The Carolina Panthers may be the online wagering favorites and the Atlanta Falcons the underdogs – for only the second time this season – but the two NFC South foes have one thing in common: they can’t hold their (figurative) liquor. Or, as Panthers head coach Ron Rivera, when asked whether he found a similitude between what his team went through following Super Bowl 50 and what the Falcons are going through right now, put it; “Yeah, the hangover.”
- Date: Sunday, 5th November
- Time: 1:05 PM
- Venue: Bank of America Stadium
- Online sportsbook odds:
Falcons +2½ (-108) 44 (-105)
Panthers -2½ (-112) 44 (-115)
Mercedes-Benz Stadium leaks but Falcons don’t
The Falcons run defense had their best performance of the season yet in Sunday’s 25-20 win over the Jets, allowing just 43 yards. “That part of the game, it really felt familiar in terms of everybody just really (playing) assignment-sound, doing their job not trying to step out of their gap to go make a play,” head coach Dan Quinn said. “I thought the consistency of the run defense was what really jumped out. I thought they took a big step towards becoming the unit, especially in the run game, that they can be.” Atlanta snapped a three-game losing skid, but the Falcons had their fourth straight loss against the spread. Atlanta is, moreover, 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games playing NFC teams, 4-1 ATS in their last five against the NFC South, 9-4 ATS in their last 13 on the road, and 2-5 ATS in their last seven in November, while the Panthers are 3-1-1 ATS in their last five games in Week 9, 5-2-1 ATS in their last eight in November, 1-4 ATS in their last five after an SU win, and 0-4 against the online wagering spread in their last four at home.
The Panthers prefer to take the high road
The Panthers have won three straight road games as underdogs, including Sunday’s 17-3 win over the Bucs – covering for the first time in three games – but have lost their last two as home faves. Carolina is 1-2 SU and 0-2-1 ATS at Bank of America Stadium this season. Cam Newton continued, on Sunday, trying to expand his passing radius targeting Devin Funchess, Curtis Samuel, and Kelvin Benjamin with 20-plus yard passes, but only hitting Benjamin with a 25-yard touchdown pass. Carolina, by the way, traded Benjamin to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a 2018 third and seventh round draft pick on Tuesday. Go figure.
When you wake up and realize you can throw to Kelvin Benjamin. #GoBills pic.twitter.com/BsGnTSbs2X
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) November 1, 2017
The Panthers have averaged just 10 points per game in the last two games, while the Falcons have scored just 16.6 points per game in their last four, and the total has gone under in six of the last eight meetings between these teams. Atlanta, on the other hand, has averaged 35.9 points in 10 consecutive SU wins versus NFC teams, but Carolina having giving away a key offensive weapon, they may not have enough firepower for the online wagering total to go over.