As a huge Carolina Panthers fan, you do not have to tell me about Michael Turner(notes) and his dominance of our rushing defense. The guy simply lines up and bowls us over every time we face the Atlanta Falcons. Now, with the Falcons coming into Bank of America stadium on Sunday, December 11th, my Panthers will have their work cut out for them. On the plus side, the Panthers enter that game red-hot, having won two in a row and rolling up the scoreboard for three straight games. Cam Newton(notes) has looked fantastic and the vaunted Carolina running game is rolling.

This game is going to be won and lost in the details. Here are a few match-ups that I think will play heavily in who wins the ball game:

Michael Turner versus the Panthers rush defense

We know that Turner is going to get his yards. The key is to keep him limited on carries, and somewhat limited on his yardage. Anything more than 100 is troublesome because it means the Falcons are set up for the play-action passing game. When Matt Ryan is working off play-action, he is a different quarterback. Force him to make big time plays against a nickel or dime, and you might beat the Falcons more often.

Cam Newton versus the Falcons secondary

Cam Newton needs to have a good passing game this week. He stunk up the joint in the first game against Atlanta, and it was really his only truly bad game of the year. Hopefully he can redeem himself in this one. Newton needs to get vertical in this game, and that means having time to throw the football.

Carolina’s offensive line versus the Falcons defensive pass rush

Of all the keys listed here, this one will tell the story the best. If the Panthers can keep the heat off of Cam, he will burn the Falcons either on the ground or through the air. If the Falcons can push the pocket around, they will have a better chance at slowing down this offense. Carolina has gotten much better at this the last couple of weeks. I expect this to be an unexpected win for the Panthers.

Carolina’s kick coverage versus Atlanta’s special teams

Carolina has made huge strides in this area, but it could still rear it’s ugly head. Hopefully, Rivera spent a good deal of time on this in practice this week. The Falcons always seem to burn us at least once. We can not afford to give them easy points in this match-up.

My prediction for the game

I think that the Panthers will win the football game, and it will be largely because of a great game from the offensive line. I like that match-up a great deal though I would not have earlier in the year. The Panthers are like a different team now, and should be ready for the Falcons. I do not think that Turner will be able to score enough points to keep up.

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It’s now official that Adrian Peterson will miss the game against the Atlanta Falcons this weekend, giving backup running back Toby Gerhart(notes) a chance to potentially shine. The Minnesota Vikings may have to lean on Gerhart heavily, even going up against a Falcons defense that has been pretty good against the run in the past.

Atlanta gives up just 85.4 yards per game, but the team has also had teams with weak running games like the Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts on the schedule. It could simply indicate that the Falcons can simply slow down teams that are bad on offense, and that would also include the Vikings. It certainly raises the level of risk associated with giving Gerhart the start, but sometimes fantasy football owners have to take the ris k.

On Saturday, the Vikings announced that Peterson got downgraded from being doubtful on the injury report to being out of the game. He is not even traveling with the team to play Atlanta, meaning there is no chance that he will see action against the Falcons. That’s good news for fantasy football owners that are stepping up to try out Gerhart this Sunday (Nov. 27), but it also means that those owners hoping Peterson would come back need to scramble.

Through 10 games this year, Gerhart has just 24 rushes for 118 yards and no touchdowns. It is easy to expect that he will have his biggest game of the year against the Falcons, but just how many yards he can get on the ground is an area for debate. He will get at least 20 carries as the featured back, and it is also likely that he will get used in a number of screen plays that could raise his number of receiving yards. That’s good news, especially for leagues that count receptions as positive points.

The Minnesota vs. Atlanta game takes place at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 27, and you can bet that this is an audition to decide if Gerhart deserves to have a bigger part in the offense for the Vikings going forward. If his time at Stanford is any sign of the talent he has now, then this could turn into a coming-out-party for one of the more underrated backs in the game.

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“I really don’t think there’s anything to stopping him. I would say slowing him down is the key,” Falcons linebacker Curtis Lofton said. “He’s a very special player.”

