It's a little bit early in the season to panic. However, avoiding an 0-2 start to the year is always critical, as NFL teams very rarely make it to the playoffs when they hit that mark to begin the season.
That means the Atlanta Falcons' second game on their schedule is already a must-win affair, and it will come against their NFC South rivals, the Carolina Panthers.
The good news is the Falcons have home-field advantage and are considered the favorites. Here are the odds.
The bad news is the Falcons have not had much success against the Panthers in recent years, losing four of their last five matchups.
The core of their problem is that Carolina's starting quarterback Bryce Young seems to always bring his A-game when he faces Atlanta. The last time
these two teams met Young dropped a franchise record 448 passing yards on the Falcons.
Young also got off to a good start this season, posting 361 passing yards and four total touchdowns in a loss to the Chicago Bears that was almost entirely the fault of the Panthers' defense, which gave up 59 points.
Meanwhile, the Falcons' situation was reversed in Week 1. Atlanta's defense did a great job of disrupting Aaron Rodgers and containing the Pittsburgh Steelers' run game, but their offense was awful - especially a two-interception, 2.6 QBR performance from quarterback Cooper Rush. If not for Bijan Robinson they likely would have been shut out.
At the moment we have no idea if Rush will start again this week, or if it'll be Tua Tagovailoa or Michael Penix. The only thing we can reasonably say for sure is it won't be undrafted rookie Jack Strand, who ESPN reports the team believes just isn't ready - despite a strong preseason showing.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Odds for Falcons' Week 2 matchup with Panthers
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