Panthers’ defense was ‘fed up,’ so they dismantled Falcons in dominant home debut

The Carolina Panthers’ defense sees the criticism the unit and its coordinator take on a weekly basis. The tenured veterans know they’ve set marks of futility that no one would be proud of.

But on Sunday, at Bank of America Stadium, several members of the unit looked up at the scoreboard and saw a zero next to their opponents’ logo.

Ejiro Evero and his much maligned unit pitched a shutout in a 30-0 home win.

“We see everything that people say,” Pro Bowl cornerback Jaycee Horn said. “After the Week 1 performance, they’re calling for Coach (Evero)’s job and stuff like that. But like (Pro Bowl defensive end Derrick Brown) said at the end of game, we all stay together in this locker room.

“We went out there today and put out a dominating performance. Coach (Evero) called a perfect game, damn near. It’s like every play he called worked. So, we’re just excited to keep stacking.”

Heading into last week’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the Panthers had allowed 200 or more rushing yards in seven consecutive games, dating back to last season.

The Falcons were the sixth opponent in that line, as Atlanta produced 227 rushing yards in the last meeting with the Panthers, a 44-38 season-finale win for Carolina. But on their home turf, the Panthers limited Atlanta to 131 scoreless rushing yards in Sunday’s blowout.

Pro Bowl running back Bijan Robinson was held to 72 rushing yards on 13 carries, largely because the game was so far out of hand.

The complementary defense, guided by Evero’s play-calling, kept Atlanta from picking up explosive plays.

“It’s huge, man,” safety Nick Scott said. “Other than doing this for the guys on the field — we do this for the coaches. We want to put them in good positions.

“So, I texted (Evero), and I said, ‘You were dialing that thing up today.’ Like, he was on point with the calls, putting us in a good position.”

With the rushing defense holding court, the passing defense pounced.

Second-year Falcons quarterback Michael Penix was harassed by Evero’s pressure packages throughout the afternoon. That pressure led to mistakes, including a pair of second-half interceptions.

Cornerback Chau Smith-Wade, a 2024 fifth-round draft pick, set the tone for the second half of the game when he jumped in front of a pass from Penix to Robinson near the Atlanta 11-yard line with 11:39 left in the third quarter.

Smith-Wade communicated an adjustment to the defense before the snap, essentially calling his own assignment on the play, before jumping the route for a pick-6.

“That was a huge tone-setter,” Scott said. “Chau, like you said, it’s like watching him grow up in front of your eyes. The biggest difference in Chau, that I see, is just how much he talks (compared to his rookie season). He is constantly communicating to the linebackers, to the corners, to the safeties — all that stuff. We have dialogue going back and forth, before the play, during the play. So, that (play) was indicative of him talking.

“He made a check (on) that play that put him in that position,” Scott added. “We could have went either way. He made the call and got a pick.”

Smith-Wade hit pay dirt in Week 3. Atlanta failed to do so.

“Coach (Evero) told us what calls he was going make in certain situations, and that happened to be one of those calls,” Smith-Wade said. “I gotta give credit to (passing game coordinator Jonathan Cooley) and Coach E for coming up with an amazing game plan. So that’s what that was, I made my keys (on the play), and I just went out there and took advantage of it.”

With Penix pressing for a big play, he tossed another pass down the field for wideout Ray-Ray McCloud. Veteran cornerback Mike Jackson was happy to pick off the pass for his first interception of the season. He returned the ball to the opposite side of the field before being stopped in Atlanta territory.

The ensuing celebration sent the crowd into a frenzy.

That’s not a bad departure from a lousy 0-2 start on the road.

“It’s definitely really big,” Smith-Wade said about the shutout win. “We’re all fed up. The defense — we come together, we band together — our bond is just so strong. We just want to go out there and do right all the time.”

The Panthers’ offense was able to take a back seat of sorts with the defense dominating the NFC South rivals.

Quarterback Bryce Young only needed to produce 129 total yards of offense, with his opening-drive scramble touchdown serving as his big highlight of the day. Head coach Dave Canales, the primary offensive play-caller, was able to lean on the ground attack and the field-goal unit on the way to five scoring drives.

“I thought the defense played an unbelievable game,” Canales said. “The run game plan, the execution, the communication, all that stuff that we’ve been really just harping on is where we have to continue to grow. There was still a couple of things that we need to clean up from a defensive standpoint. But to take advantage of some of those opportunities with Chau Smith-Wade with the touchdown, (Jackson) with the interception, and then that punch-out at the end (by safety Lathan Ransom), it’s just a form of habits. ... So, I was really proud of the group.”

In total, the Falcons had 11 offensive drives. Six concluded with turnovers (interception or fumble recovery) or punts.

If Evero and his defenders were looking to make a statement, that math should suffice.

And the group, boosted by a one-sided affair, says it’s just getting started.

“The expectation, for us, is that we get better every week, right?” Scott said. “And I think that we’ve been doing that. We’ve been making improvements each and every week, so when we can do that and keep building and kind of start to see guys come into their own and see who we are — that’s important. Hopefully, we keep on doing that.

“Our goal is to get better every week.”

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