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Here we go again. Division rivalry game. Here's the FRN rival site this week:

Panthers Fanz.com

and their forum.

Vick is undefeated in 5 games vs. Carolina, two of which have gone into OT, and this time we won't have Kevin Mathis for late game heroics against Muhsin Muhammad.

But we get some rest, some extra days to prepare for the Panties. But they've often looked lost against us before.

Some things I think to look out for next week:

1) D-lo matching up with Steve Smith. Few defenses have found an answer for him this year. The Bears bottled him up last week, but only if you consider bottling him up keeping him out the endzone. He caught 14 passes for 169 yards. He's had 100-yard games in all but 3 games this year, and I don't think our secondary has what it takes to prevent him from having another one. Oddly enough, he's never scored a TD against us in his career, but if that streak is goign to be broken soon, next week is probably as good a time as any.

2) Julius Peppers, the only man in the world more athletic than MIchael Vick, will have a strong game vs. Weiner, he usually does. Shaffer has had good outings vs. Rucker in the past, so I'm not too worried about that. Peppers has been considered to be in a funk this year, but all of his 5.5 sacks have come in the past 5 weeks, so he's relatively hot, and I don't think he'll cool down next week.

3) One or maybe both, but Stephen Davis and DeShaun Foster will have good days next week. The Falcons have not bottled up Sam Gado, Corey Dillon, Mewelde Moore, Kevin Jones, Cadillac Williams, Ronnie Brown, etc. this year. Those two won't be any different.

4) A Falcons win. Despite the fact that the Panthers will probably have pretty good days running and throwing the ball, and they have a front 4 that can contain and limit Vick, the Falcons will manage to win. Because as it always seems vs. Carolina since Vick's comeback in 2003, the game is close, but the Falcons just make that one play that wins them the football game.

Welcome Back

we need this game more than just about any we've played this year...here are my keys to the game:

1) Play good defense on first down. If we can stop the run on first down we put them into second and long and consiquently (sp?) third and long...we do really well on third down and if we can limit the amount of yards we allow on first down we can keep Carolina off the field

2) I fully expect D. Hall to limit Smith. This is what we drafted this kid for so let's see it. I don't think he'll totally shut Smith down but I expect him to keep him out of the endzone and I don't expect to see Smith pull in 14 for 160+ like he did against the Bears...DeAngelo, you want to be a shut down corner, you want to be in the pro bowl, you want to be known as an elite corner, well here's your chance...

3) Run the ball-I don't care what Carolina's stats are against the run I am convinced we can run on them. I don't know that Dunn is going to be able to tear off 25 yard runs up the gut like he wants to most of the time, but I think we can win off tackle. We block really well and Carolina isn't all that big on the edge...if we can set the edge the yards will be there. If we manage the game with the run then I think we can blow it wide open offensively.

4) Don't let Thomas Davis near Vick. He will take his head off. Vick is a big reason they drafted Davis, they wanted someone big and fast to chase him down and beat him up. I saw what Davis did to that kid in GB when he almost killed him, don't let that crap happen to our franchise...

5) Rush the passer-I saw the success Chicago had against them with their front four and I want to see a similar performance from ours. Hopefully Brady Smith will be back like Mora is intimating. If we can pressure Delhomme he'll toss us a few.

6) Don't fall behind early...that's been the only thing to stop us all year. If we can start fast and get a lead I don't think the panties will be able to catch back up...

i check around their site a little bit and i get the feeling that those panthers hate us. i can only guess its cuz we beat them all the time, kind of the way falc fans hate the bucs.

Put pressure on Delhome...Kerney was a beast last week...Rush the LB's

If we can limit Steve Smith, and keep Foster/Davis under control than we should win...but then again, that's like their whole team...soo good luck


And i am starting a KVAFP Campaign
Keep Vick Away From Peppers

if brady smith starts along with lavalai, i think it's really going to show. those younger guys have talent but the front four work in tandem and when even one cog misfires the whole thing starts to crumble as can be seen in the run defense of late. it's no coicidence that the run D has stunk worse since they went down. so i expect the run d to be much stouter against the panthers. as yulin said that's the lynch pin of the defense. last year the philosphy was, if we can run on them and stop their run, we're gonna win and look how far it got us. we need to get back to that philosphy cuz with the improved passing game we can take it to the next level.
i think if we can talk brady's money's down we keep him, he plays with fire and we've seen what happens when familiar cogs like ed jasper and chris draft are replaced. before we let brady go we should have someone of equal or more value ready to replace him.

