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Panthers have been playing down to level of opposition
Carolina heads to Atlanta for important NFC South matchup
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Na’il Diggs (53) helped the Panthers hold the Falcons’ Michael Turner (33) to 56 yards on 18 carries.
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Published: November 23, 2008
ATLANTA - The Carolina Panthers have been able to win the past two weeks without playing their best.
They don't want to tempt fate again.
So they aren't about to downplay the significance of today's game against the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome.
The Falcons have been one of the biggest surprises in the NFL this season and, at 6-4, could jump back into the NFC South race with a victory today.
The Panthers lead the division at 8-2 and have won four straight, but have been less than impressive in wins over Oakland (17-6) and Detroit (31-22) since coming back from an open date.
"The last two weeks we've played teams that were kind of -- I don't want to say up and down, but for the most part down," quarterback Jake Delhomme said. "But this week we're playing a division opponent, and nothing more needs to be said. We don't need a pregame speech to get ready to play this game. I mean, it's very simple. They're a very good football team, and they're going to be ready to play. So it's exciting. It's very exciting."
Today's game will start a difficult stretch run for the Panthers, with four of their final six regular-season games on the road. They're 2-2 on the road this season, with a last-second win at San Diego and the lackluster win at Oakland two weeks ago and losses at Minnesota and Tampa Bay.
"If we want to be any kind of football team with championship implications, you've got to be able to win on the road," Delhomme said. "We've done well at home, but just average on the road. So certainly we need to be better on the road."
The Panthers beat the Falcons 24-9 in Charlotte on Sept. 28, taking control in the second half after leading 14-9 at halftime.
They had success slowing the Falcons' running game and particularly Michael Turner that day. Turner came into the game as the league's leading rusher, but was held to 56 yards on 18 carries.
Turner enters today's game as the league's No. 3 rusher, averaging 97.1 yards a game, with four 100-yard plus games. The Falcons rank second in rushing, averaging 153.4 yards. So the Panthers' first task will be to stop the run. That's something they did well early in the season but Oakland (147 rushing yards) and Detroit (130) were able to run effectively the past two weeks, especially early in those games.
"We've got to carry the attitude that we have to stop the run," linebacker Na'il Diggs said. "I think the past couple of weeks we've kind of played down to our opponents' level instead of playing to our highest level. We've got to get that corrected fast, because this team, they're going to run the ball and they run it well every week. We've got to be sound in everything we do on defense."
The Falcons are also getting more and more production from rookie quarterback Matt Ryan. He has passed for more than 200 yards in each of his past five games, and is coming off a 20-for-33 performance for 250 yards last week in a loss to Denver.
The Panthers passed the ball effectively in the first game against Atlanta. Delhomme was 20 of 29 for 294 yards and two touchdowns, with Muhsin Muhammad catching eight for 147 yards. Delhomme has cooled off the past two weeks, though, and the Panthers' running attack has carried them. DeAngelo Williams has rushed for 100 or more yards in three straight games, with 120 yards on 14 carries last week against Detroit. Jonathan Stewart rushed for 130 yards on 15 carries last week, giving the Panthers two backs over 100 in the same game for the first time in franchise history.
"We're going to have to be efficient in the passing game," Delhomme said. "In Oakland, we weren't where we wanted to be. Last week, we kind of did what we wanted in the run game and we did OK in the passing game, it's just that opportunities were few and far between. We got the run game jump-started last week, but I still don't think we've played a complete game offensively yet. I think there's still a lot of room for improvement."
The Panthers should have their entire 53-man roster healthy for the first time all season, as center Ryan Kalil, defensive tackle Darwin Walker and tackle Jeremy Bridges are all listed as probable. Kalil has missed four of the past five games with an ankle injury. Walker has missed the past three games after suffering neck injuries in an automobile accident, and Bridges was held out of last week's win over Detroit because of an irregular heartbeat.
■ John Delong can be reached at jdelong@wsjournal.com.
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