Division and Rest of Season Outlook

[t96]

Division Standings:

1. Falcons (6-3)

2. Saints (4-4)

3. Buccaneers (3-5)

4. Panthers (3-5)

 

Remaining Schedules:

Falcons:

@ Eagles

Bye

vs Cardinals

vs Chiefs

@ Rams

vs 49ers

at Panthers

vs Saints

Panthers:

vs Chiefs

vs Saints

@ Raiders

@ Seahawks

vs Chargers

at Redskins

vs Falcons

at Buccaneers

 

I'm going to ignore the Saints and Bucs schedules because neither of them are very relevant unless both us and the Falcons suck the rest if the year in which case this doesn't really matter. All we care about is taking care of our own business and the Falcons. This division is well within reach and I'd even venture to say we have a decent shot of winning it again despite the huge hole we put ourselves in. At 3-5 we are 2.5 games behind the Falcons.

 

With a win against the 6-2 Chiefs at home and a Falcons loss against the Eagles in Philly we will be right back in this division race, let alone the wildcard race. Let's take a look at the matchups.

Falcons @ Eagles: The Eagles have a very good pass rush and an amazing DC in Schwartz with great defensive play calling and schemes. They should be able to limit the Falcons offense quite a bit with their pass rush and a gameplan to take Julio out of the game. Another key in that game will be the Eagles' special teams winning the field position game all game. The Eagles' special teams is enviable. Dave Fipp may be the best ST coach in the league by far. It speaks volumes that they kept him in that position after firing the coach who hired him in Kelly and kept him under Pederson now. The Eagles have had a top unit since he was hired in 2013. The Eagles offense has its faults but against the Falcons D I think they should be able to score more than enough to win the game at home when they need a win to keep up in their division. So I'm going to give this to the Eagles.

Chiefs @ Panthers: The Chiefs are 6-2 for two main reasons from what I've seen. They are solid in most aspects of the game, and have had a relatively easy schedule. Marcus Peters is a star on their D but while he's a great playmaker, he's susceptible to getting beat deep more often than a top corner should. Their pass rush is okay but likely won't give us much trouble if Kalil is back and Justin Houston doesn't play, which is looking likely. Oher back would be a bonus too. Houston has yet to return this year after having ACL surgery and if he does play would probably be very limited. They have a solid offense as well but one that may be vulnerable next week with Alex Smith coming off a concussion and may not even be back, and Jeremy Maclin with an injured groin that may force him to sit, though it's still early. And though unlikely, Kelce could be suspended after getting ejected for two altercations with the refs today. Even if all 3 play which is very possible, this matchup is truly great for our defense. Smith is a great QB at doing what he's asked and that is to manage games. I don't like labeling QBs game managers but there's really no other way to describe Smith. He doesn't take shots deep, but doesn't turn the ball over much. He can scramble pretty well and make accurate short, quick throws to pick up key first downs. This is the type of QB that our defense and young secondary can handle. Their main weapon is Travis Kelce who's a stud but Luke/TD/Shaq if he's back can handle pretty easily. Maclin is solid but Smith can't get him the ball deep to utilize his skillset fully. Their run game is very good but Spencer Ware's status is up in the air and our run defense has been great and shouldn't be a worry. All in all I think we matchup well against them and should be able to come through with a big win at home against a top AFC team. In KC I may not be so confident, but at home I think we should win it.

 

After next week we'll be down 1.5 games with the Falcons going into their bye and us up against the Aints at home, healthier and ready to get some revenge to go down only 1 game to the Falcons with them at home week 16. Tiebreakers may end up playing a role but looking at our schedule and the Falcons I think there's only one we should lose and a couple that they should. I think we win out with the exception of one of the road games during the two west coast game stretch against the Raiders and Seahawks, though if we can get past the Raiders the Seahawks game is entirely dependent on Russell Wilson's health. If he's no better than he's been the past month or so then we'd take advantage against him and that o-line and could very well win out.

