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Week 2: Atlanta Falcons vs. Carolina Panthers | Atlanta Falcons Pregame Show

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The Atlanta Falcons are set to host the Carolina Panthers in Week 2 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, aiming to bounce back after a disappointing loss in Week 1. A major storyline entering the game is the uncertainty surrounding the starting quarterback position, as head coach Kevin Stefanski has not yet named a starter and may wait until Sunday to make the decision. The broadcast highlights the performance of Cooper Rush from the previous week, noting his ability to manage the game and distribute the ball effectively to key playmakers like Bijan Robinson and Drake London. Analysts emphasize that regardless of who takes the snaps, the primary objective for the quarterback will be to find these talented weapons quickly, leveraging their speed and skill to create explosive plays rather than trying to manufacture offense through complex schemes. The discussion also delves into the Falcons' defensive evolution under head coach Jeff Oliver, specifically focusing on their ability to generate pressure without relying heavily on blitzes. Against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, the defense successfully pressured Aaron Rodgers using only their front four, allowing them to maintain better coverage against the pass. This strategic shift is seen as a significant improvement over the previous season's aggressive blitzing tactics. Key defensive contributors like Zaidar Smith and newcomer Sydney Brown were praised for their impactful performances, with Smith recording two sacks in limited snaps and Brown leading the team in tackles. The coaching staff's emphasis on assigning specific roles to players has helped integrate new personnel effectively, turning potential roster fillers into game-changing assets who understand their responsibilities and can make immediate impacts. On the opposing side, the Carolina Panthers are coming off an offensive explosion against the Chicago Bears, where they scored 37 points despite ultimately losing due to a porous run defense that surrendered nearly 300 rushing yards. The analysis points out that while Bryce Young emerged as a dynamic playmaker with Jaylen Coker providing a secondary receiving threat, the Panthers' inability to stop the run was a critical flaw that led to their defeat. For the Falcons, stopping the run is paramount, particularly against Bijan Robinson, who continues to defy expectations by forcing missed tackles and gaining significant yardage even in simple running schemes. The matchup between Robinson's elusive style and the Panthers' defensive line is expected to be a highlight, with Robinson's ability to read blocks and bounce outside proving difficult for defenders to handle. Additionally, the Falcons' running backs, including Brian Robinson, offer versatility that can keep defenses honest and open up play-action opportunities for the passing game. Key strategic elements for the upcoming game include controlling the line of scrimmage and managing turnover margins, which analysts believe are crucial for winning close contests. The Falcons' offensive line must create enough space for their running backs to operate effectively, while the secondary needs to contain Bryce Young's ability to extend plays and make things happen outside the pocket. The Panthers' frequent use of empty sets is noted as a tactic that informs the quarterback about defensive alignments early, allowing him to exploit mismatches or target specific zones. Ultimately, the game will likely hinge on whether Atlanta can establish their running game early to control the clock and limit big plays, while simultaneously protecting their own ball and capitalizing on opportunities to create turnovers against a Panthers offense that is still finding its footing after a high-scoring but ultimately unsuccessful performance in Week 1.
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HERE'S DEJAN ROBINSON. TOUCHDOWN ATLANTA. Up to AJ Terrell. Touchdown Atlanta. Drake London. Terrell's going to pick it. How about that? 30 midfield. It's a foot race. Going to sail it to the end zone. Pitts is there. IT'S AN ATLANTA TOUCHDOWN. WOW. OW. STRIDE IT OUT. JESSE. TOUCHDOWN ATLANTA. It's intercepted. Savior Watts has got another one. We welcome you guys back to Ticketmaster Studios as we get you guys ready for week two in the NFL. Falcons are returning home to Mercedes-Benz Stadium and they're hosting the Carolina Panthers. Now, both of these teams did lose in week one and they're both hoping to win, but only one can. Taylor Vizmore, Derek Rackley, Will McFaten, we're back with you guys for week two and man, what a fun week one. It was across the NFL. >> Definitely was there was a lot of exciting. I think the anticipation like everybody was so excited to just get back to football and see NFL action again starting all the way back to last Wednesday all the way through the weekend. There was definitely some exciting games. Not quite in the uh win column that the Atlanta Falcons are looking for, but going to try to change that here week two. >> Going to try to change it. But something to speak about as we kind of get into this show is that earlier in the week, Kevin Spansky, the head coach of the Falcons, made it clear that he has not named a starter for week two when