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Atlanta Falcons vs Carolina Panthers: Can the Panthers pick up their game?

The Atlanta Falcons are visiting the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday.

The Bills are red-hot right now

The Atlanta Falcons are on top of the NFC South with a 3-2 record. The Falcons are coming off a 36-30 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 36-30. Kirk Cousins had an epic performance throwing for a career-high 509 yards and four touchdowns, the last of them a 45-yard scoring pass to KhaDarel Hodge in overtime to seal the deal for the Falcons.  His move to Atlanta on a $180 million deal was criticized by many but he is starting to prove everyone wrong.

The Panthers are already into deep

The Carolina Panthers are at the bottom of the NFC South with a 1-4 record. The Panthers are coming off a 36-10 loss to the Chicago Bears. Andy Dalton, who stepped in as the starting QB after Bryce Young was benched, was 18 of 28 for 136 yards with an interception and got sacked three times.

Betting Trends

The Panthers are 1-7 SU in their last 8 games overall, 1-6 SU in their last 7 home games and 1-13 SU in their last 14 games against teams from the NFC. They are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games overall, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games played in October and 1-7 SU in their last 8 games in Week 6. The Falcons are 12-5 SU in their last 17 games overall, and 3-13 SU in their last 16 games on the road. They are 2-5 ATS in their last 5 games overall, 2-4 ATS in their last 6 games against the Panthers, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games against teams from the NFC South and 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games played in October. Atlanta has played under the total point line in 6 of their last 7 games against Carolina.

Prediction and Conclusion

The Atlanta Falcons have left everything they got on the court, and that is paying off right now. None of their wins came easy, and that has built a character in this team that they are about to show today. The key factor in those wins was quarterback Kirk Cousins, who signed a huge contract this offseason coming out of the Minnesota Vikings. Cousins threw for a personal and a franchise-record 509 yards in the win over the Buccaneers. Kicker Younghoe Koo is another valuable asset for the Falcons as he is 5-for-6 on field-goal attempts of 50 or more yards. Unlike the Falcons, the Panthers are just terrible, losing four of the five games this season. They are on a two-game losing streak at the moment and fall 1-2 since Andy Dalton became the starting quarterback. Given the odds, we are going with the Falcons to cover the -5.5-point spread.