Panthers vs. Falcons ‘Thursday Night Football’ pick and open thread

NFL Week 10 is here, and we are starting this week off with a fun divisional matchup between the visiting Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers. Both teams come into this game under .500, but I think this matchup will be more fun than a lot of the Thursday Night Football games we’ve seen this season. Our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook believe this game will be close, as the spread is only 2.5 points in favor of the Falcons.

The Panthers have made changes that you would expect to result in losing. Trading away an all-world talent like Christian McCaffrey at running back, then benching former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield at quarterback, are potentially “tank worthy” moves. P.J. Walker has filled in at quarterback and, in my opinion, performed better than Mayfield. Running backs Chuba Hubbard, D’Onta Foreman and Raheem Blackshear haven’t completely replaced McCaffrey, but they have gotten the job done.

Atlanta had been waiting for the return of running back Cordarrelle Patterson, and he has not disappointed. Although he only rushed for 44 yards in his return, he added two touchdowns and accounted for most of their scoring outside of one field goal. The problem in Atlanta has been the quarterback position: Marcus Mariota has not found a way to take advantage of weapons like Kyle Pitts.

Tonight, I expect the Falcons to continue to lead the division and climb to an even .500 record. Patterson and Caleb Huntley will run all over this Panthers defense. Walker and D.J. Moore will keep the game interesting, but I fully expect the Falcons to cover the spread and win on the road.