A divisional matchup in the NFC South, and how the tables have turned for these two franchises in recent weeks! Atlanta sits at 3-3 after pulling out back to back wins, whilst the Panthers are now 3-4 after a 3-0 start!
Sam Darnold was benched in Week 7’s loss to the New York Giants, but the Panthers are expected to start Darnold here in an important game. The former 3rd overall pick battles for his starting QB berth once again and is somewhat lucky to have such an inexperienced understudy. The offense struggled last week, and that’s not been something we’ve seen from a Joe Brady called unit since he entered the NFL. Robby Anderson was a receiving stud for the Panthers last season but has struggled to find rapport with his QB, which is surprising considering this is the second team they’ve played on together. Anderson only has one game with 5 receptions this season, with the other six games heralding 3 or fewer receptions. This could be a get right game, but everything points to the under for Anderson again here.
Atlanta has won three of their last four games to move to .500 on the year and will push themselves into early wildcard contention with a win here. The emergence of rookie TE Kyle Pitts has been a huge factor in their recent success, with Pitts posting back to back 100+ receiving yard games and has become Atlanta’s #1 receiver over these last two games.
I like the Panthers to get right in this one, sure they’re on a 4-game skid and all the momentum is with Atlanta, but Carolina aren’t a bad football team and I think they can get their offense going again against an underwhelming Falcons defense.
Spread: Panthers +3
Total: 46.5
Game Prediction: Panthers 27-21 Falcons
Best Bet: Kyle Pitts over 4.5 receptions & Robby Anderson under 4.5 receptions @ 11/5 with Bet365 Bet Builder. [0.5]
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