The Falcons should lose to the Eagles, Chiefs or Cardinals who they don't matchup against either very well, and us and could possibly drop one to the Aints or even Rams in LA if they decide to start Goff by then when they're eliminated from the playoffs (that's the supposed plan, to play him once they're eliminated from the playoffs...)

 

All in all I actually feel pretty good about this season after the very very bad start. All depends on next week though. We need a win against the Chiefs at home, badly. Will be a great statement win and help give us momentum for the rest of the year. If the Falcons pull through against the Eagles then it is what it is and the division will be tougher but we'd still be in decent position for a wildcard spot.

Fans need to be all in for winning the rest of the games on our schedule. None of this bullsh*t like @nctarheel0619 and others have been spewing out here. Go to the games, make noise when we make Matty wears braided belts Ryan eat dirt, and keep pounding.

[L-TownCat]

Solid, loving the recent content contributions by posters.  Keep it up guys.

[Cpt slay a ho]

We go as far as the defense goes. They have to play lock tight the remainder of the season, offense wise, let Daryl start IMO and our other wideouts have to step it up. Solid ST's and were in the wildcard or division winners. If not,see you in offseason


Sent from my iPhone using CarolinaHuddle

[CPF4LIFE]

We are getting healthy which is really good at this point in time, but man we need Oher back.

[gorillamilitia13]

We can't ignore the Saints though. They've beaten us and have a better record.

[nctarheel0619]

1 hour ago, thomas96 said:

Division Standings:

1. Falcons (6-3)

2. Saints (4-4)

3. Buccaneers (3-5)

4. Panthers (3-5)

 

Remaining Schedules:

Falcons:

@ Eagles

Bye

vs Cardinals

vs Chiefs

@ Rams

vs 49ers

at Panthers

vs Saints

Panthers:

vs Chiefs

vs Saints

@ Raiders

@ Seahawks

vs Chargers

at Redskins

vs Falcons

at Buccaneers

 

I'm going to ignore the Saints and Bucs schedules because neither of them are very relevant unless both us and the Falcons suck the rest if the year in which case this doesn't really matter. All we care about is taking care of our own business and the Falcons. This division is well within reach and I'd even venture to say we have a decent shot of winning it again despite the huge hole we put ourselves in. At 3-5 we are 2.5 games behind the Falcons.

 

With a win against the 6-2 Chiefs at home and a Falcons loss against the Eagles in Philly we will be right back in this division race, let alone the wildcard race. Let's take a look at the matchups.

Falcons @ Eagles: The Eagles have a very good pass rush and an amazing DC in Schwartz with great defensive play calling and schemes. They should be able to limit the Falcons offense quite a bit with their pass rush and a gameplan to take Julio out of the game. Another key in that game will be the Eagles' special teams winning the field position game all game. The Eagles' special teams is enviable. Dave Fipp may be the best ST coach in the league by far. It speaks volumes that they kept him in that position after firing the coach who hired him in Kelly and kept him under Pederson now. The Eagles have had a top unit since he was hired in 2013. The Eagles offense has its faults but against the Falcons D I think they should be able to score more than enough to win the game at home when they need a win to keep up in their division. So I'm going to give this to the Eagles.

Chiefs @ Panthers: The Chiefs are 6-2 for two main reasons from what I've seen. They are solid in most aspects of the game, and have had a relatively easy schedule. Marcus Peters is a star on their D but while he's a great playmaker, he's susceptible to getting beat deep more often than a top corner should. Their pass rush is okay but likely won't give us much trouble if Kalil is back and Justin Houston doesn't play, which is looking likely. Oher back would be a bonus too. Houston has yet to return this year after having ACL surgery and if he does play would probably be very limited. They have a solid offense as well but one that may be vulnerable next week with Alex Smith coming off a concussion and may not even be back, and Jeremy Maclin with an injured groin that may force him to sit, though it's still early. And though unlikely, Kelce could be suspended after getting ejected for two altercations with the refs today. Even if all 3 play which is very possible, this matchup is truly great for our defense. Smith is a great QB at doing what he's asked and that is to manage games. I don't like labeling QBs game managers but there's really no other way to describe Smith. He doesn't take shots deep, but doesn't turn the ball over much. He can scramble pretty well and make accurate short, quick throws to pick up key first downs. This is the type of QB that our defense and young secondary can handle. Their main weapon is Travis Kelce who's a stud but Luke/TD/Shaq if he's back can handle pretty easily. Maclin is solid but Smith can't get him the ball deep to utilize his skillset fully. Their run game is very good but Spencer Ware's status is up in the air and our run defense has been great and shouldn't be a worry. All in all I think we matchup well against them and should be able to come through with a big win at home against a top AFC team. In KC I may not be so confident, but at home I think we should win it.

