Friday, November 13, 2009

Prediction: Panthers will win

A few pregame thoughts on the Falcons-Panthers game:

-- Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan is going through a bit of a sophomore slump. After throwing only 11 interceptions in his rookie season of 2008, he already has 10 this year. If the Panthers’ defense can get Ryan into some third-and-long situations, he’s apt to make a couple of poor decisions Sunday.

-- Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme threw for 308 yards against the Falcons the last time out in September, so I expect coach John Fox will at least loosen the handcuffs a little on the Panthers’ most-discussed player. But Fox also knows that in Carolina’s three wins this season Delhomme has thrown only 25, 17 and 14 times, so the third-and-12 draw play will still be very much in use.

-- I like this fact for some reason and am not sure why: The Falcons decided to bus to Charlotte for this game rather than fly like they have always done in the past.

-- Atlanta is only 1-3 on the road in 2009 and the Panthers played them relatively well in September before losing, 28-20. In that game, Panther defensive end Julius Peppers was single-teamed on almost every pass play and was no factor, getting neutralized by Atlanta tackle Tyson Clabo virtually every time. Peppers has played extremely well for most of the past five weeks, however, and it will be interesting to see if the Falcons gamble by single-teaming him again today.

-- Atlanta (5-3) is a slight favorite, but for some reason I think the Panthers (3-5) are going to get this one.

My prediction: Carolina 23, Atlanta 22.

Stat update: I'm 5-3 picking the Panthers' games so far in 2009. After a two-game slump, I did a little better last week, picking Carolina to lose by 10 (34-24) to New Orleans in a game they ultimately did lose by 10 (30-20).

Note: I'll be blogging during and after the game Sunday, so check back in here Sunday sometime and post your comments on the game, too.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now that the Paid to Party girl is gone and the Paid to Pander guy is gone.... one can only hope

Anonymous said...

Oh is that similar to Brees going through the same last week?

Anonymous said...

wonder where leslie chow is now? she had such high hopes for matt ryan this year.

Smort said...

This just in: The Julius Peppers and the rest of the Panthers play the Falcons on 1:00 PM on Sunday... not later today. I thought I would let you know because I would hate for you to go out in this bad weather only to find out you are 2 days early.

Anonymous said...

There are only three times in Panthers history when they have not played well enough to beat Atlanta:
1- the pre-Vick years
2- the Vick years
3- the post Vick years
And if Matt Ryan is in a slump, what is Jake Delhomme in????
No reason to favor Panthers this week.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of Vick, I loved the year that both games the Panthers shut Vick down. His sitting on the sidelines all forlorn and beaten was priceless.

Anonymous said...

What does the "Falcons taking the bus" have to do with anything?

Unknown said...

Hi, Leslie Chow here. I can barely type right now because I am laughing so hard at the thought of Carolina beating Atlanta this weekend.

NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!

Yes Matt Ryan is slumping(thank you Capt. Obvious), but you can't stop Michael Turner. And good look holding Tony Gonzalez down. Your only hope is to exploit our DBs and pray Turner breaks his leg getting off the bus they are taking up here from Ga.

FALCONS OWN THE PANTHERS THIS SUNDAY!


WOOOOOOOOOOOO

Doc said...

I love it... the Falcons are taking the bus. The recession is hitting everyone pretty hard!

Anonymous said...

Leslie Chow is here boys and girls and I will still take the slumping sophomore over Delhomme every day of the week. The kid is 24 and taking his knocks. All the good ones go through it at the beginning of their careers. Unlike Delhomme who is going through it at the end of his.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Unknown said...

Its mentioned every time this comes out. But I think it says today because its going to get printed in the Sunday paper. Its also pretty trivial to bring it up every time. That said I like the Panthers chances this week, last time we met these guys here it was 24-9 panthers, and that was when Matt Ryan was effective.

Anonymous said...

FALCONS ARE NOT INVINSIBLE, THEY HAVE LOST 3 TIMES. TO REALIZE THAT ALL I HAD TO TO WAS CHECK THE RECORDS.
AND FOR YOU VICK FANS, IT IS WHAT IT IS, HE IS A CONVICT AND ALWAYS WILL BE ONE. YOU FALCONS FANS JUST DID NOT WANT TO SEE IT.
DO ALL YOUR TALKING NOW, COME SUNDAY ABOUT 4:15 NONE OF YOU CAN BE FOUND. AS USUAL.

Anonymous said...

Leslie Chow is not a Vick fan and WILL be in the stadium yellin' WOOOOOOOOOOO all game long. Better believe it.

Hey is there a NASCAR race you Panther fans can tune to when you become disinterested in the game during the 1st qtr because you are losing? Wine and Cheese baby.

Falcons ROLL this Sunday...


WOOOOOOOOO

Anonymous said...

who the F#$K is Leslie Chow and why do we care?

Anonymous said...

Panthers win 28-17

chupacabra said...

