The winner of Sunday’s game between the Atlanta Falcons (3-4) and Carolina Panthers (2-4) will take sole possession of first place in the NFC South.
A Panthers win would give the team head-to-head tiebreakers over the rest of the division. If the Falcons can come away with a victory, they would be back at .500 with a great shot at making the playoffs.
In Week 7, Carolina upset the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a few days after trading away two of their best offensive players. Meanwhile, Atlanta suffered a 35-17 blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Despite what happened in Week 7, those around the NFL aren’t buying into the Panthers just yet. In our expert picks for Week 8, the Falcons are the clear favorites.
| Tipico Odds: Falcons -105 (-4.5) | |||
| Name | Publication | Score | Winner |
| Lorenzo Reyes | USA Today | 27-21 | Falcons |
| Safid Deen | USA Today | 24-21 | Falcons |
| Jarrett Bell | USA Today | 27-20 | Falcons |
| Nate Davis | USA Today | 27-17 | Falcons |
| Greg Rosenthal | NFL Network | 23-21 | Panthers |
| Vinnie Lyer | Sporting News | 24-20 | Falcons |
| Pete Prisco | CBS Sports | 23-16 | Falcons |
| Will Brinson | CBS Sports | 24-10 | Falcons |
| Josh Kendall | The Athletic | — | Falcons |
| Ralph Vacchiano | FOX Sports | 20-13 | Falcons |
| FiveThirtyEight | 64% | Falcons | |
While everyone seems to be picking the Falcons, no one seems to be taking them by much. Atlanta’s secondary is banged up with three of four starters ruled out for Sunday’s game.
The question is whether the Panthers have enough offensive firepower to take advantage. We’ll find out at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday.
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