Well I have only had one feeling about this whole thing that has been going on the last few weeks. It seems like the Falcons have sort of accepted that they own the panthers, and that is when it can get dangerous. If there was ever a year that they were going to beat us and that we needed to sweep, it is this year. I am worried about our reliance upon winning these games against a very tough Panthers team.

Luckily, their running game is terrible so if we can get a consistant pass rush then we should be in good shape. This is a huge game though.

Well we've proven in the past that if your team is struggling running the ball, once you play us that is not going to be the case. We saw this with New Orleans, Green Bay, New England, and Tampa Bay.

Stopping the run is a concern, but it's no longer really an option for me. Basically, we have to stop the run well enough that it doesn't get out of control, where a team is running the ball at will and just moving the ball down the field easily. We haven't always been great vs. the run, but for the most part this year we haven't seen too many instances of that situation. And that's basically what it boils down to. If that means Davis & Foster combine for 152 yards, then so be it. But if the difference between 152 combined yards and 216 combined yards equals a win, then that's the way it's going to have to be.

We need to get pressure on Delhomme and lock down Steve Smith. Smith has never scored a TD on us, which bodes well for us, and Delhomme doesn't always play well against us.

But the facts are simple that each year we've faced the Panthers they've gotten 1 step closer to getting over the hump. We dominated them in 2002, and have basically in 2 of our last 3 meetings with Vick under center, barely escaped with wins.

The issue is how well our offense responds. Vick has played great vs. Carolina and poorly vs. them. I suspect this is going to be a hard fought game, but I'm confident that we'll win in the end like we've done twice in the past 2 years just on sheer will. One positive is that Smith can be doubled all game since neither Colbert, Proehl, or Gardner seem to have stepped up and become a scoring threat on the other side. So we won't have to throw DeAngelo to the wolves with Smith.

This game will be huge to whoever wins or loses next week.Not much I can add that hasn't already been said. One thing Lavalias if he doesn't do his job stopping the run the falcon's need to immediately put in Shopshire.I know Brady will be back but running backs just seem to run up the middle without much resistance vs the Falcon's particaularly when Lavalias plays.This is no game to be getting behind and then make changes if your down by 17 pts.

D Hall has alot of talent but alot to learn.Quality receviers can still torch him and Smith is one of the best.Hall is going to have to play a tremdous game.Turnovers could be key.We don't need Rossum screwing up and calling for a fair catch when no one is around.We need some bug plays from special teams and the whole team is going to have to bring its A game.I think Carolina overlooked Buffalo today and was able to squeak out the win.

The Panthers play at home and it is very difficult winning at the other teams ballpark.It will really help if we can get out to an early lead.The pass rush is going to have to bring it plus the run defense can't let carolina's running backs have a big day.The more our offense can stay on the field the better.Lets hope Vick doesn't get to hyper and be off target vs carolina.

The winner of the game will be sitting much better than the loser of this game.We need to win this obviously but hopefully by a fairly wide margin since I believe if we lose in Atalnta vs the Panthers we will have points to play with and still come out ahead.What I mean is say we win 31-17 difference of 14 pts the Pantyhers would have to beat us by 14-15 to break the tie and beat the falcon's and head to the playoffs.If we beat carolina we have some revenge for the Bucs.I am tired of them barely beating teams and getting the breaks.Today the Bears got the break and beat the Bucs .We owe the Bucs a good pounding.

before the season the front end of the schedule looked killer while the back end was smooth sailing. it turned out to be the opposite. funny how that works. i get the feeling this game against carolina will determine if the falcs play for the conference or a wildcard. the panthers are certainly vulnerable but two games behind them will be tough and require a little luck. i'd prefer they keep control of their destiny. I bet mora uses that in his motivational speech.

