Can five Falcons finish strong?
It’s the final week of the regular season, and there’s still plenty of intrigue surrounding the Atlanta Falcons’ Week 18 matchup against the Carolina Panthers.
With the Falcons’ playoff chances on thin ice, much of the intrigue surrounds several individual players hoping to finish the year on a positive note. Such goals could describe nearly every player on the team’s roster, but as a rule, only five Falcons can be named.
Michael Penix
Riding high after an impressive debut against the New York Giants, Falcons rookie quarterback Michael Penix returned to somewhat Earth in the follow-up against the Washington Commanders last week. Accuracy was the issue, but hopefully, Penix bounces back against Carolina this week.
The Falcons should lean on their ground game against a bad Panthers defense to test Penix’s game-management skills. Focusing on the run game on early downs still requires Penix to perform on third downs, where he’s been inconsistent. His 31.7 passer rating on third downs through two games is among the lowest in the NFL.
However, the ground game can help the aerial attack by getting into more favorable late-down situations. Penix’s ability to complement the run game by keeping the chains moving with his arm will be intriguing to watch on Sunday.
Darnell Mooney
Falcons wideout Darnell Mooney is eight yards away from reaching 1,000 yards receiving this year. After teammate Drake London surpassed that benchmark in last week’s loss, such an achievement could make Mooney and London only the fifth receiving duo in team history to both eclipse 1,000 yards in the same season, and the first to do it since Julio Jones and Roddy White in 2012.
However, potentially preventing Mooney from entering the Falcons’ record books will be a shoulder injury that sidelined him late in the practice week. That injury leaves him questionable to play against the Panthers and a game-time decision. If Mooney doesn’t play, it would be a disappointing end to an impressive 2024 campaign. Here’s hoping we see Mooney, even on a limited basis, so he can end the season strong.
Dee Alford
Falcons cornerback Dee Alford may face the biggest challenge amongst the team’s secondary in this Panthers matchup when he lines up against Adam Thielen. Upon his return to the lineup in Week 12, Thielen has prospered as Carolina’s primary target in the passing game, leading the team with 35 catches for 462 yards and four scores over the past six games, which outpaces the combined numbers of the next two options in Xavier Legette and David Moore.
Over the past two weeks, the Falcons have dabbled with A.J. Terrell shadowing the opposing team’s No. 1 receiver, which resulted in strong performances against Malik Nabers and especially Terry McLaurin. Thus, asking Terrell to lock up Thielen may seem a simple, obvious solution. The problem is that Thielen, according to PFF, spends 76 percent of his snaps in the slot. Terrell has lined up in the slot a career-low 10 times this year and would likely have to double or even triple that number if he followed Thielen all day. Instead, as the nickel cornerback, Alford will likely handle covering Thielen most downs.
That could be a tall order given how inconsistent Alford has played this season, with recent poor performances against the Commanders and Minnesota Vikings. However, those sandwich a pair of solid games against the Giants and Las Vegas Raiders. Alford needs to finish the year strong with another solid outing against Thielen, or else the late-season struggles could lead to him losing his job in 2025.
Kaleb McGary
Many wonder if Kaleb McGary will remain the Falcons’ right tackle into 2025 now that he’s protecting the blindside of a left-handed Penix. He has performed reasonably well the past two weeks, but still faces a challenge against Panthers defensive end Jadeveon Clowney this weekend.
Clowney spends 94 percent of his snaps lined up on the left side of the defense, where he faces the opposing team’s right tackle. The only time Clowney and McGary have squared off came in 2019, during the latter’s rookie season when the former was with the Seattle Seahawks.
Clowney had a dominant performance, racking up a sack, three quarterback hits, and seven pressures per PFF. A healthy amount of that production came working against the right side of the Falcons offensive line, helmed then by McGary and Jamon Brown. To inspire more confidence in him heading into the offseason, the soon-to-be 30-year-old McGary needs another strong performance to close out 2024.
Arnold Ebiketie
With a team-leading six sacks, Falcons outside linebacker Arnold Ebiketie also has a chance to finish the season strong against the Panthers. With an especially good outing against the Panthers, Ebiketie could become the first Falcons pass-rusher to reach double-digit sacks since Beasley’s 2015 season.
It’s possible, given how poorly the Panthers’ pass protection has been recently, combined with a resurgent Falcons pass rush since their Week 12 bye. Carolina has given up a league-worst 14 sacks over the past three weeks, while the Falcons have the league’s highest sack percentage over the past five. If the Falcons can get Panthers quarterback Bryce Young down on the ground several times, Ebiketie could pad his sack totals to end the year.
The first battle with Carolina resulted in Ebiketie’s “breakout” game of 2024, where he finished with two quarterback hits and four pressures. The rematch should make for a promising matchup, especially now that Ebiketie has been rushing at a much higher level since the bye.
Can you name any other Falcons that intrigue you in the season finale against the Panthers?