Falcons Favored on the Road in Charlotte

Nov 10, 2022

Plus, fantasy football recommendations, NFL awards odds and college football spreads.

Good afternoon! A new week of the NFL kicks off this evening, which means the second half of the season is officially underway. It’s time to start making your fantasy football playoff push and check where futures odds stand at the midseason mark to see where value may lie.

In today’s Winners Club, you’ll find:

Falcons-Panthers NFC South Showdown Kicks off Week 10

Falcons (-2.5) vs. Panthers

8:15 p.m. ET (Prime Video)

Two sub-.500 teams meeting in prime time feels par for the course the way this season’s schedule has gone. But at second glance, Atlanta-Carolina may be a more exciting matchup than the records indicate. For one, the Falcons (4-5) are right in the thick of the NFC South race with the Buccaneers. And the Panthers (2-7) actually took them to overtime in a high-scoring contest when these teams met just a few weeks ago.

Both teams enter Thursday coming off losses. Atlanta lost to the Chargers on a last-second field goal and Carolina was blown out of the water by the Bengals. The score was so lopsided that Baker Mayfield took over for PJ Walker, but it will be Walker starting under center once again when the game kicks off.

Check out Frankie Taddeo’s betting preview as well as his player prop bets for Thursday Night Football. Albert Breer, Michael Fabiano and Jen Piacenti also all got together to discuss the biggest storylines heading into the matchup.

Some things you should know:

The Falcons opened as one-point favorites and the line has risen to 2.5 points in their favor.
Falcons cornerback AJ Terrell (hamstring) has been ruled out for the game.
Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard (ankle) is expected to return to the field after he missed the previous two games.
Atlanta has dominated the recent meetings between these teams with an 8-2 record straight up against Carolina and a 7-3 mark against the spread.
The Panthers are 2-1 against the spread since they traded away running back Christian McCaffrey.

Participate in SI Sportsbook’s Perfect 10 contest this week for a shot at a $10,000 prize. All you have to do is make 10 selections against the spread, and you still have an opportunity to win free picks even if you don’t win. Taddeo has a breakdown of the games that are a part of the contest to review before you make your selections. I’m eyeing that Broncos-Titans game, especially after how well Tennessee played Kansas City on the road last week.

Get your NFL Tickets for Week 10 with SI Tickets

Fantasy Football Week 10 Prep

We’re entering the stretch run of the fantasy regular season. Whether you’re fighting for a bye, pushing for a playoff spot or just trying to avoid a last-place finish, SI Fantasy has tools, rankings, projections and recommendations to help you start the best possible lineup each and every week.

Consult the articles below to get your team ready before Thursday Night Football kicks off and be sure to make use of the handy tools on si.com/fantasy, like the defense vs. position tab and the injury updates page.

Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em

Quarterbacks: Justin Fields is your start of the week in a great matchup with the Lions.

Running backs: Keep James Conner on the shelf against the Rams if you can.

Wide receivers: Amari Cooper is in line for a big game against the Dolphins.

Tight ends: The inconsistent Kyle Pitts should be avoided in a divisional matchup.

Kickers and defenses: The Cowboys defense should perform well in Green Bay.

Positional Rankings

Quarterbacks: Tua Tagovailoa is a great option against Cleveland.

Running back: Two rookie backs are in the top 10 for Week 10.

Wide Receivers: Receivers on both sides of Rams-Cardinals are due for big days.

Tight ends: Greg Dulcich is one of the best options at the position this week.

Flex: Two Raiders players are top-12 flex plays for their matchup with the Colts.

Kickers: Daniel Carlson should be started with confidence, this week especially.

Defenses: Three NFC East teams have very desirable defensive matchups.

Stat Projections

Quarterbacks: See which three quarterbacks are expected to break 30 points.

Running backs: Tony Pollard is in for another huge outing this week.

Wide receivers: Rookie Chris Olave is a top-12 play against the Steelers.

Tight ends: Count on another solid performance from Bucs rookie Cade Otton.

NFL Midseason Odds Updates

At this point of the season, the contenders and pretenders have more or less sorted themselves out. That makes this a good time to check in on the futures markets for the Super Bowl as well as a few awards.

Super Bowl

Even after a loss to the Jets, the Bills (+275) are clear favorites to win it all with the Eagles (+500) and Chiefs (+550) the only teams within striking distance.

MVP

It should come as no surprise that the quarterbacks for the three best teams in football have the shortest odds to win MVP. Patrick Mahomes (+200) is the favorite to win it for the second time and Jalen Hurts (+250) and Josh Allen (+300) are close behind.

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker (+138) is the favorite but he faces steep competition from Dameon Pierce (+175) and Chris Olave (+700) could be a value bet.

Defensive Rookie of the Year

At this point, this is Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner’s award to lose. He’s the runaway favorite (+125). The only other player in his range is Tariq Woolen (+250).

TCU Puts Undefeated Record on the Line in Austin

CFP rankings are being released every Tuesday now, which means it’s officially crunch time in college football. There’s four all top-25 matchups going on this weekend and three of them include teams with playoff hopes, namely undefeated TCU.

Robin Lundberg and I discussed TCU-Texas and Alabama-Ole Miss and Pat Forde has in-depth breakdowns and picks for a handful of games as well.

Top-25 Action

3:30 p.m. ET (CBS): No. 9 Alabama (-12) vs. No. 11 Ole Miss

3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2): No. 22 UCF vs. No. 17 Tulane (-1.5)

7 p.m. ET (Fox): No. 25 Washington vs. No. 6 Oregon (-13.5)

7:30 p.m. ET (ABC): No. 4 TCU vs. No. 18 Texas (-7)

Other Games for Your Consideration

12 p.m. ET (ESPN): No. 7 LSU (-3.5) vs. Arkansas

3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN): Louisville vs. No. 10 Clemson (-7)

7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2): No. 15 North Carolina vs. Wake Forest (-3.5)

National Championship Odds Watch

Georgia is now the unquestioned favorite to win it all at SI Sportsbook at -120 odds. See where Ohio State, Michigan, TCU, Clemson, LSU and Oregon all stack up in the latest odds update after a wild Week 10 around the sport.

In Other News

Josh Allen’s Sunday Status “Up in the Air”: The Bills quarterback is believed to be dealing with an elbow sprain ahead of Buffalo’s game against Minnesota. He suffered the injury in last week’s loss to the Jets and the biggest issue brought on by the injury is reportedly his ability to grip the football.

USMNT World Cup Roster Revealed: Coach Gregg Berhalter’s 26-man roster is out and there were a few surprising omissions. The team will be the second-youngest in World Cup history when it begins its tournament run Nov. 21.

Nets Name Jacque Vaughn New Coach: Brooklyn’s interim coach dropped the modifier Wednesday when he was announced as the team’s new coach. He took over for Steve Nash on Nov. 1 and has been with the team since 2016.

LeBron James Left Game Early, Didn't Return: In a Wednesday night loss to the Clippers, that brought the Lakers’ record to 2-9, James exited early with left leg soreness. He missed his first game of the season earlier this week with a foot injury.

Thanks for reading Winners Club! And a quick programming note: I won’t be in your inbox Sunday morning, so be sure to keep up with @SI_Fantasy and @SI_Betting on Twitter for all the latest fantasy advice, betting picks and more.

Good luck with all of your matchups and wagers and remember we have another early kickoff this weekend as the Seahawks and Buccaneers get underway at 9 a.m. ET from Germany. Set your lineups (and alarms) accordingly.

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