Lelie, Rec: 3 - 40 - 0 (6 targets)

Lelie caught three passes for 40 yards before leaving the game with an injured shoulder. Lelie went up for a long pass at the goal line but could not come down with the ball. He landed right on his shoulder and did not return. Lelie was Vick’s favorite target, looking for him on deep passes a couple of times.

WR Michael Jenkins, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (4 targets)

Jenkins only caught one of the four passes thrown to him. The pass went for nine yards. Vick tried to hit him for a touchdown on the Atlanta opening drive. Late in the game, Jenkins got caught for a block in the back when Rossum returned a punt 80 yards for what seemed to be a game tying touchdown. The play was called back due to the penalty.

WR Roddy White, Rec: 1 - 12 - 0 (2 targets)

White had one catch for 12 yards. He didn’t see any action until the end of the game. His first target wasn’t until there was only 2:37 left in the game.

TE Alge Crumpler, Rec: 3 - 39 - 0 (4 targets)

Crumpler caught three passes for 39 yards. Vick only looked his way four times. Crumpler caught a pass on the opening drive for 19 yards which contributed to the field goal drive for Atlanta. Crumpler picked up a couple of first downs. Vick looked his way on the fourth down pass play late in the game but the pass was tipped and was not catchable by Crumpler.

PK Morten Andersen 1 - 1 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 3 points

Andersen made his only field goal attempt; it was good from 40 yards.

ATL Rush Defense

The Atlanta rush defense was non-existent in this game. Carolina came out running and continued to pound the ball. Atlanta knew what was coming and still could not stop them. Carolina ran the ball 12 straight times to start the game. Overall the Panthers ran the ball 52 times for 183 yards. On Carolina’s touchdown drive, they ran the ball 14 of the 16 plays. Ironically the touchdown was on a pass play. The Panthers picked up 13 of their 15 first downs on the ground. Even though the Panthers were running up and down the field, the Falcons still kept them from scoring points. The Falcons finally started to stop the run in the fourth quarter. It gave them a chance to tie the game but couldn’t generate any offense.

ATL Pass Defense

The Atlanta pass defense played ok although they were never really tested. Carolina only threw the ball seven times for 32 yards. Their touchdown was via the pass but it was just a one yard play. Atlanta was able to sack Weinke three times in the game. The Falcons pass defense was unable to create any turnovers. They did force a Weinke fumble but the Panthers recovered. The Panthers only picked up one first down through the air.