This week's opponent for the Atlanta Falcons is the division rival Carolina Panthers, who don't quite have a franchise quarterback cemented in, but they are much further along that road than Atlanta is right now.
Bryce Young is now in his fourth year in the NFL after going No. 1 overall to Carolina in the 2023 draft. His progress has been slow. However, Young is undeniably getting better with time - showing flashes of brilliance last season in wins over the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams and setting a new team-record in a victory over the Falcons.
All along, Young has had great success against Atlanta. Heading into this week's matchup he is 4-1 all time versus the Falcons and hasn't lost to them since his very first start at this level. In
those meetings he's totaled 1,133 passing yards, seven touchdowns, two interceptions and a 95.3 passer rating. By comparison Young is just 1-5 in his career against the Saints and the Buccaneers.
Here's what Young had to say about his success against Atlanta, per Mike Kaye at ESPN.
"Coach [Dave Canales] talks about it all the time: Our first goal is to win the [NFC] South," Young said Wednesday. "And obviously, those division wins mean so much, when you're trying to accomplish that goal. You have the same process and you understand that. You don't want to get too high or too low, but again, this is a business, we're all pros and we understand what's at stake every time that it's a division opponent."
The good news for the Falcons is that their defense also got off on the right foot to begin the season. Last week they successfully disrupted Aaron Rodgers enough to hold him to just 5.5 yards per attempt, they contained Pittsburgh's run game to just 2.8 yards per carry and wound up posting a the second-best EPA in the league for Week 1.
Given the ongoing mess in their own backfield, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will once again have to be on his A-game for the Falcons to have any chance at an upset.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Panthers QB Bryce Young comments on his dominance of Falcons
