Carolina (1-0) travels to Atlanta to play the Falcons (0-1) in a pivotal Week 2 NFC South matchup.
After beating the Cowboys (16-8) in week 1 the Panthers look to stay unbeaten, while the home team looks to bounce back after a tough 18-12 loss against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday Night Football.
The center of attention for both clubs before this meeting has been the injuries they’re dealing with this early in the season.
For the Panthers, it seems like they will be missing three starting offensive linemen as Trey Turner and Daryl Williams are not going to be in this game. They join the already inactive Matt Kalil who’s was placed on injured reserve since the start of the season.
Expect the Falcons to take advantage of that situation as they will look to apply some pressure with their front seven to disrupt the play of Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and keep him running for his life all game long.
If Newton can find a way to escape that pressure behind his patched-up offensive line the Panthers may have a chance as their offense revolves around him.
The Panthers will need Christian McCaffrey to have a good game to take the pressure off Newton, but that will be difficult to achieve running behind a hobbled offensive line.
The Panthers, however, are also dealing with some key injuries. Their defense is missing linebacker Deon Jones, safety Keanu Neal (already ruled out for the year), and on offense, it’s already been confirmed that running back Devonta Freeman will not be able to step on the field this week.
All these injuries make this game very difficult to predict, but one thing that has to happen for the Falcons to win is Matt Ryan has to bounce back as he struggled mightily against the Eagles.
Barring a fantastic performance by Julio Jones, pretty much the entire Atlanta offense has to step up as they struggled in the red zone in week 1. Against the Panthers, other players have to get involved including the Falcons’ offensive linemen.
The offensive line needs to win the battle in the trenches to stop the Panthers from penetrating the pocket and get Matt Ryan off his spot. This is vital because Ryan is a passer that likes to sit in the pocket to dissect the defense instead of being forced to throw on the run.
Expect the Falcons to come out on top of what should be a very intense battle. Although the Falcons defense is diminished they have enough pieces to overwhelm the Panthers ailing offensive line. Look for Newton to struggle this week as he will be under pressure all game long.
Prediction: Falcons 28 – Panthers 21