Who is leslie chow and does something odd happen to keyboards at noon so they get STUCK ON CAPS LOCK

OH NOOOES MINE IS DOING IT TOO NOW

MAYBE ITS A FRIDAY 13 THING

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that rosy outlook Scott...especially the bus vs. the plane thing- makes me feel SO much better.

Anonymous said...

Panthers are going to get rolled up and smoked this weekend.

Anonymous said...

Scott, I say we shouldn't complain about the draw on 3rd & 12. It's actually WORKED a few times. I believe DeAngelo converted a 3rd & 15 on a draw last week.

And how did you come up with the 23-22 prediction? I guess you figure Delhomme is going to get buried in the end zone once.

To the anonymous Falcon fans - I'm not surprised you are posting this way, not having the stones to identify yourselves. Atlanta is just about the worst sports town in America. Yes, every team has its share of fair-weather fans who only show up or talk junk when the team is good. But Atlanta is worse than all of them. Where were y'all during the Petrino year?

As for the game, Atlanta can be had. Yes, Turner is going to run for 200 yards against us again. He will score all their points on very long TD runs. But we'll dominate time of possession now that we will actually have a fullback on the field. Our short passing game should do well, since Atlanta doesn't have Keith Brooking or Michael Boley anymore, and the whole secondary is suspect. With Beason on our side, I'm not worried about Gonzalez.

Panthers win, 24-21.

Unknown said...

Hey "J" way to identify yourself. Moron...

Atlanta is the worst sports city?? How original. Did you read that one on ESPN.COM?

Yeah, as long as you have Beason in there you'll be OK. I'm sure not having Thomas Davis in there won't hurt at all. You probably don't even know who Curtis Lofton is do you. "Brooking" he says...

You win the award for Post of the Day. Congrats

Anonymous said...

Scott Fowler - Paid to Ponder ---

and his in-depth game analysis is ....

the Mode of Transportation ---- genius!!

Anonymous said...

RE: Anonymous said...

There are only three times in Panthers history when they have not played well enough to beat Atlanta:
1- the pre-Vick years
2- the Vick years
3- the post Vick years
And if Matt Ryan is in a slump, what is Jake Delhomme in????
No reason to favor Panthers this week.

Jake is in a "take the money and run" scheme.

kyle said...

Jake Delhomme is at best a journeyman quarterback who can be successful in the right system. However, with this season's injuries on defense, if the Panthers cannot stop the run and allow points early and often, putting Jake in a position to have to come from behind and win the game, it may be difficult to beat the Falcons. In my opinion, the Panthers need a quarterback like Chad Henne of the Dolphins. Good strong kid, rocket arm, no head issues. In fact, the Panthers will see him next Thursday. My money is on Miami.

Anonymous said...

PANTHER WILL WIN ?

WHAT?

THE SUPER BOWL ?

OK THAT MORE LIKE IT ... THE OTHER STUFF IS CHUMP ...

Anonymous said...

Panther Fans...I know its a rough year..but its about to get worse cause the falcons are going to knock you out of any chance at the playoffs...It will be a long year but you will get a top 10 draft pick and probably a quarterback so there is a silver lining other than the one on your uniform____Falcons Forever !

Anonymous said...

Carolina will lose to Atlanta Sunday because whenthe game is on the line, the Panthers mysteriously abandon the run and rely on the passing game to win.

Curtis Watkins said...

Wow, 'Free Eric Voltz', you have a lot of nerve after posting such idiotic comments to go and call someone a moron. The proof is in the writing so here you go:

1) You want to make sarcastic comments about people being original? Really? Coming from someone who used the played and overused cliche "Capt. Obvious" I find that laughable. As you so cleverly put it, did you come up with that yourself?

2) I suppose you often confuse the spelling of words that are somewhat close in how they sound...but if by this point in your life you don't know the difference between 'look' and 'luck', well, perhaps you ought to consider keeping your posts isolated to Atlanta blogs.

3) Fans who blindly post comments about "you don't stand a chance" clearly and quickly demonstrate their football ignorance and lose all credibility to knowledable football fans. If you think you've got this one in the bag, you don't know the NFL. Let us know when you can make insightful comments about the game...but we certainly won't be holding our breath.

4) Who is Eric "Voltz" anyway? Never heard of that guy. I've heard a story about a Eric Volz...but, no way you would be referring to that guy cause a brilliant poster like you surely wouldn't have spelled a name wrong. Right?

Keep posting there smart guy...I'm sure you'll keep dropping more gems like these I can pick on.

Curtis Watkins said...

Where you at Falcons fans? 4th quarter, 2 minutes, down 28 - 19...you guys who posted we have no chance...that the Falcons own the Panthers...yadda yadda yadda.

Like I said, those of you who post such idiotic comments know nothing about football and have no credibility.

GO PANTHERS.

God I love it when I'm right.