Sunday’s home matchup could be one of Atlanta’s toughest against Brees now that new running back Darren Sproles complements an already talented group of receivers.

The Saints rank at or near the top of nearly every NFL offensive category, including a league-high 44 possessions in the red zone and an overall scoring average that ranks second.

“Sproles is a big factor in the red zone because he’s a fast guy,” defensive end John Abraham said. “They use screens and a lot of things to get him the ball. You would think the rookie (Mark Ingram) would be doing stuff in there, but you see Sproles in the red zone really getting a lot of touches.”

Brees is having one of the best seasons of his remarkable career. He is the first NFL passer with 3,000 yards in the first nine games of a season and has thrown a TD pass in 36 straight games to tie Brett Favre for the league’s second-longest streak.

“The thing is when we get to him we’ve got to get him down,” said Abraham, a four-time Pro Bowl selection. “He’ll throw the ball in any situation. He’ll flip in the backfield. He’ll do a lot of different things to get the ball out of his hands. We’ve got to wrap him up when we get to him.”

Sproles’ numbers are impressive, too. After spending his first six seasons with San Diego, Sproles leads the NFL with 9,759 all-purpose yards since 2007. He’s on pace to break New Orleans’ single-season record for a running back (Reggie Bush had 88 catches for 742 yards in 2006).

At 5-foot-6, 190 pounds, Sproles zips through the backfield as elusively as he runs through coverage units on special teams. His 1,499 all-purpose yards lead the NFL this season.

For Lofton, it was already hard enough trying to defend a New Orleans scheme that includes tight end Jimmy Graham, running back Pierre Thomas and receivers Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem and Lance Moore.

Brees doesn’t give a defense much time to attack the pocket.

“He sets (his feet) short and gets the ball out of his hand quick, so our pass rush is going to have to get there and knock him off point,” Lofton said. “We may not get sacks, but we can’t let him sit back there and have all that time. We’ve got to mix up our coverages. It can’t just be sitting ducks for him.”

Abraham believes the Falcons (5-3) have improved their tackling since starting the season poorly. They can’t afford to be fundamentally weak against the Saints (6-3).

“Even in the playoff loss (last season) against Green Bay, we were blitzing,” Abraham said. “We just weren’t getting them down, and I think it ended up biting us in a big way. This year I think people are a lot more confident blitzing and I think they understand what they have to do.”

Defending the Saints on third down will be critical. New Orleans’ 55.7 percentage ranks second in the league. Atlanta’s defense ranks 24th.

Lofton knows how important it is to avoid getting frustrated. The Falcons’ defensive captain estimates that Atlanta had 10 free runs at Brees in a Week 16 home defeat last season, finishing with just one sack.

There was some satisfaction in causing Brees to throw two interceptions, but not nearly enough.

“We definitely want to get him a little antsy back there,” Lofton said. “He has a tendency to move around and extend plays. Sometimes that works out for him and sometimes it’s been good for us. We definitely want to keep that going this year. He’s an elusive guy. Then again, Sproles is, too. It’s going to be a tough matchup, but we’re a confident team right now.”

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FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Dunta Robinson’s second year with Atlanta is much like his first.

The $22 million cornerback has earned more notoriety for his physical style of play than his coverage skills. Though he doesn’t mind having a tough image, Robinson would appreciate a few more interceptions. He has no picks this season and just one in 23 games with the Falcons, including last season’s playoff loss to Green Bay.

“Of course, you’d like to be all over the field making a ton of plays,” Robinson said Thursday, “but it’s just not presented right now.”

When Robinson signed a six-year free-agent contract with Atlanta in March 2010, the Falcons introduced him as the shut-down cornerback they desperately lacked in the secondary.

Many fans might have expected more interceptions for such a high-priced player, but coach Mike Smith says Robinson has filled his role with aplomb.

For Smith, it’s simple: In the Falcons’ 4-3 defense, the eighth-year veteran is doing exactly what he’s asked to do.

