Upcoming Match-ups

NFL Betting – Panthers Out for Blood at Atl.

Zack Garrison

by Zack Garrison in News

Updated Jan 17, 2018 · 9:39 AM PST

Carolina Panthers (-3, 50.5 o/u) at Atlanta Falcons

The Carolina Panthers (1-2 SU, and 1-2 ATS) have a shot at redemption this Sunday when they visit the Atlanta Falcons (2-1 SU, 2-1 ATS) at the Georgia Dome (1:00 PM Eastern). The Falcons were the only team to hand the Panthers a loss last regular season, ending their quest for perfection in Week 16. But Carolina won’t just be looking for payback for that loss; they’ll also want to take out some frustration stemming from last week’s game, when Minnesota ended the Panthers’ 14-game home win streak.

After jumping out to a 10-0 lead, Carolina couldn’t do anything offensively against the Vikings, getting shutout the rest of the way and falling 16-10. Protection was the major issue – just like in the Super Bowl setback to Denver – with Cam Newton getting sacked eight times.

Lucky for Cam, Atlanta has virtually no pass rush and ranks third-last in the league in total defense. So Sunday’s affair should see the offense get back on track, even without starting RB Jonathan Stewart, who continues to recover from a hamstring injury.

With Stewart on the sideline, Fozzy Whittaker (24 carries, 135 yards on the year) figures to get most of the carries, that is, when Cam (117 yards on 24 carries) doesn’t tote the rock himself.

Apart from the o-line, the guy looking for the biggest bounce-back game will be Kelvin Benjamin. After missing all of his sophomore season due to injury, Benjamin racked up 13 receptions for 199 yards and three touchdowns through two weeks. Then he was bageled by the Vikings (zero catches on one target).

While the Carolina offense is in for a much easier day against Atlanta, the defense (currently third in total yards allowed) will be at defcon five. Atlanta currently leads the league in scoring at 34.7 PPG. Granted, they’ve had the luxury of playing the Bucs, Saints, and Raiders – possibly the three worst defenses in the league – but they’re still scoring at an alarming clip. And settling for a lot of field goals last year, the rate at which they’re scoring majors has to have the Falcon faithful optimistic.

The key to the turnaround has been Matt Ryan. Once among the league’s elite, the QB suffered through a couple down years that saw too many costly turnovers. Early in 2016, he’s fourth in the league with 970 passing yards and has only tossed one pick (versus seven TDs).

The bad news for Ryan – aside from facing his first real defense of the season – is that top target Julio Jones is laboring with a calf injury and was limited at Wednesday’s practice. He was held to just one catch for 16 yards last week in a 45-32 romp over the Saints. The Falcons will need him to be more like his usual self against Carolina if they’re going to keep up their high-scoring ways.

I might be succumbing to recency bias here, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen from Atlanta so far this year, even though they dropped a winnable game in Week 1. Carolina, on the other hand, looks like a shadow of the team that owned the division – and the NFC – in 2015. They could squeak out a road win, but the trends aren’t in their favor: 0-5 ATS in their last five road games; 2-6 ATS in the last eight in Atlanta.

I’ll take the Falcons to continue their hot start, just like last year.

Pick: Falcons +3.


Photo credit: Keith Allison (Flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/].

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