Week ten of the NFL season begins with a Thursday Night Football matchup between NFC South division rivals as the 4-5 Atlanta Falcons travel to Charlotte to take on the 2-7 Carolina Panthers.
The Falcons and second-year head coach Arthur Smith are known for heavily running the ball and saw the return of veteran Cordarrelle Patterson in week nine after missing a few games due to injury.
ANGRY RUN TD from the one and only @ceeflashpee84
📺 FOX || NFL+ pic.twitter.com/uI2d6xOGaU
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) November 6, 2022
While the Panthers, led by interim head coach Steve Wilks have struggled to get some consistency, veteran running back, D’Onta Foreman has had some great showings since earning more playing time with the departure of Christian McCaffrey, including running for 118 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries against the Falcons just a few weeks ago.
3️⃣ for 3️⃣3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/8lz2Iecepe
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) October 30, 2022
The Falcons are currently averaging the third most rush attempts per game in the league with 33.7 attempts per game and sit at number four for the fourth most rushing yards in the league at 162.9 yards per game. With that said, the Falcons have not had a 100-yard rusher in a game since week three in their 27-23 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, in which Cordarrelle Patterson rushed for 141 yards; Patterson is the only Falcons player to rush for 100 yards in a game, and he’s done it twice as he ran for 120 yards on the ground in Atlanta’s 27-26 week one loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Regarding passing, the Falcons are in the bottom tier of pass attempts per game as they average just 22.3 pass attempts per game, ranking them at 30 out of 32 teams in the league. With their 4-5 record, you would think Smith and his staff would look to find more of a well-balanced offensive gameplan as it seems as if they just run, run, run, which is not a bad thing but unfortunately, it hasn’t fully worked for the Falcons.
Another factor to talk about is their last two first-round picks, second-year tight end Kyle Pitts and first-year wideout Drake London; the team selected Pitts with the fourth pick in the 2021 draft, while London was chosen with the eighth pick in this year’s draft. So, it is pretty confusing why the Falcons chose these two offensive weapons because they do not use them or give them the opportunities to show what they can do. That is arguably the most mind-boggling thing about Atlanta’s offensive approach this year.
As for the defensive side of the ball for the Falcons, number one cornerback and 2020 first-round pick A.J. Terrell will not be playing in this primetime showdown, thus perhaps opening up the field for D.J. Moore and P.J. Walker to connect a lot. This leads to the Panthers offense; although Walker is starting at quarterback for Carolina, it will be interesting to monitor his performance and the team’s patience with him as he was benched in their week nine 42-21 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
As for Moore, he’s had some more opportunities since the firing of Matt Rhule, including a 152-yard one-touchdown performance against this same Falcons team just a few weeks ago, which was also a big game for D’Onta Foreman, as previously mentioned. It will be interesting to see if Foreman gets the bulk of the carries or if it goes back to a more split backfield with the possibility of Chuba Hubbard returning to play after missing some action due to injury.
This matchup for the Falcons is crucial as they are currently tied for the NFC South division lead with Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. As for the Panthers, they have nothing to lose, so it should be a very intense matchup between division opponents. Something of note, Atlanta won the first matchup between the teams back in week eight 37-34 after kicker Younghoe Koo made a 41-yard field goal to win the game in overtime.
As for some predictions, we believe the Carolina Panthers will upset the Falcons with a 28-21 win. We also believe D.J. Moore will have at least one touchdown with over 100 receiving yards.
Let us know what you think about this upcoming Thursday Night Football showdown between the Falcons and Panthers by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
Don’t forget: The Atlanta Falcons take on the Carolina Panthers LIVE from Bank of America Stadium TONIGHT 11/10 @ 8:15pm ET on Prime Video.
