Makinen recommended Carolina +5.5. He flagged Atlanta’s sputtering offense under Michael Penix and the Falcons’ brutal 38-67 ATS record as single-digit favorites since 2012. Underdogs are 7-3 SU and 8-2 ATS in the last ten ATL-CAR meetings. League-wide, 0-2 teams facing 1-1 opponents in Week 3 are 40-17-1 ATS (70 %) since 2010, and winless dogs getting +3.5 or more cover 66 % of the time. After nearly erasing a huge deficit at Arizona, Carolina carries momentum and historical support as the value side.

Tuley grabbed Carolina +6 after the line ballooned from ATL ‑2.5 on the look-ahead to ‑6 post-Falcons SNF win. DraftKings’ splits show 78 % of tickets and 86 % of handle on Atlanta, a signal he loves to fade. The Panthers rallied late to cover +7 versus Arizona last week, reinforcing their back-door potential. He’s betting the market move is an overreaction and projects a one-score game.

Everett grabbed 5.5 with Carolina even after the Panthers buried themselves with early turnovers in consecutive games and lost starting linemen Austin Corbett and Robert Hunt. He believes Bryce Young can rein in mistakes at home and replicate last season’s 44-38 OT win that featured the best outing of Young’s career. With Atlanta coming off an emotional Sunday-night defensive showcase in Minnesota, Everett anticipates a let-down and a one-score finish.

Ian Hanford laid 5.5 with Atlanta, trusting a suddenly dynamic pass rush led by rookies James Pearce Jr. and Jalon Walker (325 total passing yards allowed through two weeks) to keep Bryce Young’s slump intact. He expects Michael Penix Jr. to ‘finally’ click, specifically predicting a Drake London touchdown that quiets fantasy panic. Hanford doesn’t buy the notion that a fired-up home crowd fixes Carolina’s 31st-ranked offense and foresees the Falcons controlling tempo on the ground while their edge duo forces the inevitable mistake that turns a close game into a cover.

Cluff forecasted Atlanta 27-20 over Carolina, citing the emerging 1-2 punch of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier. He labeled the tandem "one of the NFL's best" and predicted the duo would overwhelm a Panthers defense that is already staring at an 0-3 start, making Atlanta a live side against the spread.

Giannotto, citing ESPN’s early line analysis, expects Atlanta to lean even harder on Bijan Robinson after he erupted for 143 rushing yards against Minnesota. Carolina’s offensive-line injuries (Austin Corbett left knee, Robert Hunt biceps) put the Panthers in negative game scripts and shorten their drives, creating extra possessions for the Falcons. Atlanta is already top-5 in rush rate over expectation and owns six defensive sacks through two weeks, a combination Giannotto believes will give Robinson 20-plus touches and pave the way for the Falcons to cover the -5 spread.

After Carolina was power-rated among the league’s worst teams, the market shoved the line from Panthers ‑1.5 to Falcons ‑4.5—a six-point swing that leaped across the key numbers of 3 and 4. Rathburn thinks that’s simply too much for an NFC South rivalry where games are historically tight. Atlanta is coming off a statement win over Minnesota that could be inflating perception, while the Panthers quietly rank top-10 in rush-defense EPA, a direct counter to the Falcons’ run-first identity. He advises taking Carolina +4.5 before sharps inevitably buy back the home dog.

Judah Fortgang urged bettors to lay the 3.5 with Atlanta, citing a trenches mismatch that could widen once injury reports firm up. Carolina’s offense sputtered for three-plus quarters in Week 2 and then lost starting center Austin Corbett and guard Robert Hunt; if either misses Sunday, an already-shaky line faces Atlanta’s front that just notched six sacks against Minnesota. On offense the Falcons found their identity, posting this week’s top PFF rushing grade and finishing third in yards per carry while methodically moving the ball despite scoring only 22 points. The matchup gets softer: Carolina’s defense sits bottom-five in yards allowed per play and was dead last in every run-stopping metric a season ago, a trend that appears alive and well through two games. Fortgang expects Arthur Smith to lean on the ground game, control tempo, and force Bryce Young into predictable drop-backs that Atlanta’s pass rush can exploit. He projects the spread closing closer to -5 once the market fully accounts for the Panthers’ interior-line injuries.