it comes to the quarterback position. and he probably won't make that decision until game time on Sunday. So, well, let me ask you this as we go into week two. I actually want to look back at week one. Obviously, Cooper Rush probably wasn't the initial plan for this Falcons offense to have as a starting quarterback. What but what were you able to see and what Cooper Rush was able to do as a quarterback, also as a game manager as well? >> Yeah, I think he operated within the plan of the offense, right? And when you have somebody like Bjan Robinson who you want to get the ball to as often as you can. I thought Cooper Rush did a very good job of doing that. I thought they started to get Drake London worked in more in the second quarter in the second half. And that is going to be kind of the key I think for whoever is at quarterback is just distribute the ball to your playmakers. I thought Cooper Rush did a very good job of that in week one again in a little bit of a a rush action as well. >> Yeah. I mean, I think anytime you have a veteran quarterback, even though he's been a career backup, Will, there's probably some nerves. There's probably some butterflies. And then there's probably some things that after he was out on the field in a regular season game, that he wanted to go back and look through and say, gosh, I could do that a whole lot better, or I need to make this adjustment to help those around. He, you know, he talked in his press conference this week saying that there's so many talented playmakers around him. His job is just to try to get the ball into their hands. So, I think with another week of experience, another week of familiarity and what Tommy Reese is trying to do from a play calling perspective and then just understanding like I've got to take my opportunities to get the ball into the hands of these guys. It's not like you have to manufacture offense when you got so many talented weapons around you. Taylor, >> you bring up those playmakers and that was a conversation about Cooper Rush's performance on Sunday was his um inability in a way to get the ball to the playmakers. as Drake Lyndon had two receptions and Jan Dodson and um Zakias, excuse me, both had one reception each. But then you look at the guy on the screen right there, number seven, Bjan Robinson, I mean the talent is undeniable. He had eight receptions. He ran almost every single time you looked at the field, he was running somewhere, doing something. How important is it to have someone like Bjon Robinson who can get in there, get really good yardage, but also bail you out when you need it? I mean, he is the ultimate equalizer, if you will. I mean, there were so many plays last weekend, guys. And it's not only last weekend, it's every single time I've seen him where he gets the football, I'm like, gosh, that's a tackle for loss. Or I'm like, that's going to probably be a no gain. Right. In my head, like as an analyst, I'm just thinking about this like there's nothing there. He's probably going to get tackled and then all a sudden I look up and he makes it seven yards. Yeah. Or he catches the ball like he did on the touchdown and I'm like, "Oh, he's got a little seam there. It might be a first down." And he takes it the distance. Right. It's just every single time I watch him, I'm like, "This guy is amazing. I understand why every well, the Faults paid him, but everybody in the NFL would want to pay him as much money as he would demand." But it's because every single time he touches the ball, he makes exciting things happen. He puts you in a position to help win games. >> Yeah, Rack, he makes the ordinary plays exciting and he makes the insanely hard plays look ordinary. Like, that's how good he is. even the first catch of the game that he had that kind of like swing pass out to the to the right flat one-handed snag kind of just kept going. It's like he does that like it's nothing. And one of the coolest aspects was seeing Bjon in front of the Steelers crowd because you could see how special of a player he was based on just their reaction. And this is a fan base that saw Le'Veon Bell at his peak like Bjon is different and so he is Mr. Do it all for this offense and I think they're going to give him the rock as often as possible >> guys. Something I think that's really fun about watching Bjon throughout all the seasons that he has played so far in the NFL is you know how good he is and then he still impresses you which is makes watching him so much more fun every single Sunday. But I think when you look back at the game in general I think a lot of people had questions about what this defensive front was going to be what the defense in general was going to be. and I walked away pretty impressed with this defense be from this defensive front, excuse me, and what they were able to accomplish when it came to Aaron Rogers and and their offensive line with the Steelers. What were you guys able to take away um from the defensive front side and from the Falcons? >> Yeah, I think the biggest thing was they talked a lot kind of this off season after blitzing a lot last year. They wanted to be able to generate pressure with their front four. They only blitzed 11% of the time on Sunday against the Pittsburgh. And so that to me shows an evolution in their ability to get pressure. We saw Zidarius Smith get a pair of sacks against Aaron Rogers. They were able to move him off his spot very frequently and not