How Does The Falcons Secondary Matchup With The Panthers Weapons?

The Falcons secondary has been banged up all season, but this may be the week for them to get right.

The Atlanta Falcons are returning home after a tough road loss on Monday Night Football at the hands of the Green Bay Packers. The Falcons' secondary entered the matchup hobbled with several players missing the game due to injury, and it left the game in an even worse spot.

Safety Damontae Kazee left the game with a season-ending achilles injury, and Jaylinn Hawkins, who got the start with Ricardo Allen and Keanu Neal out, left the game with a concussion. Cornerback A.J. Terell missed the game as well due to his placement on the reserve/COVID-19 list. 

Even with a healthy secondary, going against Aaron Rodgers is no easy task, so with a battered secondary, it is a big ask. 

However, the Falcons' secondary appears to be a lot healthier. Allen, Neal and Terrell should all be ready to go this week. And this week's matchup against Teddy Bridgewater and the Packers won’t be nearly as tough. 

Names To Know

The Panthers will trot out Curtis Samuel, Robby Anderson and D.J. Moore at wide receiver. Anderson has been the most productive of the three so far, catching 28 passes for 377 yards and one touchdown. Anderson runs a lot of underneath routes, with an average depth of target of nine yards. 

Moore has caught 18 passes for 288 yards. He is the deep threat of the group, as he's averaging about 14 yards per targets. Samuel, who many expected to be a serious threat early in his career, has only 14 catches for 147 yards. 

Injury Bug

Carolina will be without its best weapon in Christian McCaffrey, who is out with an ankle sprain. Mike Davis has done a solid job filling in, catching 21 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown. 

Bridgewater is not as aggressive throwing the ball as other quarterbacks the Falcons' secondary has faced this season, and Terrell's return this week should improve the battered Falcons' defensive unit. 

Bridgewater is averaging 286 yards and one touchdown per game this season. The Falcons are giving up an average of 341 yards passing per game and 11.7 yards per catch. 

Since the Panthers do not have a strong passing attack, this will be a good week for the Falcons secondary to get healthy and start to come together as a unit. 

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