The Atlanta Falcons had a nightmare throwing the football on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.
Between quarterbacks Cooper Rush and Jack Strand, pretty much nothing went right in a 34-3 loss.
The final exclamation point was when Devin Lloyd picked off the first pass of Strand’s NFL career and returned it for a touchdown, but it was rough all the way through for Atlanta.
The Falcons are still waiting to get back Michael Penix Jr. or Tua Tagovailoa, and in the meantime, things are really bad.
In fact, they’re so bad that the numbers say the Falcons would’ve been better served spiking the football every time they wanted to call a pass play on Sunday.
Falcons Crazy Spike Stat
The traditional quarterback rating stat doesn’t have a widely known formula, but it’s generally understood to give a decent assessment of QB play in a given week.
Because of how it’s calculated, though, things can get quite odd at the low end of the scale.
On Sunday, for example, the Falcons’ team passer rating for their loss was 38.2.
They actually would’ve had a higher passer rating, 39.6, if they spiked the ball into the ground on every pass play:
The Falcons team passer rating: 38.2
The Falcons team passer rating if they spiked the ball into the ground on every play: 39.6 pic.twitter.com/1qzePTiauQ
— Onyx Odds (@OnyxOdds) September 20, 2026
Essentially, that’s because the spikes don’t do damage in the same way.
The Falcons threw three interceptions, which count as worse than incompletions and only made life easier on the already favored Panthers.
Falcons QB Stats
Rush started for the second week in a row, and the Falcons really didn’t want to take him out of the game. They stuck with him as long as they could.
In his action, he was 1o-for-17 for 86 yards, an average of 5.1 yards per attempt.
Rush threw two interceptions and took one sack. He also rushed twice for 20 yards.
That brought in Strand, who was 8-for-15 for 59 yards, an average of 3.9 per attempt. Strand threw an interception and was sacked twice.
Strand also ran twice for 16 yards, so about the only thing the Falcons’ quarterbacks did well was run with the ball — but even on Rush’s first scramble of the game, he fumbled.
There’s also a newer-age quarterback rating-type stat that can sum up performances, called QBR, which ESPN puts together. It’s on a scale of 0-to-100, with 100 being the best.
Neither guy was good in QBR, either.
Rush had a 4.4 QBR. Strand had a 9.1 QBR.
The Falcons sure are hoping that their other quarterbacks can get back to action sooner rather than later. They’ve got a quick turnaround now, too, to Thursday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers. If it’s just Rush and Strand again, it could be a long night.
Falcons Would’ve Been Better Spiking Ball On Every Pass Vs. Panthers