having to send that extra rusher allows you to play more coverage and blanket everybody downfield. So I thought that was a really big step in the right direction for this group. Even though Jeff has seen these guys in the off season through training camp, it's still going to be a learning process, right? figuring out how can I use these guys on this 20s 26 team because it's not the same team as last year. It's not the same personnel. So, every single year, Taylor, you kind of have to adapt and figure out what's going to work. Am I going to be playing more man, more zone? Am I going to pressure more with just the front four? Do I going to have to bring extra? And then what does the opponent what does the challenge present to us from the opponent? Well, and I think when you watch what he's able to do year and year out, even before he was here with the Falcons, when he was with the Jets, and then with the Falcons before the Jets, you were able to see how good of a teacher Jeff Obi really is and how much he loves this job and loves what he does. You brought up um Zadarius Smith, excuse me. He was in there for 16 snaps. 16 snaps. Had two sacks. It's like the greatest sack, you know, number per snap count ever. Awesome. And then also someone that really impressed me was actually Cydney Brown. He was in there for 29 snaps of the game. Led the led the team in tackles with seven tackles. And that's what I mean what by his ability to coach and to teach is these guys. They might not be like the biggest names in the league like a Jesse Bates is like an AJ Terrell, but he uses them and and critiques them on what they're best at so they go out on Sunday and they can perform at a very high level. And credit to those guys like Sydney Brown, the newcomer to this team, like recognizing early on like I'm not just here to fill a roster spot. Like I'm here to go make a difference. I'm here to go make plays in the game. And he did that. >> Yeah. Go ahead. >> Well, and one of the coolest things that he said today, too, was that he he's a fan of giving guys very clear, specific roles because that simplifies their preparation. It allows them to take ownership of that. And Sydney Brown, I thought, was a great example of that on Sunday. >> All right, let's go ahead and switch to the Carolina Panthers because, man, what a game. I mean, they that was the most insane offensive game. And for me, what I learned about that team was there might be some issues on the defensive side of the ball because they gave up 59 points to the uh Chicago Bears. You guys, let me start with you guys. What did you guys learn from watching that Carolina Panthers game? >> Yeah. I mean, the first thing I was looking for going into it because they have addressed their defensive line, let's say, this off seasonason in a big way, and the biggest uh free agent signing that they had was Jaylen Phillips. So, I really wanted to see how he was going to look in this defense. You mentioned, you know, the high amount of rushing yards that they gave up. I don't necessarily put that on an edge rusher. He got a sack. He was pressuring Caleb Williams throughout the afternoon. So, I think that he is a great addition to their defense and somebody the Falcons are going to have to look out for. >> Yeah, Phillips is one of those guys that consistently throughout his career, he's kind of averaged somewhere in that five to 10 sacks a season. I think it's a reason why the Carolina Panthers brought him in and he was able to make an impact in that game last week. I saw the other side of the ball and I think we all knew about Bryce Young if you've been watching the Falcons against the Panthers last couple years. We knew about Ted McMillan from last year, but maybe this Jaylen Coker and him emerging in that game last week. So, what I learned is now Bryce Young might have really good chemistry with two wide receivers this year because he had an outstanding game last week. We showed the stats. That was just his third 100yard game of his career and he did it in week one against a very challenging opponent that a lot of people are kind of saying is going to be one of the favorites in the NFC. So that's one thing Atlanta's going to have to make sure they keep a mind mindful of is yes, you got to be able to stop the run, but last year I think it was Bryce Young against or with Ted McMillan now because he was the talented rookie led all rookies in yards last year. Now they've got two guys that you're going to have to make sure that these guys are slowed down in the passing game so he doesn't have another one of those 350 plus performance nights. >> Yeah, that was the second time in Jaylen Coker's career that he had over a 100 receiving yards. Really great showing from him. And I think what was more impressive was when you looked at the stat and what the stat line actually was. He had 138 yards, but only 36 of those yards were yards after the catch. That speaks highly for Bryce Young. And we'll get into Bryce Young later when we talk about the matchups about this team and and going against the Falcons. But I agree Jaylen Jaylen Koker kind of popped for me and I think a lot of people were expecting to see Tedaro McMillan be the number one guy in that game and that's probably what the Bears were kind of counting on and then here comes Jaylen Coker out of nowhere and puts on a show. >> Absolutely. I mean, anytime that you have multiple options in the passing attack, it