In a conference call with the media earlier today, Falcons QB Matt Ryan told reporters that the Falcons are well aware of Panthers DE Charles Johnson's presence on the field, leading everyone to believe they will focus part of their game plan on preventing him from making Ryan's day miserable when the Panthers take on the Falcons this Sunday in the Georgia Dome.

According to a tweet by The Charlotte Observer's Joe Person, Ryan said:

He's a good player. He doesn't fly under the radar in the Atlanta Falcons' organization.

While we haven't seen very many signs of Johnson's dominance on the field in the stats column, it's refreshing to know that the Falcons do see him as a threat and plan to focus on stopping him (or at least slowing him down). Hopefully he's able to live up to the 'Big Money' moniker that he's been given and make a big enough impact to disrupt the Falcons offensively, because as we already know - the Panthers are going to need to cause as much disruption for Atlanta's high octane offense as they possibly can if they want to leave Atlanta with a victory.

Johnson isn't the only one who needs to step up and make plays, but if the Falcons' offensive line has to spend the majority of their time focusing on him, perhaps it can open the door for Greg Hardy and Frank Alexander to plant Matt Ryan into the turf on a frequent basis, which would be an acceptable outcome for Panthers Nation; provided the other two facets of the game can come together for Carolina as well.