Falcons 20 Panthers 6

The Atlanta Falcons stormed into Carolina yesterday to open their season in grand fashion with a 20-6 divisional win against the Panthers.

While Carolina was without star receiver Steve Smith, that wouldn't matter in this contest, as the defensive line of the Falcons was in the Panther backfield all game tormenting quarterback Jake Delhomme. In particular, newly acquired John Abraham wreaked havoc, forcing two fumbles, sacking Delhomme twice, tallying five tackles, and rushing the Panther quarterback a countless number of times. Because of this, the Panther offense never got into a rhythm. DeShaun Foster and the running game number got it going and with all the heat on Delhomme, he never could find time to throw the deep ball or even connect on the intermediate routes.

On the other side of the ball, it was the same old, same old for Atlanta, who racked up 252 yards on the ground, the second highest total ever allowed by the Panther defense. Veteran Warrick Dunn accounted for 132 of those yards. Rookie Jerious Norwood added over 60 more and quarterback Michael Vick galloped for near 50 in the game. Atlanta didn't need to pass too frequently, as they pounded the ball on the ground, gained yards in chunks, and chewed up almost 40 minutes of the game clock in doing so. Not much can be said regarding the passing game. Vick was only 10 of 22 throwing the ball, but averaged 14 yards per completion and threw for Atlanta's only two touchdowns, a 34-yard pass to Michael Jenkins and a 1-yard completion to Alge Crumpler. Vick was only sacked once, but was pressured a great deal throughout, having to throw the ball away on several occasions. A note to the critics out there, he did manage the game better, seemed very poised, and made more mature decisions than he has in the past.

Overall, the special teams played very well for the Falcons, as well. Do-everything kicker Michael Koenen did just that, a little bit of everything. He kicked off, punted, kicked extra points, and field goals. The guy even recorded a tackle on Sunday. He did miss two field goals, but both were from 50 yards out and one was partially blocked. He made his two others, one from 20+ and the other from 30+ yards out. He made both extra points and also punted and kicked the ball off very well. Outside of one punt Allen Rossum should've fair caught around the 12-yard line, he played very well. He was one key component the Falcons missed last season, as he was hampered by injuries. He had an extra step again, so that was very nice to see.

Overall, a Falcon fan can't be disappointed with their performance on Sunday. The thing I was most impressed with was the run defense and John Abraham. Atlanta's run defense was their weak spot last year. They ranked 26th in the league and were seemingly undersized, but fast yet again this year. They stuffed DeShaun Foster and the run this time around, something they couldn't do last year in their two meetings with the Panthers. Abraham was a menace. I knew the guy was fast and good, but didn't know he was that fast and that good. Let's not forget, this game was at Carolina, who many "experts" predict to at least make, if not win the Super Bowl. Carolina has to improve their run defense and offensive blocking scheme if they want to make the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl. Atlanta, meanwhile, just needs to continue doing what they did on Sunday and they should be just fine.

The only potential downer to this game is the fact that defensive ends Patrick Kerney and John Abraham were taken out of the game because of injuries. Kerney strained a tricep and Abraham strained a groin muscle. It is unknown at this time if they will miss any playing time. Middle linebacker Ed Hartwell missed Sunday's game but should be back either for next week's game against Tampa Bay or the following week at New Orleans. Let's hope all three guys are back and healthy for the game against the Bucs.