PSO Premium Review: Falcons vs. Panthers on TNF

1. Julio Jones is still the NFL’s best WR

For years, it was Julio Jones and Antonio Brown that were viewed as 1A & 1B as the league’s top receiver. AB is no longer in the picture, but now young WR’s like Michael Thomas, DeAndre Hopkins, and Tyreek Hill have recently challenged the throne. But Jones has been a consistent producer since the day he entered the league and continues to rack up elite production halfway into his 11th career season. Compiling 7 REC for 137 YDS against the Panthers, Jones made history as he passed HOFer Torry Holt for the 2nd-most REC YDS by a player in their first 10 seasons in NFL history, adding on to his already future HOF career. While Julio might not always score the most TDs or finish atop the NFL in receiving yards, there’s no WR a QB rather have out there than Julio Jones, and it was proven once again in this game.

2. The Falcons are better than their record shows

While owning an underwhelming 2-6 record on the season, the Falcons are a better and more talented team than their current W-L record shows. Yes, they have blown several fourth quarter leads just this season and have earned a reputation as major chokers, but this is a squad that has the pieces in place to win ball games. Todd Gurley currently leads in the NFL in RUSH TDs (8), Matt Ryan leads the league in PASS YDS (2,181) and Julio Jones continues to show everyone why he’s the best receiver in the league. Had they been capable of closing out games early in this unprecedented season, ATL would be looked at in a completely different light and be right in the mix to take over the lead in the NFC South.

3. Teddy Bridgewater needs a running game to succeed

It’s now been made clear that Teddy Bridgewater is more than just strictly a game-managing QB, but still needs an explosive running game to succeed. This is a takeaway from not only this game and not only this season, but has been proven several times throughout his career. Bridgewater has benefitted from playing with a handful of luxury RBs; during his stint in Minnesota with Adrian Peterson tearing up the field and in his short time as the Saints’ starting QB last season (5-0) when he had Alvin Kamara putting up career numbers. 

That has been the case this season as well with Mike Davis; when he’s producing, Bridgewater does too, and it carried the Panthers in a 3-game winning streak earlier this year. CAR’s running game has not been able to get going the last three weeks and the entire offense has suffered from it as their losing streak now stands at three games in a row. With Christian McCaffrey returning soon, it will be interesting to see if the Panthers QB can get back on track with an All-Pro caliber RB in place.