just makes it that much harder to defend. And we know that the Panthers have a good rushing offense with Chuba Hubard leading the way. They've got Jonathan Brooks in there. But if they can find a multifaceted passing game where it's not just T McMillan and they have layers and options and really that explosive downfield element is what Jaylen Coker brought with some tremendous catches. That is what you're looking for to really unlock an offense that has evolved over recent years. Well, and let's let's be honest, sometimes the game takes shape and it just you you get thrown for an audible for lack of better word, right? The Chicago Bears just started scoring a bunch of ton of points. So, when you're playing catch-up mode in the NFL, guess what? You chuck it through the air. You have no choice because you got to chew up yards and points quickly. And so, that's what happened. And it worked out in in Carolina's favor to an extent, right? They were able to put 37 points on the board, but it still wasn't enough to beat the Bears. Well, that's what I want to talk about is this Panthers defense and really the Chicago offense because what a game it was. And obviously you can see these defensive stats presented by Microsoft Co-Pilot here. And I actually went back and looked at the minutia of the game from the Panthers last week and 59 points allowed. Six of the seven touchdowns that the Chicago Bears had were rushing touchdowns. 291 yards on the ground from rushing alone. That's huge, you guys. And then obviously I wanted to see like how many times were they just running these big chunk plays or were they running the ball that much? In the first um quarter alone they had 17 offensive plays. 11 of them were rushing plays. And I think what was interesting was Dave Canales had said this and Kevin Stfansky has said this early on in the season as well is you have to establish the run early and often. And I don't know that people understand establishing the run. This is establishing the run. Okay. 72 yards in the first quarter is establishing the run because then in the second quarter and on they were able to go downfield and get some things going down down down the field and and really pull away in a way um from the Carolina Panthers. And it all started with the running the running game and and the lack thereof of the rush defense that the Carolina Panthers had. >> Had to have been maddening for the Carolina Panthers to score 37 points >> and to lose in the fashion that they did, but also to give up the amount of rushing yards they did. Like I can't imagine what it was like in that defensive meeting because those type of stats are they're not only humbling like it kind of gets everybody looking at each other like, "Oh, did you see that play?" Like, "Oh yeah, I missed that tackle. Oh yeah, he just gashed our defense right there." Like some like that's kind of embarrassing. Like stopping the run is like a toughness thing when it comes to the NFL. And if you can't stop the run as a defense, I'm telling you, they're just going to keep feeding it and then all of a sudden the explosive passing plays are going to come behind it. And I think Carolina saw that last weekend. >> Yeah, you used the term embarrassing. That is exactly how Jaylen Phillips described it to reporters after the game. But the biggest thing was the missed tackles, right? And we know Bjon Robinson is as good is as good as literally anybody in the NFL at forcing miss tackles. He forced 12 against the Steelers. The Panthers allowed nearly five yards after contact to the running backs in or Chicago's running backs in this last game. So when you look at a player who can make everybody miss and never allow a clean shot on him with a defense that just gave up that kind of yardage after contact, the the formula is there for a perfect storm. >> I mean, you bring up Van Robinson and the missed tackles that he can acrue over time. And then you look at this Chicago game and what they were able to do on the ground. Our DJ Shockley is actually in the film room talking about Van Robinson and how he can be his best self against Carolina this week. >> All right, guys. Let's talk about something that everybody loves to see and watch. our man Bjan Robinson and the things that he can do with the ball in his hands is quite remarkable and we say it every year that how can this guy continue to surprise us? Well, just point to last week where he had 12 missed tackles in the ball game and continues to make things look easy in a national football league. Now, this it's a simple inside zone. This is it should just hit right up through here. He does a good job of seeing color, seeing vision, but then using that vision to bounce it outside. So, you're going to get a little cross block coming across here with Warner. Now, this is what you like here. You got a guy sitting right in the hole where he should hit. Van sees it. But the vision of him to understand, you know what, let me bounce this thing here. Put his right foot in the ground, jump, stop, go left, and still keep the same speed to go left is what makes it. This should be a zero one yard gain. But watch what he does. Does an unbelievable job of hitting it left. And you see the small window getting vertical and now falling forward for another two, three yards. Oh yeah, he broke two or three tackles on that as well. the vision to see the hole saying, "Oh, inside zone, that's not there. Let's bounce