NFL betting, odds: Bettors love the Atlanta Falcons and Cordarrelle Patterson on Thursday night
The NFC South takes centerstage on Thursday night as the Carolina Panthers play host to the Atlanta Falcons. On paper, the matchup isn't appealing. However, there's hope for a good game as these two teams played one of the best games of the season just two weeks ago. This time around, the Falcons are slight 2.5-point road favorites and bettors love the road team.
Bettors love the Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are 4-5, which is good enough to be tied with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers atop the NFC South. While they're far from an elite team, they've been rather competitive in almost every game they've played this season.
As a result, bettors like them on Thursday night against the 2-7 Carolina Panthers. At BetMGM, 80% of bets and 82% of the money is backing Atlanta to cover as a 2.5-point road favorite. Marcus Mariota is 3-8 in his career against the spread as a road favorite.
These teams played just two weeks ago in Atlanta, with the Falcons coming out on top by a score of 37-34 in overtime. The game featured 23 points in the final 3:06 of regulation. It looked like D.J. Moore gave the Panthers the win in the final seconds of regulation, but he took his helmet off to celebrate, which caused the extra point to be pushed back 15 yards. Eddy Pineiro missed the kick, forcing overtime. Pineiro missed another kick in overtime and then Younghoe Koo gave Atlanta the win.
P.J. Walker played extremely well against the Falcons, but last week was a different story. He was benched after throwing for just nine yards and two interceptions in the first half. Which P.J. Walker will we see on Thursday night?
Despite the high-scoring nature of the first game between these teams, bettors are leaning towards the under on Thursday night. Overall, 64% of bets and 54% of money is on this game to go under 42.5 points.
Cordarrelle Patterson a popular prop bet
After missing a month, Cordarrelle Patterson returned for the Falcons last week. He rushed for just 44 yards but found the end zone twice. As a result of his successful return, bettors love Patterson to have a big night on Thursday. All three of the most popular prop bets at BetMGM include Patterson.
Patterson is +650 to score the first touchdown of the game and +110 to score a touchdown at any point. Patterson has five touchdowns in five games.
Bettors also like Patterson to go over 54.5 rushing yards on Thursday night. At BetMGM, 98% of the bets are on Patterson to go over. The line opened at 51.5 yards and has been bet up three yards. In the most recent Panthers-Falcons game, Caleb Huntley rushed for 91 yards when he filled in for Patterson.
