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Osi Umenyiora is one of the few elite players the Falcons have in the trenches. He's a seasoned veteran, and when he talks, you listen. Why? Because the man knows what he's talking about. And if you ask Umenyiora, the Falcons pass rush, while imperfect, improved against the Panthers.
"We rushed well ... we should have done a better job of getting him down, finishing some of our rushes. But overall I think we did a very good job of affecting the quarterback."
From a quantitative standpoint, Umenyiora isn't completely wrong. While the Falcons managed just one sack (a combined effort by Jonathan Massaquoi and Umenyiora), Cam Newton was 0-6 when passing over 20 yards, and the Falcons defense did force two interceptions. Not a bad showing against an offensive line that ranks 9th in adjusted sack rate and has allowed only 32 quarterback hits all year (4th fewest in the league).
Your thoughts?