Panthers (5-7) at Falcons (3-9)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, MercedesBenz Stadium, Atlanta
TV: Fox
Danny Sheridan’s line: Falcons by 21⁄2
Panthers’ keys to victory: Use screen passes to get the ball to RB Christian McCaffrey and allow QB Kyle Allen to make simple reads. Atlanta’s defense is not particularly good against the run or the pass, outside of a recent twogame stretch. The Panthers need to bring the heat against the Falcons’ struggling offensive line, which has given up 40 sacks and 100 QB hits this season.
Falcons’ keys to victory: Priority No. 1 for the Falcons is to keep QB Matt Ryan upright after allowing nine sacks to the New Orleans Saints on Thanksgiving. In Atlanta’s Week 11 victory over Carolina, the offensive line played arguably its best game and the passing attack flourished as a result. Defensively, the Falcons need to rattle Panthers QB Kyle Allen early. Atlanta intercepted four of Allen’s passes and sacked him five times when these two teams played on Nov. 17.
Matchup to watch: Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey vs. Falcons LB Deion Jones. McCaffrey has shown he can impact the game even if there is little room to run. He is a matchup nightmare and gashed the Falcons for 191 all-purpose yards in Week 11. Jones, despite an average year by his standards, is one of the most athletic Mike linebackers in the NFL. He’ll have to make difficult tackles in space to make sure the Falcons don’t give up the big play.
Who wins? The Falcons throttled the Panthers 29-3 in Week 11 and played well in the tough loss to the Saints on Thanksgiving. Expect Atlanta to win a low-scoring and possibly ugly game.
Falcons, 20-16