The Panthers head home to Charlotte for the first time this season as they host the Falcons in NFL Week 3. The road wasn’t kind to them, as they dropped back-to-back games in Jacksonville and Phoenix. They hope to get their young QB started in this one. Meanwhile, the Falcons look to get more of the same from their youngster under center. They handled Minnesota last week by a 16-point margin with Michael Penix on the call and hope to keep things rolling.
The start for the Falcons has been about as good as could be expected minus rougly one quarter of a game. They came out firing against the Buccaneers and looked to have them on the ropes. Then Baker Mayfield happened and they wound up losing by a field goal late in the game. Week 2 was much more kind to them as their defense handled JJ McCarthy and the Vikings en route to a big victory.
Things have not been nearly as good for Bryce Young and the Panthers. They’ve had a bit of a rough time hanging on to the ball. Already, in two games, they have four turnovers on the board. Those mistakes have been costly as Carolina has dropped each of their first two games on the year. The most recent loss was by just five points, which begs the question – can Bryce take care of the ball long enough to win?
College Football Week 4 Best Bets: Upset Parlay
Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers Preview and Predictions
Chuba Hubbard Over 25.5 Receiving Yards (+156)
While I don’t expect Hubbard and the Panthers to come out on top in this one, I do like the idea of Hubbard being a check down champion. Hubbard has seen tons of volume in the passing game. In two games, he’s totaled eight catches for a total of 71 yards. That’s nearly the number of rushing yards he has in that amount of time. The Falcons, meanwhile, haven’t been overwhelming on the defensive side of things.
In addition to the volume we’ve seen from Hubbard in the passing game, the Falcons have also allowed quite a few completions in their short period of time here. They’ve seen nine passes completed to members of the opposing backfields. If they come even close to that figure, Hubbard will blow past his projection for this one.
Atlanta Falcons -5.5 (-105)
Although the Falcons come in here with a lofty number on the board, I still like them to cover the spread here. They are coming off a game with the Vikings that saw them win by 16 points and they cruised late. Now they get the Panthers, who have had some troubles finding their feet offensively. They’re averaging just 16 points per game in the short sample size. Penix and gang should hang a big number up for us and make this 5.5 look like child’s play. And that’s one of my favorite Falcons-Panthers prediction for this weekend.
