Both the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers are seeking a win to bounce back from tough opening games. Naturally, only one of them can get the W, so who will it be?
With NFC South games, that question is always a fraught one, but we’ll take a look at how Carolina has evolved and the key points in this matchup that might help determine it. Here’s what you should know about Week 2.
How these two teams stack up
It’s one game, but these Panthers looked like the polar opposite of Atlanta. Their offense was very good—they rank 4th in the NFL in points and 3rd in yardage—but their defense was abysmal and they’re dead last in points and yardage allowed. The Falcons, meanwhile, are 25th in points and 30th in yardage after Cooper Rush’s sad day at the office, but 10th in points allowed and 8th in yardage. It would be a mistake to think that’s going to hold up over time, but it makes for an interesting potential dynamic heading into Week 2.
Otherwise, it’s too early to stack these teams up against one another, especially with Atlanta not actually getting to trot a starting quarterback out there who was higher than third on the depth chart heading into the season. Suffice to say the Panthers do have a very capable offense and a defense that’s better than what we’ve seen to this point, in the same way the Falcons do have a very capable defense and are likely to find life on offense sooner than later.
How the Panthers have changed in 2026
Honestly, they haven’t changed much at all. They landed two big names in free agency, adding edge rusher Jaelen Phillips and linebacker Devin Lloyd, and added two new starting offensive linemen in center Luke Fortner and left tackle Rasheed Walker. They also brought aboard a pair of starters via the draft in right tackle Monroe Freeling and defensive tackle Lee Hunter. Their most impactful changes were inarguably along the offensive line, where they switched out three starters; Walker was awesome in Week 1 and Fortner and Freeling held their own.
Otherwise, this is just a tweaked football team. They now have Kenny Pickett as their backup and mostly added peripheral pieces on offense, figuring an improved line would give Bryce Young and his merry band of playmakers more time to work with. The defense has four new starters in total—linebacker Bobby Okereke was also added—but is largely the same too.
Carolina is making a big bet on a strong defense and improving offense gelling this year. In Week 1, that bet was a mixed bag.
What to know about Week 2
This game will turn on two questions: Can Cooper Rush avoid costly turnovers and make on-time throws to his playmakers, and can the Falcons finally get Bryce Young under control? None of the Cooper Rush stuff applies if Michael Penix Jr. or Tua Tagovailoa are starting, but you’ll excuse me if I’m not thinking that’s particularly likely.
Neither one is easy to talk about without getting an uneasy feeling.
I have to think Rush will look better against a lesser defense, a week removed from back spasms, and with the team having a better idea of what he can and can’t do after a full game. What we do know is that Rush’s permanent limitations—the lack of arm strength, the shaky decision-making under duress, and the lack of mobility in the pocket—mean he’s essentially a turret you have to have aimed and ready to fire quickly. That will mean a ton of screens, but quick hitters to Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts, Zachariah Branch, and so forth will be necessary to keep him from getting killed. The deep passing game seems like it’s off the table entirely—Rush hit on route close to 20 yards and missed badly on every other shot he took—so the Falcons have to take something predictable and make it dynamic and difficult to defend. That’s no small task, but if Rush can be about 25% sharper and 25% quicker to get rid of the ball, the Falcons offense should at least stay afloat given that Bijan Robinson isn’t going to stop being Bijan Robinson.
Young, meanwhile, has been a Falcons killer. He had one bad game against them in his first career start against Atlanta, tossing two picks and completing just 52% of his passes, but has not been under a 66.7% completion rate in four games since and has two monster efforts against Atlanta. One of them, unfortunately, was against Jeff Ulbrich’s defense last year, when Young went for 561 yards and three touchdowns last year combined with zero interceptions and a rushing touchdown.. The Falcons simply haven’t been able to pressure him, keep him in the pocket, and force him into mistakes despite and another round of that with a limited quarterback on Atlanta’s side means this one could turn into a genuine bloodbath.
Managing Young, of course, means managing more than Young. It means keeping Chuba Hubbard and Jonathan Brooks in check, clamping down on a big target in Tet McMillan who had a monster game last year, and generally not getting pushed around at the line of scrimmage. The Falcons have a strong group on the interior and some promising rookies up front, but will need an opportunistic and talented secondary to force Young into errors to give this team a fighting chance.
Beyond the two central quarterback questions, there’s plenty to think about. Bijan and Brian Robinsons should be able to run roughshod over a Panthers defense that just finished getting annihilated by the Bears, and they’re going to need to be able to do so to give this offense an edge. Kicker is worth watching after Nick Folk missed two kicks last week but comes back home to friendlier environs, while Ryan Fitzgerald is a bottom third of the league kicker—he was 23rd in field goal percentage and 24th in extra point percentage last year—who isn’t guaranteed to come up big when Carolina needs him. The Falcons and Panthers both missed too many tackles and piled up too many penalties a week ago—the Falcons had 9 for 96 yards and the Panthers had 11 for 84 yards—so the more disciplined team is going to have an obvious edge.
As always, this is a divisional game, which increases the chances that something weird happens, and the Falcons and Panthers have already played plenty of very silly games over the past few seasons. If this team can cut down the penalties, get Rush on track, run well, and keep Young from taking over the game, they have a fine shot of winning their first game under Kevin Stefanski at home. If not, we could be ticketed for an ugly sort of afternoon right before a run of primetime games.
