Quarterback Bryce Young is coming off of one of the best games of his career as a Carolina Panther. He was comfortably above his career average in almost every statistic against the Chicago Bears, most notably with his 361 yards passing and three touchdowns. Panthers fans have long been asking for consistency from their young quarterback. Fortunately for them today, Young has only shown a modicum of consistently excellent play against one team: the Atlanta Falcons.
At first glance, it looks like the
Panthers couldn’t have picked a better game than at Atlanta with which to bounce back from and build off of their Week 1 loss. Not only did Young appear to take a big step forward, but the defense in which they invested so much money in the offense gave up 59 points. You know, in case you hadn’t heard. Not only are they Young’s professional happy place, they are also starting third string quarterback Cooper Rush for the second week in a row. The defense will not likely get a better opportunity to clamp down on an uncomplicated passing game all season.
The only real threat that the Falcons are expected to field is Bijan Robinson. Carolina gave up 291 yards rushing and four rushing touchdowns between D’Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai, and Caleb Williams. Robinson is a more talented runner than any of them. He will likely get his share of yards today, but should also provide an excellent test for whatever adjustments the staff wants to make the defense from last week. And that’s just what we’re predicting this week.
Staff predictions for Week 2
Walker Clement
Panthers 31, Falcons 17 – The Panthers give up 100 yards rushing to Robinson, but stifle Cooper Rush while Young and Brad Idzik keep their foot on the gas.
Jonathan DeLong
Panthers 27, Falcons 21 – Defense looks better against a much worse opposing offense and Bryce Young keeps up his dominance over the Falcons in their stadium.
Brian Beversluis
Panthers 17, Falcons 13 – Panthers narrowly beat the Falcons but Bijan Robinson runs all over them.
Daniel Belton
Panthers 24, Falcons 10 – The Panthers defense gets on track a bit against [Falcons QB], while Bryce and the offense only cool off a little. Panthers take control of the division with a victory.
Eric Buchanan
Panthers 29, Falcons 17 – Panthers Defense bounces back in a big way while Bryce Young continues to be the Falcons kryptonite.
These predictions average out to a comfortable 26-16 win for the Carolina Panthers, well above the current -2.5 point spread in favor of the Panthers over at FanDuel. That score has occurred 25 times in NFL history per nflscorigami.com and Pro Football Reference. The Carolina Panthers lost the last 26-16 game in the NFL to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4 of the 202 season. Frankie Luvu provided about as much offense as the rest of the Panthers team in a disappointing effort against Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury’s final season together.
