Panthers offensive line overwhelmed by Falcons’ pass rush

[Sir Purr]

“We’ve got to be able to protect him,” head coach Ron Rivera said of Allen. “It was unfortunate that we didn’t protect the quarterback the way that we’re capable of. We have too many good football players not to do a better job. But I also want to give the other team credit, too.”


Rivera is right – the Falcons’ pass rush has come alive the past three games. After totaling just five sacks through the first seven weeks, Atlanta’s defense has recorded 13 sacks in its last three outings.


So, what was it that made the Falcons so difficult to block up front? It’s not like they were bringing exotic pressures to gain a numbers advantage. On each of Atlanta’s five sacks, they only rushed four men. On one third down, they flushed Allen from the pocket with just three rushers. Nothing special, just lining up and beating the man across the ball.


And the rush appeared to affect Allen, who got himself into trouble on occasion by trying to escape the pocket too quickly.


“They’re just good pass rushers,” left guard Greg Van Roten said. “Those guys get after the passer and we didn’t do a good job of protecting Kyle and making him feel comfortable back there. That’s just not a good recipe to win games. You’ve got to protect the quarterback.”


Van Roten was one of the few members of the unit who didn’t give up a sack. After right tackle Taylor Moton got beat on Allen’s first interception and then again on the quarterback’s first sack, Rivera decided to briefly replace Moton with Daryl Williams.


“We wanted to give Taylor an opportunity to catch his breath,” Rivera said. “He got beat on a couple of plays and we wanted to just settle him down, give him a little bit of a reset and get him back on the field.”