Falcons @ Panthers · Week 18

WEEK 18 · FINAL

THE READ

62 points between Falcons and Panthers

Scoreboard operators earned their money. Panthers 33, Falcons 29. Michael Penix Jr did the damage for Falcons — 14/27, 239 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT — in a losing effort. Bryce Young was steady for Panthers — 14/27, 246 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT. A season best for Austin Hooper. Total yards: Panthers 288, Falcons 269.

Luca Santana Analyst

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Falcons	-1.4	-3.1	+1.6	-7
Panthers	-5.4	-2.9	-2.5	-2

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Panthers — NFC #4 · division · 9-8 Falcons — in the hunt · 8-9 Playoff picture →

IN THE BOOTH

Daniel Keller The numbers guy

Atlanta's ground game evaporated—30 rushing yards against a defense that gives up 81 a game—which meant Michael Penix Jr. had to beat Carolina through the air while throwing 2 interceptions. He didn't, and the Falcons' desperation passing (75% attempts) handed Bryce Young a softer defense than he had any right to expect.

Nicole Santos Beat reporter · replying

Carolina caught Atlanta abandoning the run entirely—9 carries against a defense they should've tested—and still needed Young to match Penix Jr.'s 3 touchdowns just to survive a shootout neither team had the horses for.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

Michael Penix Jr

Falcons

14/27, 239 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT

Bryce Young

Panthers

14/27, 246 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT

Austin Hooper

Falcons

8 catches, 139 yards, 2 TD

THE STORY SO FAR

⭐ Austin Hooper has not had a better afternoon this season.

🧊 Bijan Robinson — 99 overall — was held to 30 rushing yards, against an average of 81.

📉 Tetairoa McMillan is still searching for it: 28 receiving yards a game across his last three, against an average of 44.

WHAT DECIDED IT

Total yards Panthers 288, Falcons 269 Panthers

On the ground Panthers 42, Falcons 30 Panthers

Through the air Panthers 246, Falcons 239 Panthers

Giveaways Panthers 1, Falcons 2 Panthers

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 18 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Pass-heavy Pass 65% · Rush 35% · 28.5 scored, 26.8 allowed

8.7 yds/att 57.5% completions 6.0 yds/carry 361.5 yds/game 1.9 giveaways/game 5.6% sack rate last 5: 3-2

Primary weapon: Drake London WR — 23% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY MODERATE

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 60 · Aggressive Balance 85 Ball security 47 Back usage 31% QB runs 1.8/game

Most exposed: ball security -- 1.9 giveaways a game

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 78 WR 81 TE 83 RB 88 OL 83 DL 82 LB 82 DB 86

Best: Bijan Robinson HB 99 Fastest: Jahan Dotson WR 92 SPD 7 at star dev or better

Out: Joey Bosa REDG 85 · 5wk · Kyle Pitts Sr TE 83 · 10wk

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

Casp

Panthers · his last 8 games

Balanced

Pass / run59% / 41% Points for / against25.9 — 30.1 Margin-4.2 Giveaways a game1.8 Sacks taken8.6% of dropbacks Lead backTrevor Etienne · 9.9/g Top targetXavier Legette · 21% QB carries3.1 a game

SL FeaRz

Falcons · his last 8 games

Throws it Gives it away One back

Pass / run65% / 35% Points for / against27.0 — 25.2 Margin+1.8 Giveaways a game2.0 Sacks taken8.0% of dropbacks Lead backBijan Robinson · 12.8/g Top targetDrake London · 25% QB carries0.8 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

THE SERIES SL FeaRz against Casp — the men, not the teams

Casp leads it 2-0. Casp has won 2 straight.

