Thursday Night Football Picks: Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers

Election Haze

Your crack team of corrosive analysts are here to pick another Thursday Night Football game. Our Week 10 kickoff features the Atlanta Falcons (4-5) and the Carolina Panthers (2-7).

The Godzilla is recovering from a taxing election season and is currently sunk into the couch on the heels of a crazy bus tour that took him up and down the eastern seaboard.

#NoPickNate is licking his wounds after yet another loser Sunday, but he mailed in his Nevada ballot on Tuesday and expects Washoe County to count it by December.

I’m still mad the Titans cost me $500. Remember folks, this is for entertainment purposes only!

Let’s take a look.

Odds courtesy of DraftKings as of 9/10/22.

Standings

Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers (-2.5) (o/u 41.5)

Nate: I’m an idiot and played the over 41.5 points for the game, before we found out a hurricane was headed that direction.
I would recommend it to nobody now, but I have no choice but to live with my choices. Pick: Over 41.5.

John: Panthers stink, folks. Baby Baker won back the starting job after P.J. I-Need-A-Walker started throwing the ball at the cheerleaders. Sorry, Charlotte.

The Falcons are good. Arthur Smith is going to run the ball seventy times and win this game 19-15. Georgia is headed to a run off. Stacey Abrams lost! Georgia on my mind!!! Pick: Atlanta -2.5.

Jack: I could lay down a number of statistics and advanced metrics that tell you how bad this Atlanta defense is, but, if you’ve watched any of their games over the last two weeks, you’ve seen it courtesy of FOX.

The Falcons don’t put any pressure on the quarterback. This is frustrating for Falcons fans, who believe Atlanta is wasting a major talent on the defensive line in Grady Jarrett. What’s worse, the Falcons secondary struggles to cover anyone and opposing quarterbacks have been posting major numbers against this defensive unit week after week. (The Chargers seemed invincible on third down last week.) Defensive coordinator, Dean Pees, knows the Falcons secondary is struggling, which is why his blitz rate is 30th in the league (14.9%). The defense can’t do much and it has cost them games.

The good news? The Panthers suck. Had Carolina not scored on an improbable last-second touchdown in Atlanta two weeks ago, the Falcons would have covered. I have faith Atlanta’s run-first offense will control the clock and wear down a pathetic Panthers squad. Go Birds. Pick: Falcons -2.5.

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