Thursday Night Football features a battle of AFC South teams as the Atlanta Falcons (4-5) take on the Carolina Panthers (2-7). The Panthers will host this one at the Bank of America Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 8:15 pm ET.
Atlanta suffered a loss in their last matchup, losing 20-17 to the Chargers last Sunday. In the defeat, Marcus Mariota threw for just 129 yards. Tyler Allgeier led the backfield with 99 yards on 10 carries, but it was Cordarrelle Patterson who found the endzone twice.
Carolina also lost last weekend 42-21 to the Cincinnati Bengals. Baker Mayfield threw for 155 yards and two touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough for the Panthers to overcome the Bengals. Carolina’s defense gave up 153 rushing yards and four touchdowns to Joe Mixon.
The Falcons are slight favorites despite playing on the road. They are -158 to win, while the Panthers’ moneyline sits at +134. The spread features Carolina +3 (-110), and the over/under for total points is 44.5 (-110).
Falcons Look To Get Back On Trace Against Division Foe
With the loss last weekend, the Falcons now sit second in the NFC South with a 4-5 record. While Tampa Bay has the same record, they currently hold the tiebreaker, given their head-to-head victory over Atlanta earlier in the season. The Falcons will look to get back on track as they face the Panthers Thursday night.
Under center for the Falcons is Marcus Mariota. In nine games, he has thrown for 1,561 yards, 10 touchdowns, and six interceptions. His favorite target to this point has been Drake London, who has 33 receptions for 369 yards and two touchdowns.
On the ground, Tyler Allgeier (423 yards, TD) and Cordarrelle Patterson (384 yards, 5 TD) have done the most damage.
As a whole, Atlanta’s offense ranks ninth in the NFL, averaging 24.1 points per game (21.5 on the road). Their defense has been a bit more problematic as they rank 26th in scoring defense, allowing opponents 25 points per game (27.5 on the road).
Struggling Panthers Look For Home Win
Especially after trading their best player in Christian McCaffrey at the trade deadline, it is no surprise that Carolina’s team is struggling. Still, they have performed far better at home (2-3) than on the road (0-4), and they will look to use that home-field advantage to pick up their third win of the season.
Last week, the team especially struggled as they were losing 35-0 at halftime. While the final score wasn’t quite as embarrassing, it was still a rough outing for a team hitting rock bottom.
PJ Walker will start again at quarterback, but he was replaced by Mayfield last week. Sam Darnold could also be in the mix Thursday night as he was activated for this one.
With McCaffrey gone, D’Onta Foreman has been the leading rusher for Carolina. This season, he has rushed 60 times for 296 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, the Panthers rank 29th in the league, allowing 25.3 points per game (21.2 at home).
Take The Falcons On The Road
With the struggles the Panthers have, it is just really hard to bet on Carolina at this point.
Looking at the trends, Atlanta is 8-2 in their last 10 against Carolina, and they are 5-1 against the spread in their last six on the road against Carolina.
For the Panthers, they are 2-14 straight up and 3-13 against the spread in their last 16 games. Furthermore, they are 2-9 against the spread in their last 11 home games.
While the Falcons aren’t exactly lighting up the league, they are the right bet in this one. Take Atlanta to both win and to cover the 3-point spread (-110).
