Cornerbacks Under Pressure
The Panthers corners did a good job against a solid but unspectacular Cowboys’ receiving corps on Sunday, but the Falcons’ receiving corps is a very different beast. Julio Jones will certainly pose a real challenge for James Bradberry in his quest to establish himself as an elite NFL cornerback, and rookie Donte Jackson will likely have his hands full with either Mohammed Sanu or Calvin Ridley. If those two corners can limit the impact of the Falcons’ outside receivers then this is a game that is very much for the taking, as if the Falcons are forced to looking to their inside receiving options or their running game then the Panthers will feel that their linebackers and safeties are more than up for the challenge.
Additionally, when Ross Cockrell went down during the preseason, questions were raised about how the Panthers were going to deal with three and four wide sets, and that is something the Panthers’ defense is likely to see a lot of facing the Falcons. Captain Munnerlyn has emerged as the primary nickel corner for the Panthers, and while he wasn’t dreadful against the Cowboys, he did struggle at times against a very good slot receiver in Cole Beasley – if the Falcons do put somebody like Ridley or Sanu in the slot in order to try and get them matched up against Munnerlyn, this could be an area where they are able to have some success against this Panthers’ secondary. How Munneryn is able to handle the Falcons’ slot receivers, and how the Panthers’ react if he struggles, could go a long way to deciding whether the Panthers are able to limit the Falcons’ offense in the same way as they did the Cowboys’.
A Big Game For McCaffrey
The Falcons held McCaffrey to just 54 total yards in the game in Atlanta last year, making excellent use of Deion Jones’s athleticism to limit his effectiveness in the passing game in a contest where the Panthers were forced to turn to the passing game fairly early in the game. However, Jones has been placed on IR and the obvious next option in covering McCaffrey, Keanu Neal, is also there. With this in mind, the Panthers would be foolish not to exploit the Falcons’ injuries by looking to get the ball to McCaffrey in space; there are, of course, ways in which the Falcons can counter this, most obviously by doubling him in man or by shifting to a zone scheme that focuses more on underneath coverage, both of which will open up areas for other receivers. McCaffrey doesn’t need to catch 15 passes on Sunday to be effective, but if the Falcons aren’t going to direct his coverage his way then the Panthers would be foolish to not take advantage of that.
In addition to McCaffrey, the loss of Neal would have provided a great opportunity for Greg Olsen to make an impact, but in his absence the responsibility will likely fall to rookie Ian Thomas to take advantage of whoever the Falcons look to bring in to cover him. The Falcons do have a pair of very good outside corners, and so pickings will likely be slim for the outside receivers for the Panthers – taking advantage of the short and intermediate areas will be key to the Panther successes in Atlanta.
This is not a Falcons team to be taken lightly, especially in their own building, and the Panthers would be fortunate to come away with a win on Sunday given the circumstances. That being said, there are a number of areas where the Panthers have an advantage, and if they can exploit them while limiting the impact of the Falcons’ big-name offensive weapons, they have a chance to start the season 2-0 for the second year running – and sending a division rival to 0-2 for good measure.
