Falcons

Many national pundits also had the Buccaneers and Saints dominating this division, and both of those teams are cold bowls of hot farts thus far in 2022. At the ...

It goes without saying that this division is far from settled, but the Falcons ultimately did what they needed to this weekend and got out of their matchup against the Panthers with a win. It remains to be seen what the Falcons do with that opportunity, but it’s safe to say they have the chance to run the NFC South for at least a couple of seasons, if not significantly longer than that. The remaining three teams in the division have zero combined long-term answers at quarterback, are all in the red in terms of 2023 cap space, and are certainly not in significantly better positions than the Falcons roster-wise, if at all. - The Panthers are likely in a similar no quarterback, very little cap space situation, but they also don’t have a set coaching staff. Tampa Bay pushed their chips in to win a championship or two with Brady and got one, but given that It probably seems like an odd time to write all this given that they’re coming off a heart attack effort against what should’ve been an inferior Carolina team, but at 4-4 and with all that cash and promise ahead, they’re in a fine position.

Plus, Bills look ho-hum in win over the Packers, but it didn't matter. The Cowboys are rounding into form, the Colts could be sellers by Tuesday's cutoff ...

That said, there’s a reality to starting a rookie quarterback, and overall well-being of the team. But I do think the decision to go to Sam Ehlinger shows a willingness, and maybe a push on ownership’s part, to figure out the quarterback situation, once and for all, whether Ehlinger or someone they draft in April. And whatever it took, we knew we were going to win that game no matter what, and the way it ended, in our hands, no matter how it was, no matter how we were feeling as an offensive line, it was just our offensive line jelling right there at the end. The Giants, conversely, are at the beginning stages of a rebuild, and their loss in Seattle on Sunday was a reminder of it—and why I don’t see Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll getting drunk on their hot start and doing anything shortsighted. To get a win I think is good for him, good for the team, and he’s just got to keep grinding and keep fighting. We had a mindset, we knew it, we wanted to control the rock on the road and our defense stopped the run. I think there was a sense of urgency and that feeling throughout the whole building.” Wilson, true to form, did, and even hit a big one to Garrett Wilson early in the game. “What’s cool is our guys continued to believe, and we understood that if we had a chance for the ball, we could win.” “So he gave me a full read, and I thought that I had a chance to get outside, but he did a good job of kind of continuing down. “It was a zone read and actually I thought [Brian] Burns played it well; he kind of went down to the back and came back at me,” Mariota said. If we continue to have that mentality, I think we’ll like where we are at the end of the year.”

Sunday's contest between the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers carried high stakes and needed more than to four quarters to reach an end.

"That was one of the crazier games I've ever been a part of," Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. The Atlanta Falcons are winners after one of the wildest games the NFL has seen all season. and marched down the field to do exactly that. and then another after that. While that always seem harsh, the playoffs remained a distant afterthought. In a winner-take-first place game within the NFC South, the Falcons had to have Sunday's game - and they got it, even at the expense of Smith's hair color. and did exactly that. And still, after dodging seemingly the biggest bullet of the day, the Falcons had another one coming ... [D'Onta Foreman](https://www.si.com/nfl/falcons/news/atlanta-falcons-avoid-christian-mccaffrey-carolina-panthers-rb-donta-foreman) ran in a 12-yard touchdown with three minutes to go, the Falcons needed a touchdown to win ... By all accounts, the Falcons gift wrapped the game for the Panthers several times, but when Carolina failed to capitalize, Atlanta ultimately managed to make the plays when they needed to down the stretch, coming away with a much-needed home victory in what was arguably the most important game of the season. [Atlanta's 37-34 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium](https://www.si.com/nfl/falcons/news/atlanta-falcons-carolina-panthers-recap-marcus-mariota-pj-walker) was a critical game for the 2022 Falcons, a team - and regime - trying to [establish a new identity](https://www.si.com/nfl/falcons/news/atlanta-falcons-win-streak-helps-embrace-identity-cleveland-browns). [Atlanta Falcons](https://www.si.com/nfl/falcons/nfl/falcons/news/carolina-panthers-vs-atlanta-falcons-notebook-3-observations-overtime-win) hold a 4-4 record - good enough to put them in sole possession of first place in the NFC South.

FLOWERY BRANCH – With left cornerback A.J. Terrell (hamstring) and safety Jaylinn Hawkins (concussion) out, Cornell Armstrong and Dean Marlowe made their ...

Your Atlanta Falcons won on Sunday against the Panthers and are leading the NFC South, just as they were after the Buccaneers imploded against the Ravens on ...

- Falcons special teams has been a true strength this year, but they were a bit of a liability on Sunday for reasons that had to enrage special teams coordinator Marquice Williams. Walker just flat out missed a handful of times on deep shots, including one where the Falcons weren’t close to having his receiver covered, and a couple of drops and bobbles deflated his numbers a bit. Once again the blame can be spread around for that play, as I’m not certain it was wise for Mariota to try it deep again to Byrd given that he had gone to that well already successfully and put the Panthers on high alert, but he might’ve still gotten it done had he not been hit as he threw. Moore on that ruinous completion at the end of the game and I’m not going to blame him for that one, and overall he continues to play pretty well this year. The team’s strength on that side of the ball through seven weeks collapsed into ruin and sadness in this one, allowing former Falcon D’Onta Foreman to run for well over 100 yards and three touchdowns against them on Sunday. Mariota sometimes holds on to the ball far too long and walks into sacks on his own, I’ll readily grant you, but the costly calls (Elijah Wilkinson was hit with two in this one) and generally shaky pass protection are impacting the course of the game, as the latter did on that hit on the overtime deep ball. - Grady Jarrett had two tackles for a loss in this one, but his impact continues to go beyond the box score, as the veteran defensive lineman demands extra attention and is disruptive on a more regular basis than anyone else for Atlanta. - Drake London had a fairly quiet day in terms of receiving production, but the catches he did make were difficult and important ones, and he continues to be an impressive factor as a blocker. Ultimately, he did so on the final drive to get Atlanta in a position to get a game-winning field goal, and then used that difficult-to-defend speed to pick up about 30 yards on a run and ensure the team was within Younghoe Koo’s comfort zone. There was a pick six for Atlanta and two picks for Carolina, the last of which seemed to be the end of the game. As shaky as this line has been protecting Mariota at times, they continue to pave the way effectively for these runners, and they do work further from the line of scrimmage that’s critical as well. Over the long haul I think this team is going to be just fine, and if the next offseason goes well, perhaps even a bit of a juggernaut in the near future.

When you have a game like the Carolina Panthers and the Atlanta Falcons did on Sunday, you're going to have plenty of remarkable moments to look back on.