Brent Grimes, who starts at left cornerback, has more chances at interceptions because opponents continue to challenge him in hopes he will jump routes. Grimes was targeted as often as any cornerback in the NFL last year, but the former practice squad player turned those chances into a Pro Bowl season.

Meanwhile, Robinson goes about his business in blanketing the right side and providing strong run support.

“This year, I’m not even sure what the (targeted) numbers say, but Dunta has been an integral part of what we’re trying to do,” Smith said. “He fits very well into our scheme.”

Smith has defended Robinson’s style during their season and a half together.

Games against Philadelphia the last two years included a pair of penalized hits in which Robinson was flagged for leading with his helmet. In a Week 6 loss last season, Robinson was fined $25,000 for a hit on DeSean Jackson that caused concussions for both players.

In a Week 2 victory this year, Robinson’s hit on Jeremy Maclin resulted in another $25,000 fine.

Robinson doesn’t seem to mind that his reputation might have changed in some people’s minds.

He’s only following the same approach that led Houston to draft him No. 10 overall in 2004 out of South Carolina. Robinson will not apologize for playing his position hard.

“I’ve always, always been a physical presence,” he said. “I’ve always been a physical corner and that’s what got me drafted at the No. 10 spot, you know? So that part of my game hasn’t changed. I made the same physical plays in college and for years in Houston.”

When the Falcons (4-3) return from their bye Sunday at Indianapolis (0-8), Robinson expects another tough game despite the absence of Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. He believes Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon, Dallas Clark, Austin Collie and running back Joseph Addai are still capable of hurting opponents.

Robinson certainly won’t miss Manning. In the 10 games he played for Houston against Indianapolis, the Texans went 1-9.

“Yeah, but it’s certainly not a game that’s going to be given to us,” Robinson said. “We’re going to still to go out there and play ball because those guys have a lot of pride. The most dangerous team is the team that doesn’t have a win because they’re hungry to win a football game.”

Despite ranking seventh against the run and tied for seventh with nine interceptions, the Falcons are 27th in net passing yards per attempt, 26th in third-down efficiency and 25th in sacks per passing attempt.

And Robinson would love to make a couple of big, clean plays in the secondary.

“The rules have changed a little bit, so now it’s looked upon maybe as a dirty play, but I’ve seen dirty players,” Robinson said. “Dirty players are cheap-shot artists. To me, that’s what dirty players are considered to be. I’ve seen dirty players trying to poke your eye, gouge your eye and do a lot of things under the pile and stuff like that, but it’s not something I get wrapped up in. This is the way I’ve played since I first stepped on a football field.”

By Jonathan Tjarks

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Oct 22, 2011 – Atlanta Falcons vs. Detroit Lions

In a pivotal mid-season showdown between the team with the NFC’s best record last season and the surprise team of the NFC team this year, the 3-3 Atlanta Falcons travel to play the 5-1 Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Atlanta is firmly entrenched in the middle of the NFC pack, losing as many games this year as they did all season and searching desperately for a signature win. None of the teams the Falcons have defeated this year have a winning record.

Detroit, after years of irrelevance, has rocketed out to a 5-1 start, behind the playmaking ability of QB Matt Stafford and WR Calvin Johnson and a defense anchored by DT Ndamukong Suh. However, they are dealing with a host of injuries in the back-field, as starting RB Jahvid Best suffered his second concussion of the year last week while backup Jerome Harrison reportedly has a tumor in his brain.

Game Date/Time: Sunday, October 23; 1:00 PM EST

Location: Ford Field, Detroit, MI

TV Schedule: Regional FOX

TV Distribution Map: The506.com

Radio Schedule: Falcons 94.1 FM Atlanta

For more on the Lions, head over to the Pride Of Detroit. For more on the Falcons, check out The Falcoholic. Follow the rest of week seven at SB Nation NFL.

Read More: Jerome Harrison (RB – DET), Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions

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