Falcons (1-6) at Panthers (3-4)
Thursday, 8:20 p.m. ET, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.
TV: Fox and NFL Network Danny Sheridan’s line: Carolina by 2 1⁄
2
Falcons’ keys to victory: For the last decade, the strength of Atlanta has been QB Matt Ryan airing the ball out to an excellent cast of receivers, most notably Julio Jones. Jones has combined with WR Calvin Ridley to make arguably the most potent 1-2 punch at the position in the NFL. Ridley in particular has had a ton of success against Carolina’s defense the last few years. Ryan should continue feeding him and Jones as much as possible. Defensively, Atlanta is top heavy at best. It needs someone other than star DT Grady Jarrett and up-and-coming LB Foyesade Oluokun to make stops consistently against a strong Panthers offense.
Panthers’ keys to victory: Run defense has been the Achilles’ heel for Carolina the last couple of seasons. DE Stephen Weatherly and LB Tahir Whitehead in particular have to improve in this area. Offensively, the Panthers need to embrace WR Robby Anderson as their true No. 1 option and continue to feed WR DJ Moore.
Matchup to watch: Falcons’ Ridley vs. Panthers CB Donte Jackson. Ridley has dominated the Panthers in five career matchups, posting 28 catches for 508 yards and four touchdowns. It will fall to speedy Jackson and the other cornerbacks to try to end that run of success.
Who wins? The Panthers easily rolled over the Falcons in the teams’ most recent meeting. It was so bad that Atlanta fired its head coach and general manager. It’s still mostly the same Falcons on the field.
Panthers 33-24