2 meetings avg 24.5 — 31.5 biggest: 10 pts to Casp

S1 · week 18 SL FeaRz 29 — 33 Casp CASP

S1 · week 2 SL FeaRz 20 — 30 Casp CASP

Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Falcons receivers vs Panthers secondary 81 v 82 EVEN

Panthers receivers vs Falcons secondary 81 v 86 FALCONS

Falcons line vs Panthers front 83 v 85 EVEN

Panthers line vs Falcons front 82 v 82 EVEN

Falcons backs vs Panthers run defence 88 v 83 FALCONS

Panthers backs vs Falcons run defence 80 v 82 EVEN

Falcons passer vs Panthers secondary 78 v 82 PANTHERS

Panthers passer vs Falcons secondary 84 v 86 EVEN

TOP PERFORMERS

Bryce Young QB Panthers 246 pass yds

Michael Penix Jr QB Falcons 239 pass yds

Austin Hooper TE Falcons 139 rec yds

Tetairoa McMillan WR Panthers 70 rec yds

Jonathon Brooks HB Panthers 69 rec yds

Jaelan Phillips REDG Panthers 1.5 sacks

Divine Deablo MIKE Falcons 1 INTs

Tre'von Moehrig FS Panthers 1 INTs

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

FALCONS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Michael Penix Jr QB	14/27	239	3	2	4	40	88.3

PANTHERS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Bryce Young QB	14/27	246	2	1	4	44	92.5

FALCONS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG
Bijan Robinson HB	9	30	3.3	1	1	14	15
Olamide Zaccheaus WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Austin Hooper TE	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
Drake London WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

PANTHERS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG
Jonathon Brooks HB	12	45	3.8	1	1	15	15
Bryce Young QB	4	3	0.8	0	0	2	3
Chuba Hubbard HB	1	-3	-3	0	0	0	0
Trevor Etienne HB	3	-3	-1	0	0	1	1

FALCONS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
Austin Hooper TE	8	139	17.4	2	44	0	40
Drake London WR	3	46	15.3	0	10	1	20
Olamide Zaccheaus WR	2	44	22	0	9	0	26
Jahan Dotson WR	1	10	10	1	1	1	10

PANTHERS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Tetairoa McMillan WR	4	70	17.5	1	33	28
Jonathon Brooks HB	3	69	23	0	64	44
Tommy Tremble TE	2	39	19.5	1	19	28
Chris Brazzell II WR	2	31	15.5	0	1	18
Jalen Coker WR	2	26	13	0	6	13
Chuba Hubbard HB	1	11	11	0	7	11

FALCONS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD
Xavier Watts SS	4	0	0	0
Carson Schwesinger MIKE	3	1	0	0
Clark Phillips III CB	3	0	0	0
Zach Harrison DT	2	1	0	0
Jessie Bates III FS	2	0	0	0
Divine Deablo MIKE	2	0	1	1
Mike Hughes CB	2	1	0	0
Joey Bosa REDG	1	1	0	1
James Pearce Jr REDG	1	0	0	0
A.J. Terrell Jr CB	1	0	0	2
Da'Shawn Hand DT	1	0	0	0
Sydney Brown SS	1	0	0	0

PANTHERS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD
Tre'von Moehrig FS	4	0	1	1
Jaelan Phillips REDG	2	1.5	0	1
Chau Smith-Wade CB	2	0	0	0
Trevin Wallace WILL	2	1	0	0
Jackson Kuwatch MIKE	1	0	0	0
Nic Scourton LEDG	1	1	0	0
Devin Lloyd MIKE	1	0.5	0	0
Mike Jackson CB	1	0	0	0
Jaycee Horn CB	1	0	0	0

FALCONS

nothing recorded

PANTHERS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Ryan Fitzgerald K	2/3	3/3	52

RECENT FORM

Falcons

L 28–30 vs Saints WK 17

W 19–10 vs Buccaneers WK 16

W 25–7 vs Commanders WK 15

Panthers

W 15–10 vs Seahawks WK 17

L 17–38 vs Steelers WK 16

W 38–35 vs Bengals WK 15

TEAM STATS

Falcons		Panthers
269	TOTAL YARDS	288
239	PASSING YARDS	246
30	RUSHING YARDS	42
4	SACKS ALLOWED	4
4	SACKS MADE	4
2	GIVEAWAYS	1
1	TAKEAWAYS	1

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

0 FALCONS — 2 PANTHERS

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