Game Overview ::
By Papy324
- Bijon Robinson has as much upside as any RB on the slate, with likely lower ownership.
- The Falcons offensive line is one of the best in the league.
- Miles Sanders is underpriced for his projected volume.
- The Panthers have all new skill players on offense.
How Carolina Will Try to Win ::
The Panthers went into “lose now” mode last year, firing their (admittedly inept) head coach, riding a QB carousel, and trading away their most valuable on-field asset (Christian McCaffrey) mid-way through the season. “Lose now” wasn’t a bad strategy. The 2022 Panthers weren’t going anywhere, and CMC was only getting older. Despite their best effort to rebuild, sometimes the NFL is a funny place. After starting 1-4 and essentially throwing in the towel, the Panthers season turned around! They finished the year 6-6 and almost won the pathetic NFC South at 7-10. In the process, they dropped all the way down to number nine in the draft. The Panthers front office had their heart set on the number one pick “win or lose,” and promptly shipped four picks plus D.J Moore to the Bears for the right to draft Bryce Young.
They now enter 2023 with Frank Reich in charge, long one of the NFL’s most adaptable coaches. Reich’s recent failures with the Colts aside, he has always been an above average NFL coach. There isn’t much purpose in trying to draw conclusions about how the Panthers will attack based on last year since not only do they have a new coach, but they also have an entirely new offense. Bryce Young takes over at QB, the 6.3 million dollar man Miles Sanders is the new RB in town, and D.J. Chark, Jonathan Mingo, and Adam Thielen are all new additions. Heck, even Hayden Hurst just joined the roster. There aren’t many teams with entirely different skill position players from a year ago, but that is the case with the 2023 Panthers.
One thing we do know is that Reich has always been the type of coach who will “attack a weakness” rather than taking a “we do what we do” approach to offense. Last year, the Falcons were a sieve against the run (23rd in DVOA) and the pass (30th in DVOA), and even though they brought in a lot of new veteran faces (DE Calais Campbell // DT David Onyemata // OLB Bud Dupree // ILB Kaden Elliss // FS Jessie Bate // CB Jeff Okudah), plus a new defensive coordinator (Ryan Nielsen from NO), this unit still projects as below average. The Panthers O-line is mostly the same group as last year with the addition of fourth rounder Chandler Zavala. The Panthers were 10th in rushing DVOA last season, and their O-line projects as a middling unit (16th rated by PFF) that is stronger at run blocking. Expect the Panthers to try and win on the ground to limit their rookie QB’s mistakes in his first NFL start, but don’t be surprised if they open things up if necessary. Reich wants to win now, and he should be willing to change game plans if his team needs to catch up.
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