The 2018 Atlanta Falcons might be on the road to nowhere (eliminated from postseason contention) ... but they're still in a better place than the free-falling Panthers.
Especially without Cam Newton.
On Sunday, Atlanta cruised to a 24-10 road rout of Carolina, absorbing an early touchdown drive from backup quarterback Taylor Heinecke, before pulling away for the easy victory.
As a result, the Falcons (6-9) can secure a second-place finish in the NFC South next week, which, as a consolation, sounds better than sharing the basement with the Panthers (seven straight losses) and/or dysfunctional Buccaneers.
STATS ARE FOR LOSERS
Good luck finding a more deceptive stat sheet for Week 16.
On this day, the Falcons were outdistanced in first downs, total plays, total yards, passing yards and time of possession (17-minute margin).
And yet, none of this mattered on the Bank Of America Stadium pitch, when factoring in Atlanta's decisive advantages with rushing yards (194-141), penalties (only four on the day) and turnovers (plus-2 edge).
It also helped that receivers Mohamed Sanu (44-yard scoring strike) and rookie Calvin Ridley (75-yard TD catch--below) didn't require any red-zone prominence to find the end zone.
As such, this pair of third-quarter touchdowns had a dispiriting effect on the Panthers, who went scoreless for the game's final 37 minutes.
So, how did Atlanta collect 194 rushing yards ... while getting trounced in the time-of-possession battle?
Well, for starters, Brian Hill (115 rushing yards on just eight carries), Tevin Coleman (51 rushing yards) and the aforementioned Sanu each produced one carry of 20-plus yards.
In fact, even when counting quarterback Matt Ryan's pedestrian effort of minus-1 yard .. the Falcons backfield still averaged 9.2 yards per carry.
Which begs another question: Who's Brian Hill?
Officially, he was the Falcons' fourth-string tailback to open the season (5th-round pick from 2017); but in lieu of year-ending injuries to Devonta Freeman and rookie Ito Smith, Hill received a hasty battlefield promotion.
Job well done.
Hill's best effort of the day: A 60-yard rush on the game's final play, which might have had championship impact with fantasy football owners ... if anyone knew his name prior to Sunday.
The lone drawback: Hill never found the end zone ... leaving that exclusivity to the likes of Ridley (3 catches, 90 yards, 1 TD), Sanu (5 catches, 81 yards, 1 TD) and Julio Jones (4 catches, 28 yards, 1 TD).
(Jones, who has notched 1,500 yards receiving in five consecutive seasons, can still crack the 1,600-yard mark for the second time in his career.)
This end-zone proficiency allowed for quarterback Matt Ryan to enjoy a respectable afternoon, accounting for 239 yards passing and three scores.
Up next: Atlanta will close the regular season with one last trip to Tampa Bay (5-10).
