Thursday Night Football – Falcons @ Panthers

The Falcons (1-6) will take on the Panthers (3-4) for the Week 8 Thursday Night matchup at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.

Atlanta lost last week in peak Atlanta fashion. You usually don’t see a team who scores at the end of the game end up losing, but that is what this team is all about this year! On paper, they have one of the best offenses in all of football, but with them being one of the worst defensive teams in the league, they have not been able to put it all together this year.

On the Panthers side, they lost a close one to the Saints last week, but they have done great for a team who lost the best running back in the NFL. All their players have stepped up in a huge way and have not looked back. Although people were excited to get CMC back this week, he will miss at least one more contest, which makes sense playing against the Falcons on a short week.

Even though both teams have losing records, this should be a good Thursday Night game with many fantasy options on both sides, and the over/under currently sits at 51 points, indicating that this may be a high scoring affair. Although people may fade Matt Ryan because of the horrid record, he is still a great start in Week 8 and is quietly QB10 on the season. He has both Julio and Ridley healthy, which makes Ryan a must start in this game. The Panthers have done well against opposing QBs, but with the Falcons likely being down or at best in a tight game, Ryan should be able to sling the ball for over 300 yards and a couple TDs.

On the other side, Teddy ‘Two Gloves’ Bridgewater has had an up and down season, but last time they played ATL in Week 5 he posted over 20 points with 300 yards and 2 TDs. I see the same kind of game and perhaps even a little better than his last time out. We have seen DJ Moore more involved and getting used to the offense the last few weeks, so it really opens it up for Teddy to be able to throw to many different receivers. Just as Ryan, Teddy can be viewed as a QB1 this week. Both QBs are $6,400 or below on DraftKings, so fire those guys up to spend money elsewhere.

As for the running game, it comes down to Todd Gurley on the ATL side vs. Mike Davis on the CAR side, and both are fine options this week. With CMC being out again, and how well Mike Davis has done, I am still treating him as a low end RB1. It is possible he was dropped in leagues because of the potential activation of CMC, but if he was, go grab him right away.

Todd Gurley does one thing better than most, and that is score TDs. Even when his own team tells him not to, he still goes ahead and does so. Carolina is giving up the most fantasy points to opposing RBs this season, making Gurley an easy play this week. As for any other RBs in this game, they are not startable and should just be viewed as handcuffs going forward.

Oh man. Matt Ryan told Todd Gurley not to score.

Ouch.

(🎥 @ATLFalconsUK)pic.twitter.com/F15fXvqsQa

— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) October 28, 2020

What makes Atlanta a particularly bad defense this year is all the fantasy points they are allowing to opposing WRs. This is a very juicy matchup for Robby Anderson and DJ Moore, both could have monster nights. Anderson has been one of the biggest surprises this season and is currently WR7 in 2020. He leads the team in targets and receptions, but only has 1 TD on the season. 1 TD and he is WR7!!! Moore started off like he would be a bust, but in the last few weeks he has really bounced back in a great way, showing that Teddy can support 2 high-end fantasy WRs. He has been the one getting the TDs lately while Anderson racks up the targets, but regardless, both are great plays against this piss poor defense.

`

On the other side, you are starting both Ridley and Julio (obviously) and when both are on the field, they actually help each other perform better. You can’t double team just one of them because the other one will gash you. Ridley sits at WR3 on the season and has put himself in the elite group of WRs. Julio, on the other hand, has been banged up and has missed time, but when he is healthy, he is putting up WR1 numbers, so there is no need to worry about Julio in this one. As for Russell Gage, I would not trust him too much, but if you are in a pinch, he is a fine dart throw as he has been over 54 yards in the last 2 weeks. For TE, I am not starting Ian Thomas for Carolina, but Hurst is a tricky one. I, myself, am fine to sit Hurst this week because if he does not get a TD, he really is not a startable TE. Last time they played Carolina, he had 2 catches for 8 yards. No thanks.

Most receiving yards through 7 weeks:

DeAndre Hopkins – 704
Robby Anderson – 640
Calvin Ridley – 615
Stefon Diggs – 603
Amari Cooper – 583
Terry McLaurin – 577
DJ Moore – 567
Allen Robinson – 544
Tyler Lockett – 542
Justin Jefferson – 537
DK Metcalf – 519

— NFL Stats (@NFL_Stats) October 29, 2020

Overall, this should be a good game to watch with several fantasy options. I mentioned in this article how both QBs, both RBs, and 4 WRs in total are great fantasy starts, so this is a Thursday night game I would not miss. The World Series is over and Survivor has been cancelled for this season due to COVID, so tune in to this TNF game to get your fix!

Comment below some game predictions and let’s get some shotgun bets for the Top Shelf models to do on the next podcast! Guess the score and get a free Top Shelf beer glass!

Stay Fluid, Stay Loose!