Panthers @ Falcons · Week 2

WEEK 2 · FINAL

THE READ

66 points between Panthers and Falcons

Nobody wanted to play defence. Panthers won the shootout 40-26. Bryce Young threw for Panthers — 20/29, 321 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT. Michael Penix Jr did the damage for Falcons — 16/32, 227 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT — in a losing effort. Michael Penix Jr is 76 overall and sits 3 in the league in passing yards. Somebody undervalued him. Total yards: Panthers 497, Falcons 264.

The Wire · league beat

THE WIDER PICTURE

Panthers — NFC #4 · division · 2-0 Falcons — in the hunt · 1-1 Playoff picture →

IN THE BOOTH

Kayla James The showman

Carolina's ground game did what Atlanta's couldn't: Chuba Hubbard's 150 yards and the Panthers' rushing attack gave them a foundation that Michael Penix Jr and the Falcons' 37 yards on the ground simply couldn't match, and that gap is what turned a shootout into a rout.

Jordan Hayes The armchair coach · replying

Penix Jr. threw for 227 yards and sat 3rd in the league in passing yards coming in, but Atlanta's passing game couldn't compensate for what amounted to no running game at all—he was asked to do too much on a day when the Panthers showed they don't need him to beat you.

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.

Bryce Young

Panthers

20/29, 321 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT

Michael Penix Jr

Falcons

16/32, 227 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT

Darren Waller

Panthers

7 catches, 139 yards, 3 TD

THE STORY SO FAR

💎 Michael Penix Jr is 76 overall and sits 3 in the league in passing yards.

💎 Bryce Young is 80 overall and sits 4 in the league in passing yards.

WHAT DECIDED IT

Total yards Panthers 497, Falcons 264 Panthers

On the ground Panthers 176, Falcons 37 Panthers

Through the air Panthers 321, Falcons 227 Panthers

Giveaways Falcons 3, Panthers 3 Panthers

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 2 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

Balanced Pass 48% · Rush 52% · 35.5 scored, 26.5 allowed

7.6 yds/att 62.9% completions 7.2 yds/carry 471.0 yds/game 2.5 giveaways/game 3.1% sack rate last 2: 2-0

Primary weapon: Darren Waller TE — 36% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY HIGH

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 60 · Turnover-prone Balance 73 Ball security 30 Back usage 45% QB runs 4.0/game

Most exposed: ball security -- 2.5 giveaways a game

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 80 WR 80 TE 81 RB 82 OL 83 DL 82 LB 83 DB 83

Best: Derrick Brown DT 96 Fastest: Chris Brazzell II WR 93 SPD 4 at star dev or better

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

liloilspill.

Falcons · his last 2 games

liloilspill. has 2 games on the record so far — not enough to call it a tendency.

trev

Panthers · his last 2 games

trev has 2 games on the record so far — not enough to call it a tendency.

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 trev against liloilspill. — the men, not the teams

trev leads it 1-0. trev won the last one.

1 meeting avg 40.0 — 26.0 biggest: 14 pts to trev

S1 · week 2 trev 40 — 26 liloilspill. TREV

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

Panthers receivers vs Falcons secondary 80 v 84 FALCONS

Falcons receivers vs Panthers secondary 80 v 83 PANTHERS

Panthers line vs Falcons front 83 v 79 PANTHERS

Falcons line vs Panthers front 84 v 82 EVEN

Panthers backs vs Falcons run defence 82 v 78 PANTHERS

Falcons backs vs Panthers run defence 88 v 83 FALCONS

Panthers passer vs Falcons secondary 80 v 84 FALCONS

Falcons passer vs Panthers secondary 76 v 83 PANTHERS

TOP PERFORMERS

Bryce Young QB Panthers 321 pass yds

Michael Penix Jr QB Falcons 227 pass yds

Chuba Hubbard HB Panthers 150 rush yds

Darren Waller TE Panthers 139 rec yds

Olamide Zaccheaus WR Falcons 78 rec yds

Xavier Legette WR Panthers 67 rec yds

Drake London WR Falcons 67 rec yds

Tetairoa McMillan WR Panthers 63 rec yds

Jaelan Phillips REDG Panthers 2 sacks

Jalon Walker LEDG Falcons 1.5 sacks

🎬 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

PANTHERS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Bryce Young QB	20/29	321	4	2	2	35	116.5

FALCONS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Michael Penix Jr QB	16/32	227	2	3	2	35	55

PANTHERS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG	FUM
Chuba Hubbard HB	28	150	5.4	1	1	49	27	1
Bryce Young QB	3	26	8.7	0	0	0	18	0
Darren Waller TE	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0

FALCONS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	BTK	YAC	LNG
Bijan Robinson HB	8	26	3.2	0	9	7
Michael Penix Jr QB	1	7	7	0	0	7
Zachariah Branch WR	1	4	4	0	3	4
Drake London WR	0	0	0	1	0	0

PANTHERS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Darren Waller TE	7	139	19.9	3	62	35
Xavier Legette WR	5	67	13.4	0	37	21
Tetairoa McMillan WR	5	63	12.6	0	14	24
Tommy Tremble TE	2	41	20.5	0	17	33
Jalen Coker WR	1	11	11	1	5	11

FALCONS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
Olamide Zaccheaus WR	4	78	19.5	2	7	1	35
Drake London WR	4	67	16.8	0	21	3	30
Bijan Robinson HB	4	45	11.2	0	34	0	17
Kyle Pitts Sr TE	3	30	10	0	23	1	20
Zachariah Branch WR	1	7	7	0	2	0	7

PANTHERS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD	TD
Jaelan Phillips REDG	4	2	0	0	0
Nick Scott SS	3	0	0	0	0
Nic Scourton LEDG	2	0	0	0	0
Mike Jackson CB	2	0	0	0	0
Jaycee Horn CB	1	0	1	2	0
Tre'von Moehrig FS	1	0	0	0	0
Derrick Brown DT	1	0	0	0	0
Bobby Okereke MIKE	1	0	1	1	0
Jackson Kuwatch MIKE	1	0	0	0	0
Will Lee III CB	1	0	0	0	0
Lee Hunter DT	0	0	1	0	1

FALCONS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD	FF
Christian Harris MIKE	10	0	0	1	0
Jessie Bates III FS	5	0	0	0	0
Harold Perkins Jr WILL	4	0	0	1	0
Gervon Dexter Sr DT	2	0	0	0	0
Avieon Terrell CB	2	0	0	0	0
James Pearce Jr REDG	2	0	0	0	0
Billy Bowman Jr CB	1	0	0	0	0
Yasir Abdullah SAM	1	0	0	0	0
Jalon Walker LEDG	1	1.5	0	0	1
Sydney Brown SS	1	0	2	2	0
Brandon Dorlus DT	1	0.5	0	0	0

PANTHERS

nothing recorded

FALCONS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Nick Folk K	1/1	3/3	46

RECENT FORM

Panthers

W 31–27 vs Bears WK 1

Falcons

W 43–34 vs Steelers WK 1

TEAM STATS

Panthers		Falcons
497	TOTAL YARDS	264
321	PASSING YARDS	227
176	RUSHING YARDS	37
2	SACKS ALLOWED	2
2	SACKS MADE	2
3	GIVEAWAYS	3
3	TAKEAWAYS	3

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

1 PANTHERS — 0 FALCONS

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