Better than expected
This is a matchup between two teams that are probably going to end up in 3rd and 4th place in this division. While Falcons disappointed with their results this season, that cannot be said for Carolina Panthers. Sure, they're 3-4, but they did a good job with what they have on this roster, especially considering that it's a first year under Matt Rhule, with new quarterback in town (Teddy Bridgewater). All that with limited activities in the offseason, which gave the team very limited time to learn the new system and implement it on the field.For those reasons, I believe it's impressive what the Panthers have done so far. Can't wait to see them after a full offseason program under Rhule and Christian McCaffrey back in the lineup. Actually, there were some indications that he might return this week vs the Falcons, but that was put on hold for at least another week. They obviously don't want to rush him back. He's too important for this franchise and his replacement Mike Davis played really well in his place. These two teams met in Week 5, when Carolina defeated the Falcons in Atlanta 23-16.
Unreal
But that was in week 5, when Falcons were in a free fall. After getting rid of coach Dan Quinn, some improvements have been noticed. They won the game at Minnesota immediately after the coaching change, but they are still losing the games that they already had in their pocket. It happened last week vs Detroit again. They were losing by one point. Gurley needed a first down, but also needed to stop short of the goal line and give them a chance to run the clock down and kick a short field goal to win the game. He gets the first down, tries to stop, but falls forward for a touchdown. Matt Stafford gets the ball back with 60 seconds left to play and marches down the field for a winning touchdown, of course.Although similar things happened to them three times this season, I wouldn't hold that against them too much, because things like that can cloud your judgement. People tend to make conclusions very quickly about the mentalities of the team and who's a loser and who's a winner. From what I saw, Atlanta started to play better since Dan Quinn got fired, especially on defense. Offensively, they had some problems with injuries at wide receiver. Julio Jones and Russel Gage were limited in the practice, but are both expected to suit up.
Panthers vs Falcons betting tips
I am still deciding whether I'll back Atlanta in this spot or not. I like the improvements that they've made in the last couple of weeks. They are obviously playing better and might be underrated in this spot because of the way they lost the game last week. But this line seems on the edge of the value in my opinion, which is why I'm going to wait for a better one possibly.But, I will take a player props bet that immediately caught my eye. Getting Julio Jones at only 72,5 receiving yards seems like a steal. I don't know if that's because they think this injury is going to slow him down or something like that. But he proved a couple times this season that he still got it and can rack up yards in a hurry if you don't give him the respect that he deserves. Carolina's pass defense is nothing special. They don't have an elite corner that can slow him down.Also, don't forget to check out our new feature for comparing outright odds. These two opponents are both part of the NFC South division. Odds for winning it can be found with this link: https://theplayer.com/odds/american-football/usa/nfl/nfl-nfc-division-south-winner-reg-season