 

After next week we'll be down 1.5 games with the Falcons going into their bye and us up against the Aints at home, healthier and ready to get some revenge to go down only 1 game to the Falcons with them at home week 16. Tiebreakers may end up playing a role but looking at our schedule and the Falcons I think there's only one we should lose and a couple that they should. I think we win out with the exception of one of the road games during the two west coast game stretch against the Raiders and Seahawks, though if we can get past the Raiders the Seahawks game is entirely dependent on Russell Wilson's health. If he's no better than he's been the past month or so then we'd take advantage against him and that o-line and could very well win out.

The Falcons should lose to the Eagles, Chiefs or Cardinals who they don't matchup against either very well, and us and could possibly drop one to the Aints or even Rams in LA if they decide to start Goff by then when they're eliminated from the playoffs (that's the supposed plan, to play him once they're eliminated from the playoffs...)

 

All in all I actually feel pretty good about this season after the very very bad start. All depends on next week though. We need a win against the Chiefs at home, badly. Will be a great statement win and help give us momentum for the rest of the year. If the Falcons pull through against the Eagles then it is what it is and the division will be tougher but we'd still be in decent position for a wildcard spot.

Fans need to be all in for winning the rest of the games on our schedule. None of this bullsh*t like @nctarheel0619 and others have been spewing out here. Go to the games, make noise when we make Matty wears braided belts Ryan eat dirt, and keep pounding.

Glad I'm on your mind at 12 AM at night.  Feels good.  

[pantherj]

Looks like unless the Falcons have key injuries they'll win the NFCS.

[t96]

11 minutes ago, gorillamilitia13 said:

We can't ignore the Saints though. They've beaten us and have a better record.

Well they beat us on essentially a missed FG in their dome when we were starting Sanchez and Teddy Williams at CB... I'm confident we'll beat them at BoA with our o-linemen back by then and Bradberry, Worley, Leonard Johnson and McClain all back at CB.

[FuFuLamePoo]

The Falcons are better than us and have an easier schedule throughout. We could run the table and still not win the division. We need to turn our eyes to the wild card, which is wide open. 9 wins could get you the wild card, 10 or 11 and we should be in great shape. Cam has to step up though


Sent from my iPhone using CarolinaHuddle

[PandaPancake]

2 hours ago, nctarheel0619 said:

Glad I'm on your mind at 12 AM at night.  Feels good.  

You quoted all that text to say this? You should be beaten.

[Davidson Deac II]

I don't see the eagles beating the Falcons this weekend. They are struggling, and the Falcons have to many weapons on offense. And the Chiefs are the second place team in probably the toughest division in football. That being said, anything can happen.

Fwiw though, I think the wildcard is our best shot at the playoffs this year, and its a longshot. But if we can we the next two, then who knows?

[nctarheel0619]

3 hours ago, PandaPancake said:

You quoted all that text to say this? You should be beaten.

He's the one that @ me in his post.  Not my fault.  

[PandaPancake]

7 minutes ago, nctarheel0619 said:

Zomg look I can edit the text

 

[nctarheel0619]

Just now, PandaPancake said:

 

Cool?  I mean, I'm not the dude thinking about another dude on a Panthers forum at 12 AM in the morning.  So.........