The players and coaches may have a 24-hour rule to soak in a victory before moving on to the next opponent, fans are not beholden to any such rule. A good thing, because the high created from a 30 to nothing smackdown on a bitter division rival deserves a few more days of enjoyment. For all the turmoil those who follow the team have suffered the last decade or so, the moments where fans can sit within a moment and savor a dominant victory are few and far between.
The first 6 quarters of the 2025 season were undeniably rough, but the next 6 quarters that followed have been a revelation of sorts as the Panthers have outscored their opponents by a whopping 42 points. A turnaround like that doesn’t just happen, so let’s take some time to celebrate the elements of the team’s drastic improvement that made the Panthers first notch in the win column possible.
Turnovers
Anyone who has watched more than 90 seconds of Dave Canales’ press conferences knows how seriously the coach preaches the importance of turnovers – both creating takeaways on defense and limiting giveaways on offense. Sans a poor attempt to field a punt by Trevor Etienne leading to the team’s sole turnover, the Panthers otherwise managed to string together a near perfect game in this department.
Kudos to the Panthers pass defense for snagging 2 interceptions versus a clearly dejected Michael Penix, Jr. Chau Smith-Wade’s pick-6 was the backbreaker for the Falcons and Mike Jackson’s interception on 4th down gave the Panthers 4 interceptions on the season which is nearly half the total from last year (9 in all of 2024) in just 3 games. The Panthers pass defense even came through on two other attempted 4th downs for the Falcons as both balls hit the turf for 2 turnovers on downs.
Perhaps most importantly, Bryce Young and the rest of the Panthers offense came away with a clean sheet in the turnover column after giving up multiple turnovers in each of the first two games that contributed heavily to the team’s slow starts during each contest.
Run defense and tackling
Before the Falcons ran the ball 7 times for 46 yards on their final drive against the Panthers back-ups, they had been held to 85 yards on 16 carries. Still a respectable yards per carry, but holding the team with arguably the best running back in the NFL to under 100 yards rushing is a win in my book.
In fact, the Falcons might have been better served learning on the run game despite being down by multiple scores for most of the ball game. The Falcons 4.7 yards per pass attempt speaks to the poor performance of the Falcons passing attack, but also to the Panthers consistent effort to fly to the ball to bring down receivers after minimal yard after catch.
Derrick Brown’s return this season continued to set the tone while the overall improvement of Trevin Wallace and tackling across the secondary from Tre’von Moehrig, Mike Jackson and even the much maligned Nick Scott heavily contributed to limiting explosive plays. They made the Falcons fight for every single yard, and the birds lost that fight often as they never once managed to cross the Panthers 30 yard line on offense.
Special Teams ingenuity
In 2024, the Panthers consistently ranked among the worst special teams units in the NFL. While their kicker at one point was considered the most accurate in NFL history, that was short lived as he finished the season making only 84.6% of field goal attempts and a couple missed extra points tacked on for good measure. With the option to stick with the same group from 2024, the team chose a different path forward.
The Panthers now have rookie kicker Ryan Fitzgerald who has yet to miss a kick, including a field goal from 57 yards out that tied the Panthers second longest kick of all time. While perfection on field goal attempts is most important, the kicker has also dazzled (as much as a kicker can) with his placement in the landing zone on kickoffs. This year, the Panthers have implemented a new kickoff strategy that seems to have worked wonders as opposing teams have had an average starting field position after kickoffs of 20.7 yards – 2nd lowest in the NFL according to PFF.
Relish the moment and let us know in the comments which improvement the team made against the Falcons you found important! We’ll see you back here next week after the Panthers try to continue their momentum against the New England Patriots.