it. Let's get outside." That's what he did on that particular play. And he continues it on every single run. That doesn't show up on the stat sheet, but shows how special it is. This is the one that you draw hits the ground a little bit because of what he does before he even makes a move. Simple swing screen out to to Bajan out here to the right. But here's the Oh. Oh, nothing's out of reach. One hand on him with the left. Come on back here. But then what he does after, he doesn't just catch and fall to the ground like a lot of guys would because it's an unorthodox catch. Does a really good job of here setting up his block, understanding Hoop has his guy leveraged on the outside. So guess what? He says, "You know what? Here I got leverage. I got guys coming from the inside. Let's bounce to his outside." Then you say, "Okay, they got him cornered, right? This guy should make the tackle. He's got the sideline on him. You got guys coming from the inside. You got there. This guy won't even touch him. does such a good job of getting vertical north and south again creates another five yards off that where it should have been probably a two yard gain but he is special. Now here's what's going to be interesting. The Falcons run a lot of this as well. Duo inside combos inside and Carolina. But watch what happens to the Dline on this particular play here. The Bears do a really good job of just washing everything down. Watch this D line here. Look at this. Everybody's getting washed down here. Wash down. Wash down. These backers get washed down as well. This guy's gonna get washed down. And watch the hole you hit up in here. Boom. Unbelievable job here. Good blocking by this receiver. You got guys here in the hole ready to make the play, but it's not there. This Chicago Bears team ran for 291 yards against this Carolina Panthers defense. But John Robinson is a lot shifter than that guy. Expect him to do it as well. Continues to make this run game look special. I expect this run game to continue to be at a high level versus the Carolina Panthers as well. >> All right. Thank you so much, Shock. And we will talk about Bjon a little bit more, but later in the show because now it's time for the matchups to watch. And obviously you guys, I think we kind of talked a little or uh 30,000 foot view last week. And this week we're really bringing you real matchups that you need to be watching on Sunday. We'll start with you, Will. What are some matchups that you're watching this week? >> Yeah, well, we talked about Bryce Young, but let's talk about him specifically versus Atlanta's secondary. And they had their work cut out for him in week one against Aaron Rogers, but Bryce Young is a little bit of a different animal. And the last time out against uh Atlanta, 448 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions. So the Falcons are going to be looking to get right against Bryce Young in week two. And in that first game against the Chicago Bears, we kind of saw a different Bryce Young. He was really pushing the ball down the field. Obviously, playing from behind plays into that to some degree. However, Atlanta's defense, I think, is very well equipped to kind of give Bryce Young some troubles. We saw AJ Terrell on Thursday's injury report logged a full day of practice. So hopefully he's able to be out there and you'd have your all your corners set to go. But really what the Bears did first half to second half was adjust and play much more man coverage, which means man-on-man locked up, running with the receivers as opposed to zone in the first half. >> And Bryce Young was carving up the Bears zone in the first half. >> Very different story in the second half once they switched to man. So I think man match is what Jeff said on Thursday that the Falcons like to run. He said AJ Terrell, in his opinion, the best boundary corner in the NFL. Let's see him and T McMillan and see if Bryce Young, you know, really can if they can put the clamps on Bryce Young in this vertical offense. >> Yeah, Rock, obviously last Sunday you saw Aaron Rogers take some real shots downfield and Mike Hughes kind of showed up. AJ Terrell showed up a couple times. Avon Terrell, what what did you see from the secondary last week that prepares them for what Bryce can do this week? >> Couple things, physicality and competitiveness. That's what I like because we talked a little bit about this earlier in the week on the podcast, but they were trying to force feed the ball to DK Metaf, but they were making it extremely difficult because if you're Aaron Rogers, you're going to say, "I've got one of the more physically imposing wide receivers in the NFL. I got to try to find a way to get the football in his hands." And he did. But it was seemed like time after time the secondary, they knew where he was going to go. They knew at some point he was going to take some shots downfield. They'd like to see if they can get Metaf to elevate up over the top of the defense, get that explosive play. And by and large, they were able to hold him down, which is what you want to see from your secondary because at some point people are going to take shots against you. You just can't afford to give up the shot plays. Now, every once in a while, you're going to give up a penalty, and we've seen that. And unfortunately, as a defensive coordinator, you have to just accept that it's going to happen, especially if you're coaching them up to play