National Football League

Falcons lean on revamped defense to beat Bryce Young in his Panthers debut

Published Sep. 10, 2023 7:46 p.m. ET

ATLANTA — The biggest takeaways from the Falcons' season-opening win over the Panthers? Easily, Jessie Bates' three takeaways in his Atlanta debut.

The veteran safety, signed to a four-year, $64 million free-agent deal this spring, earned that big paycheck and more Sunday, intercepting rookie Bryce Young twice and forcing a key fumble. Those three plays led to 17 Falcons points in a 24-10 victory at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

"He's been working hard, leading us. He was voted captain for a reason," defensive lineman Calais Campbell said after the game. "To come out here, first game, and witness it firsthand? Practice is one thing, but doing it in a game's a whole different beast. He should definitely be Defensive Player of Week for the NFC. It set the tone for our whole season, who we are."

Bates, 26, hasn't had a two-pick game since he was at Wake Forest in 2016, and he'd only forced three fumbles in five NFL seasons before Sunday's big three plays. The two interceptions were nearly identical, in the first and third quarters, sitting in centerfield, reading Young and moving up to jump in front of a receiver and pick off the pass.

"They were really similar," Bates said of the two interceptions. "He likes to throw the ball inside the hashes. Both of them were 2-by-2, similar routes, trying to hit that dig in the middle of the field. I'm sure Green Bay will throw deep on us next week. But we celebrate these two interceptions and whatever we had today, and we move on tomorrow and get ready for Green Bay."

The Falcons can relish such a resounding win for a bit. The franchise hadn't won a season opener since 2017 — only the Colts had a longer streak in the entire NFL — and the team hadn't had a winning record at any point in any season since 2017. Instead of digging a hole early in the year, Atlanta has a leg up, especially with a division win.

The two-score margin hides how close the game was — late in the third quarter, score tied 10-10, Carolina had the ball in Atlanta territory, and running back Miles Sanders went up the middle for a 10-yard gain. But as he went down, Bates managed to get the ball loose — Sanders was initially ruled down by contact, but an official review reversed it to a fumble — and that changed the arc of the game. Atlanta's offense scored on the next possession, and the Falcons defense kept the Panthers from scoring the rest of the way.

"It felt amazing, man," said Bates, who played in seven postseason games the past two seasons with the Bengals. "It's a lot of hard work that a lot of people don't see. And not just from me, from my teammates. When we started in OTAs when I first got here, I knew we could do something special, and this is just the beginning of it."

Jessie Bates III discusses his exceptional game in Atlanta's 24-10 win

Young, the top pick in this year's NFL Draft, had thrown two picks in a game just twice in 34 games at Alabama, but Bates had his number Sunday in a battle of two of the league's most exciting rookies. Young finished 20-for-38 for 146 yards with one touchdown, but no passes longer than 14 yards, held in check by a revamped Falcons defense. Meanwhile, Falcons RB Bijan Robinson, the No. 8 overall pick in the draft, had a more promising debut. He ran for 56 yards on 10 carries and caught six passes for 27 yards and a touchdown.

"I remember playing my first game. I can only imagine what it's like for a quarterback playing his first game," Bates said of Young. "It's a lot of pressure. You want to get in a rhythm and get that feel, and honestly, I thought we had a good jump on him today. He'll be a really good quarterback in this league, but today, we got the best of him."

Atlanta's defense could have looked like a rookie Sunday, with six new starters and a new coordinator in Ryan Nielsen, but the Falcons have rarely leaned on their defense as much as they did against Carolina. The offense finished with just 221 yards — Atlanta came in 1-18 since 2001 when totaling 225 yards or fewer, so this was a case of one side of the ball coming together extremely well in its first opportunity.

Atlanta RBs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier after defeating Panthers

That could be seen on Carolina's opening drive, as the Panthers marched inside the Atlanta 20. Facing a third-and-1 at the 11, Carolina was stuffed for no gain, and when the Panthers decided to go for it on fourth-and-1, they were stopped again. Campbell had expected them to take the field goal and the points, so he was happy to get another chance to stop them.

"Thank you for giving us the opportunity," Campbell said. "We know what we're capable of doing. I'm glad they tried to go for it. You never want to give them points. It's every blade of grass. You defend every blade of grass. If it's fourth and an inch, if you give me an opportunity, I'm going to get out there, all of us have the same mentality. It was huge to set the tone for who we're going to be this season."

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Campbell and Bates are used to postseason football, but the Falcons aren't — they haven't made the playoffs since 2017, the last year they won their opener. This is only one step, but Atlanta's defense likes the direction they're headed in, sparked by three huge takeaways.

"Huge. Huge," said linebacker Lorenzo Carter, who recovered the fumble Bates forced. "That's one of the keys is takeaways. To be able to get those big turnovers and help the offense out, you can't even measure those. Jessie does a great job, just coverage and pressure. He's a smart guy, so he makes a lot of checks, gets us in the right spots. I appreciate it and I love Jessie. This is what we've been training for all off-season, putting in the work."

Greg Auman is FOX Sports' NFC South reporter, covering the Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers and Saints. He is in his 10th season covering the Bucs and the NFL full-time, having spent time at the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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