Falcons Run Game Slowed Down in 25-15 Loss vs. Panthers: What Happened?
The struggles of the Atlanta Falcons upfront in Thursday's 25-15 loss on the road to the Carolina Panthers may not be the major headline heading into a long week thanks to a mid-week game, but it should draw more attention.
In the first half, the Falcons, one of the league's best rushing attacks, were held to just 33 rushing yards. Much of it was due to not winning at the line of scrimmage. Even when Atlanta had a positive play, it was sometimes negated by a penalty. So what happened? How did the Panthers' defense stop a Falcons ground game that rushed for 167 yards in their previous meeting?
"They just won some of the battles up front early." Falcons head coach Arthur Smith said post-game about Carolina's run defense. "They brought five-man pressure a bunch last time - everybody does against us, not many people are playing us straight up. So, we're kind of used to it, but again, they've got a good front, and they won some of the matchups early."
But as Smith pointed out, it wasn't all bad in the run game.
"We stuck with it," Smith said. "We kept chipping away, and we hit some runs - Allgeier hit some runs, Huntley hit one in the third quarter - and it's probably the reason we had a chance late."
After being held to 33 yards in the first half, the Falcons managed to run for 105 yards in the second half.
On a day where nothing seemed to work for the Atlanta offense, one could not only help but notice the lack of touches for Cordarrelle Patterson. The veteran back touched the ball six times in the loss (five carries and one reception), amassing just 20 yards of total offense.
The lack of touches for Patterson, one of the Falcons' best offensive weapons, Smith attributed to not having "a lot of carries."
With a long week ahead, the Falcons will have to go back to the drawing board to find what works as they look to get back in the win column against the Chicago Bears in a week from Sunday.
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