physical and not back down to any challenge. I would imagine it's going to be the same. You don't have necessarily the same physical stature of the wide receivers this week, but we just talked about it. They got two really good ones. They're going to try to take their shots against the secondary. >> Well, and it was interesting Jeff's um press conference on Thursday, he mentioned how similar Aaron Rogers play or Bryce Young plays to Aaron Rogers. I mean Aaron Rogers came first so Bryce Young plays like Aaron Rogers and how elusive he is and how and his ability to make make things happen and the way that you're able to make things happen and flip the field is you have time and who gives you time the trenches. What is your match up that you're watching? >> Yeah. So we're going to stay with Bryce Young here a little bit and it you know what's kind of shocking to me is just like a couple years ago Bryce Young was struggling right and all of a sudden he has found a resurgent and now we're talking about like we got to really do something here against Bryce Young. Credit to him for kind of reviving his career a little bit. Lost his job and then he again week one 360 passing yards, second most in his career. And we talked about the game against Atlanta last year was the most yards that he had in his passing career. So I think this matchup is a little bit more front seven, right? Little bit different front seven that we thought was going to come into this season, but still it doesn't matter. You got to find a way to cage him up. Now here's where it gets difficult, guys, is Bryce Young I think is slippery, right? He's one of these guys that I wouldn't say is a an elite running quarterback, but he's very strategic in how he keeps plays alive. And somehow he just finds his way to slip out of the pocket or slip out of a tackle. And all he does is just gets outside a little bit. And then that's where any quarterback in the NFL can be dangerous is when they extend plays, when you get into scramble drill, right? So, what's the focus for this front seven is you got to cage him in, but yeah, you got to make sure that you're not running so wide on the outside that you give him the lane in between the tackles because he will just tuck it down and take a seven yardd gain if we give it to him, right? So, this is all the things that you talk about as a player, gap, integrity. I'm not going to try to get into all those specifics, but you've got to have your rush lanes covered because he's going to take advantage of a small opportunity and unfortunately, well, that's when the big plays do come. So, I think it's a great challenge by guys like Devon Diablo, Brandon Doris, Zadarius Smith. He needs to get free again. He's got We got to see him do his what does he call it? The dog crawl or something like that. Something like that. >> We got to see some more dog walks this weekend inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium because that means this front seven is having an impact against Bryce Young. >> I I'm going to hop into the X's and O's really fast cuz I do want to know how >> I thought you said you were going to hop in and dog crawl. >> No, I will not be doing that. Thank you. I might be a dog. I'm not going to dog crawl. Not today. Thank you. Um, here's the thing with Bryce Young, because I mean, everyone knows how elusive he is. He's slippery, like you said. He loves making plays outside the pocket, but something interesting that I've been watching from the broadcast last week is how often they go into empty and how what that allows him to do. Kind of talk to me quickly, just X's and O's, why that's helpful to start an empty for a guy like Bryce Young who likes to work outside the pocket. >> Well, a lot of times, Taylor, it it it declares what the coverage is going to be. it. The defense has to make an immediate adjustment. Yep. Are you gonna stay safeties back and you're going to take a linebacker out there or your nickel or dime defender or are you walking a safety down in the box? And so now as a quarterback, you now know what the what the what the secondary is and where your shots are downfield. Right? So depending on how they adjust to your empty set, you now look at the safeties and you say, "Okay, I obviously know what the play is, but if they're going to play it like this, I know that I've got this shot to the corner in the sideline because of how the defender is." or if they keep two safeties back, there's no way that they can defend along the line of scrimmage. So, I might have my quick little screen play to the outside, get the ball in the hands of playmakers, and then once you go empty, you see where you have the most favorable matchup. Now, I don't know what Carolina thinks their most favorable matchup from a personnel standpoint is against Atlanta, but every week you go into a game and you kind of unfortunately, it sounds bad, but you find a person that you're gonna pick on, right? like this person right here we don't feel does this great whether it's defending zone or it's man or communication when it comes to rub routes whatever the concept may be that's why they go into empty because it declares thing early for the quarterback and then he finds out where I'm going with the football before it's even snapped >> yep all right so that's just something to note and to something to watch on Sunday is how often this Carolina Panthers offense goes into empty also something another team that goes into empty a little bit and quite often is the Atlanta Falcons offense that's who I'm talking about because you you go you go into empty when Bjan Robinson's on the field because you can do just about anything with this guy. And look guys, I want to talk about this side of the graphic right here as he goes against Carolina because this is the last two games that they played against Carolina last year. Obviously lost both of those, but what he was able to do on the ground against them says the whole story. 