FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Atlanta Falcons rookie pass-rusher Vic Beasley, the eighth overall pick out of Clemson, set the bar high for himself from Day 1.

After being drafted, Beasley boldly professed his goal of double-digit sacks during his first NFL season. Now, he's stuck on two sacks with just four games remaining.

So does Beasley regret making such a proclamation? Not exactly.

"That's still my goal," Beasley said. "If I do get those, 'Hoot and hooray.' If I don't, I just have to come back harder next year.

"It's still open for me. It's a possibility. It's like two sacks a game. I just have to keep working hard. If things go my way, it's possible."

Vic Beasley has two of the Falcons' league-low 13 sacks this season. Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

The Falcons have tried to ignite Beasley by moving him from the right side to the left and allowing him to work in unison with different rush partners such as Adrian Clayborn, Jonathan Babineaux and O'Brien Schofield. As a whole, the Falcons have failed to produce sacks and stand last in the league with 13 total quarterback takedowns through 12 games.

Beasley is tied for the team lead in sacks along with Kroy Biermann, Schofield and Clayborn. He has four quarterback hits, well behind team leaders Clayborn (13) and Schofield (12).

Beasley appeared to have a better flow at the start of the season when he was going up against Pro Bowl tackle Jason Peters from Philadelphia. Then the rookie really started to slip in Week 7 against Tennessee when he found himself on the ground numerous times while also being too engaged in trash talk with Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan.

Maybe some success against undefeated Carolina and MVP candidate Cam Newton could help give Beasley more confidence down the stretch.

"It would be an emotion-booster," Beasley said of sacking Newton. "The main goal for me is to go out there and help my team win games. If I'm getting sacks, I'm out there helping my team win games.

"Jameis [Winston] was a hard guy to get. Cam is just as elusive as Jameis. It's definitely going to be a good task."

Newton has been sacked 22 times this season. The Panthers' tackles are former Baltimore Ravens first-round draft pick Michael Oher and Mike Remmers, an undrafted player signed off the St. Louis Rams' practice squad.

"They're both talented tackles," Beasley said. "I just have to continue to work hard and get pressure on the quarterback the best way I can."

Falcons head coach and pass-rush guru Dan Quinn has ridden Beasley throughout the season trying to ignite a spark. Quinn always preaches finishing plays, something Beasley hasn't been able to do consistently throughout his rookie campaign.

"It's really nothing that's missing," Beasley said. "A lot of the times, the quarterback gets rid of the ball fast. We have limited opportunities to rush the passer because we've been playing from behind lately. We've been able to move the quarterback off the spot a few times and just missed a few sacks. Just have to finish right there."

Which game would Beasley label his best performance?

"The most I affected the quarterback was Minnesota," Beasley said of a Week 12 loss to the Vikings. "That's probably one of my better games, if we're going from that point of view."

Defensive coordinator Richard Smith was asked for his thoughts on Beasley setting the double-digit sack goal in the first place.

"Like I said before, I felt that he was very similar to Von Miller," Smith said, comparing Beasley to the Pro Bowl pass-rusher he had in Denver. "There's a little bit of some things that were similar; some things weren't. But Von might have a little bit stronger lower body. But if you looked at their numbers and stuff, they are very, very comparable. Of course, Von, his rookie year, I think he was rookie of the year his first year. Had bigger numbers [11.5 sacks in 2011], plus Von was on a different football team, too. At that time, we had Von Miller on one side, [Elvis] Dumervil on the other.

"Like I said with all of us, we've got to get better in a lot of different areas. And that's what we're working toward."

We'll see if Beasley takes another step in his development Sunday afternoon.