Falcons vs. Panthers: Thursday Night Football Preview and Predictions

By AJ Olona

Thursday, Oct. 22 at 8:20 p.m. ET

NFL Network

SPREAD: Panthers, -3.0

This NFC South matchup features two teams that are both coming off of close losses in Week 7. The Carolina Panthers traveled down to New Orleans where they narrowly lost to the Saints 24-27. That to the Saints now puts them at 3-4 on the year and in 3rd place in their division behind the Saints and the Atlanta Falcons. On the other side of things, the Falcons are possibly starting to realize that Dann Quinn was not the issue for their late-game gaffs, as the Falcons lost another game this season where they were leading in the 4th quarter. Of the 6 losses on the season, the Falcons were at some point winning in 3 of those contests. Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions was no different as they watched the Lions score a last-second touchdown with no time remaining to win the game.

Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons are one of the worst teams in the NFL. Coming off of a dominant win against the Minnesota Vikings, the first game with their new interim-head coach Raheem Morris, many were wondering if the Falcons were finally going to step up and play how they should have been all season long. Well, for those who were wondering that they were quickly let down as the Falcons blew another lead. Todd Gurley II tried to stop himself from scoring to try and run out the rest of the clock against the Lions. He was unable to stop his momentum and fell into the end zone with 1 minute and 4 seconds remaining on the clock. That was just enough time for the Lions to go down the field and win the game. The Falcons season is all but lost seven weeks into the season. Despite their record, however, they will continue to put up fights against teams in the NFC South, and should not be counted as an easy win going forward.

Falcons Offense

Todd Gurley accidentally falls into the end zone against the Lions. (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)

The Falcons offense has been good in 2020, at least that is what the numbers say. Matt Ryan leads the league in passing yards with 2181 yards. Ryan has 12 touchdowns through the air compared to just 3 interceptions. The running game has been...adequate. The Falcons are having a hard time finding running lanes for Todd Gurley at a consistent rate. The Falcons are also playing to win the game a lot of the time, which has caused them to get away from the run far too often. Gurley has had less than 20 carries four out of the six games so far in this season. While he is averaging 4.0 yards per carry on the season as a whole, he has had three games where he has averaged less than 3 yards per carry. All in all, Todd Gurley has been a mixed bag for the Falcons this season. It was Gurley who ultimately failed the Falcons in the fourth quarter against the Lions. With just over a minute left, Gurley fell into the end zone instead of going down. Had he gone down, the Falcons would have likely been able to run out the clock and seal the game. However since he did score on the play, the Lions were able to come back with a minute left in the game and score a touchdown as time expired to win the game. It was a bad look for Gurley and for this Falcons offense as a whole. The passing game is the strength of this offense, as Ryan, Julio Jones, and Calvin Ridley have all been playing at extremely high levels so far in 2020. With those three in sync, the Falcons will have a chance to be in any game going forward. The Panthers had several players that were limited in practice, but don't seem to have too many players in danger of not playing on the offensive side of the ball.

Falcons Defense

The Falcons are currently in the bottom five in terms of total team defense in the NFL. They have allowed nearly 3,000 total yards on defense through seven games. They have recently taken over as the worst passing defense in the NFL from the Seattle Seahawks. They have allowed an alarming 2,334 passing yards in the season, and they have allowed 8.2 yards per pass attempt, and have allowed 19 passing touchdowns so far, both dead last in the entire league. While the Falcons defense has been actually pretty stout against the run this season, led by star defender Deion Jones, their success is being overshadowed by the putrid pass defense. The Falcons are also struggling at getting to the quarterback this season, only producing 10 sacks and rarely applying pressure on the opposing team's quarterback. Things won't get much better as Takk McKinley has been held out of practice thus far due to a groin injury. For the Falcons to be able to put it together, they are going to need to find a way to pressure the quarterback and slow down D.J. Moore and Robby Anderson.

Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers have had a very up and down season so far. They have beaten teams like the Falcons, Cardinals, and the Chargers, but have lost to the Raiders, Buccaneers, Bears, and Saints. The fact that the Panthers have been without their best player in Christian McCaffrey and have still managed to be productive on offense is amazing. Teddy Bridgewater very well may be playing the best football of his career right now. He currently is top-5 in the league in passing yards and has kept the Panthers close in all but one game so far this season. This NFC South matchup is huge for the Panthers as they are trying not to lose too much ground behind the Falcons and the Saints going forward.

Panthers Offense

(Brett Duke/AP)

Once again, Teddy Bridgewater is playing the best football of his career. While he only has 8 touchdowns on the season, he is doing a great job spreading the ball around to his receivers. Both D.J. Moore and Robby Anderson are consistently producing each week and the Panthers are even getting production in the running game despite missing McCaffrey since Week 2. Mike Davis has been able to fill in for the McCaffrey role on offense, finding ways to chip in both on the ground and in the passing game. While no one will ever be able to replace McCaffrey's production, the Panthers offense has surprisingly been solid without their star player. However, Christian McCaffrey was recently activated off of I.R., giving him the possibility to play Thursday, however, it seems unlikely. It is currently looking like the Panthers will be without two linemen as both Russell Okung and John Miller have yet to practice this week. Look for the Falcons to try to exploit that offensive line.

Panthers Defense

The Carolina Panthers have also been somewhat of a mixed bag. They have been somewhat decent against the pass but have struggled against the run. They are middle of the pack with the number of yards that they have allowed, but they are allowing only 6.0 yards per attempt which ranks as sixth-best in the league. Against the run, however, the Panthers have allowed 868 rushing yards so far this season, which is tenth last in the entire league. The main issue is when the Panthers are allowing nearly 5 yards per carry, one of the worst in the entire league while allowing 52 first downs on the ground, and opposing teams have found the endzone on the ground 10 times. The Panthers are a mixed bag. In order to win this tough NFC South matchup, they are going to need to be able to flip the script and stop Todd Gurley on the ground. 

The Prediction

While we can look at the record and almost write off the Falcons due to their 1-6 record, it would not be smart. The Falcons are not a good team, let's get that straight. But right now, neither are the Panthers. Any game in the division is going to be a competitive one. When these two teams faced each other just three games ago in Week 5, it was a close one. The Panthers came out on top after a 23-16 win. In that game, the Panthers were able to shut down the pass but struggled to contain Todd Gurley. Luckily, the Panthers were able to put up an early lead behind both Teddy Bridgewater and Mike Davis that made the Falcons need to pass to catch up. If that is the case again, the Panthers will win the game. Matt Ryan will need to play at his best in order to pull out a win, but even then, it seems unlikely that the Falcons have anything to fight for at this point. Panthers corner Eli Apple was dealing with a hamstring injury for the Panthers defense before he was released on Tuesday. Other than that, the Panthers defense enters this game somewhat healthy on the defensive side of things.

AJ’S PREDICTION: Panthers 28 - 3

CADE’S PREDICTION: Panthers 35 - 7

JAKE’S PREDICTION: Falcons 21 - 10

SHAWN’S PREDICTION: Falcons 23 - 17

TIMOTHY’S PREDICTION: Panthers 24 - 21

Follow AJ on Twitter @age_lona