176 rushing yards, two tuds against the Carolina Panthers. It's and two both of those obviously came in the second matchup against them at home. He excels against this Ezro Ao defensive front. He excels against them. And what's interesting too is when you look at Brian Robinson stats, he also excels against them as well. We mentioned it earlier about how this defensive front is seemingly struggling early on. And and if you need someone to get get something going early and often, it's going to be Bjon Robinson. And you also have Brian Robinson who can step in and do the very similar things and also is not afraid to get hit either. >> Yeah. I mean they they feel pretty good. I mean I think Atlanta felt pretty good with Tyler Algier in the back field as well. But but this 2026 version you're feeling like yes you've got two very competent running backs back there. But as we all know and we've seen Will that when Bjon Robinson comes out of the game it's a snap or two, right? because you just really can't afford for him not to be out there, especially once you get closer to the third down because he's arguably your best weapon in making somebody miss picking up a first down and keeping the drive going. >> Well, and again, he does it in so many ways that it's you can split them out in these five wide sets. You can bring them in. They had snaps with Brian Robinson and Bjan Robinson back there as well. So, the versatility aspect allows you to unlock and open up your offense in a big way. But Brian Robinson, to your point, was running it really, really well when he was in there as well. So, I think the Falcons love where they're at with their run game. The offensive line was moving bodies. They're going to have their work cut out for him against a big defensive line on Sunday, but I have all the confidence in the world in that offensive line and the backs find them. >> Something to know about those two games, he had 13 carries in the first one. 72 yards, and obviously the second one, 23 carries, 104 yards, and that's where the two touchdowns come in. Brian Robinson played them um once last year and then once the year prior, averaged about six yards per carry. That's a lot. That gets a lot done on first down. >> Feels comfortable. >> Yeah, it feels pretty comfortable against this Ezra Abero defensive front. But let's go ahead now to the keys of the game. Everyone's favorite. We all got one. And let's see who's starting today. Will is going to start with his keys of the game. Go ahead. >> Yeah, you got to dictate the line of scrimmage. That is, you know, the trenches are where the games are won. We just talked about the running backs. Give them as much running room as possible. I want all the daylight in the world for the Robinsons. So, I need Chris Lindstöm. I need Jake Matthews. I need everybody up front to move those bodies and create some running lanes. >> Can we like throw some shoulder pads on Will and see if he can help like >> get that line of scrimmage going? >> I think we might need to. I mean, you want me to dog crawl. You want him to be on the line of scrimmage. What are you finding a way to keep it? >> What are you adding to the program? >> Contain Bryce Young. We talked a lot about him in this game. I think he's feeling playing with a lot of confidence, not only in the game last year, what he did last week, his receivers. We didn't talk a lot about their running game, but if they're able to get the running game going, we got to find a way to contain Bryce Young and don't let him go off script and get those big plays down the field. >> That's what he's adding to this team is he's just coming here with keys. He's just here to do a job. Nothing fun, just doing a job. My key to the game this week is to control the turnover margin. Look guys, Kevin Sapansky said it in his press conference on Monday that almost every team that lost in week one, they lost the turnover margin. If you win the turnover margin, you're probably going to win the game. It's not foolproof, but most likely going to happen. So, let's control the turnover margin. There were some things that the Falcons gave up last week in terms of interceptions and forced fumbles, all those different things. Hold on to the ball and take the ball away. Pretty simple, right? >> I mean, in theory, it's pretty simple. Execution of it sometimes a little bit more difficult, but yes. >> Yeah. So, control the turnover margin. We are so excited to have you guys back in Mercedes-Benz Stadium this Sunday. The game will be on Fox at 1:00 if you are not able to make it. It's going to be so much fun, though. It's going to be rocking. Can't wait to see you guys there. We have a Thursday night football game coming after that against Green Bay. So, we will have this show on Tuesday next week. So, make sure to um catch us on there. But until then, we'll see you guys Sunday as the Falcons take on the Panthers. Bye, guys.