Oddsmakers are saying what goes up must come down.
The Panthers’ 59-37 scoragami loss to the Bears last week was a product of Caleb Williams’ duel-threat dominance inside Ben Johnson’s explosive new attack.
But Bryce Young may just in fact be a franchise quarterback. He outgained Williams through the air with 361 yards and three touchdowns.
Yet, the total in Carolina’s meeting with Atlanta in Week 2 is set at a low 43.5 mark.
Cooper Rush will return under center after being the worst quarterback in EPA per play in the NFL. He was so bad, that his -0.493 EPA per play was worth six points for the Steelers.
Panthers vs. Falcons prediction, best bet
He’s had a full week to work with the offense and Drake London will get more looks, but I’m not holding my breath on Rush’s improvement.
What I can expect is a hefty workload from Bijan Robinson on the ground.
Robinson was the only functional piece of Atlanta’s offense in the 20-13 loss, accounting for 73 percent of its offense. He collected 174 scrimmage yards that included catching eight of 10 targets.
D’Andre Swift ran all over the Panthers last week for 124 yards and three touchdowns, so Robinson will be licking his chops in this one.
The Falcons weren’t nearly as incompetent as the Panthers on defense, only allowing 4.1 yards per play to the Panthers’ league-worst 7.9.
Carolina will be a change of pace from the Steelers’ short-passing style with Aaron Rodgers.
Young threw for a franchise-record 448 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in Carolina’s 30-27 overtime win at Atlanta last season.
He is 4-1 against the Falcons with 1,133 passing yards and seven touchdowns.
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He got everyone involved last week. Jalen Coker caught eight passes for 138 yards and two scores and Chuba Hubbard scored both rushing and receiving touchdowns.
The Panthers have every reason to win this game. The trends say otherwise, however: they haven’t won outright or covered the spread in a game they were favored since September 2021.
Even though they have only played 12 games as a favorite since then, it is the longest ATS losing streak as a favorite.
These teams have combined to average 47 points per meeting over the past five years.
With top playmakers to exploit the opposition’s struggles on both sides, I’ll bank on chaos.
THE PLAY: Over 43.5 (+100, Kalshi)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Sean Treppedi handicaps the NFL, NHL, MLB and college football for the New York Post. He primarily focuses on picks that reflect market value while tracking trends to mitigate risk.
