The Falcons remained competitive in every game up until they faced Joe Burrow and the three-headed monster of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd. Atlanta had covered in six straight weeks as underdogs in each contest. Coming into Week 7 as nearly touchdown underdogs, the Dirty Birds were completely outmatched and were handed a 35-17 loss.
Things should be different this week, though. For the first time all season, the Falcons will be betting favorites in their Week 8 matchup in Mercedes Benz Stadium against the Panthers. Carolina comes in after an impressive 21-3 drubbing of the Buccaneers as nearly touchdown underdogs. The line is already up to 6.5 points on some sites, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it went up even more.
The Panthers are a dumpster fire, regardless of the victory over Tampa Bay. The team just fired Matt Rhule, traded Robbie Anderson and Christian McCaffrey, and is missing both Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. With PJ Walker as their signal caller, Carolina somehow handled the Bucs, but Vegas still sees the Panthers as the far inferior team.
The line didn’t move one bit despite the Panthers blowing the Bucs out and the Falcons losing by the same margin. Sunday was a gift for Carolina; Atlanta should win this one and cover the spread. Coming into Sunday, the Panthers had lost three straight games by double digits with two offensive touchdowns over that period. Atlanta is a far more competent franchise at this point than Carolina; don’t overthink this one. Get the Falcons right now before the line gets above -7.
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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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