Hopefully, the Panthers will continue their slump. I don't want them exploding this game. They are due for a big game though....

This is the biggest game of the year and is a must win.

Yes, I would say if the Falcons drop this game, and pretty closes the door on their playoff chances. Not completely, but I would say we would have a 10% chance at best if we lost this game vs. Carolina.

Hello Falcon fans, I know a lot of you guys are salivating at the mouth getting ready for this game. I know the feeling when we get ready for Tampa....you just know that if you can get the lead early the game is a wrap.

here’s my take on this weeks game so take it as it’s worth it’s just my opinion.

I think that along with our two teams and the Bucs we have three of the top five teams in the NFC and it could ( there is a chance ) very well be two wildcards coming out of our division this year ( unless there is a rule against it I don’t know of )

Seattle
Chicago
Dallas
Carolina ( I know yall will have Atlanta here but this is mine so what did you expect )
Atlanta
Tampa

I think our sweep’s on the Bucs will end this year and since we have already won at Tampa that means they might get a win here next week. I hope not, just got a feeling the Bucs are too good to beat twice this year.

I also think we will split the season with Atlanta, I don’t think either team is better than the other one enough to sweep the season this year. Saying that I believe we will find a way to win this game Sunday, even though this is a “must win” for the Falcons ( Dallas and Tampa could take us down and it come down to the last game of the season between us in your house ) if we don’t win Sunday than we will just have to find a way to win at Atlanta to end the regular season.

Win or lose I hope both teams stay healthy because after this game both teams still have a lot of work to do the next 4 games if we want to make sure we are the two teams ( or two of the three ) to go to the playoffs from the south

I can’t wish you guys good luck because I want to win & yall have enough luck against us as it is but I can wish you good health!

So here’s to good health and a good competitive football game in December......Ya gotta love it!!

What would be a perfect Christmas gift for a Panther Fan? Three straight wins starting Sunday...If the Panthers were to pull off two straight home wins against the Falcons & the Bucs and then travel to the Saints and avenge our season opener, they would clinch the division no matter what happen the last two games.

It’s Christmas time So where’s the miracle on moorehead street?

If Carolina beats the falcon's lets say by 6 points the next time these 2 meet and the falcons win by 10 that should break the tie breaker in point differential if I remember the tie breaker rules correctly.The falcons would obviously need to beat tampa and win on the differential the rest of the games Chicago,New orleans and other game you could afford to lose one if carolina and tampa lose one..for me,this game and the rest show me if the falcon's are serious about winning a championship this year.The yare going to have to prove it against better competition than what they have faced in the past.Whoever wins the division is going to have to be playing real good football to win the NFC then they will probably face the colts the juggernaut team.

I predict the colt's getting a major injury either on offense or D, and they won't make it to the superbowl...But the major question is..Can Manning and his audible's be stopped?

What scout pointed out with strength of victory tiebreaker. Tie-breakers rarely fall that far. Usually, NFC conference record, divisonal record, or common games record usually sorts out the mess.

It's the common games that usually sorts things out. We have 5 common games with both the Giants & Cowboys, and 12 with the Panthers & Bucs.
Common games is the 3rd tiebreaker for both non-divisional and divisional teams.

I want to give props to the Carolina Panthers for finally getting the monkey off their back and beating Michael Vick. THey played well today, and deserved the win. But I would say to them don't expect it to be so easy come New Years Day.

And what was with Chris Draft today? He played like a man possessed. It was a long time ago when Chris Draft played like that for us. Today's Chris Draft was the guy that I really liked back in '02 and '03. I know some are going to say we should have never let him go, but I think this was an extra special game for Draft. I recall when we had Chuck Wiley on our team a few years back. He always played great against his former team, the Panthers, but was a no-show against all other opponents. Draft definitely played all out against us, probably to prove a point. But I suspect we may never see that play from him again, unless he is lining up oppositie Michael Vick.