Hello CSRs,

It seems that the lack of media attention is finally getting to Panthers fans, which is quite understandable. The media has been brushing Carolina under the table since week 1, and continue to do so. As infuriating as this may be, we believe it is to the teams advantage. There is plenty of time to still garner some respect, especially with the tough remaining schedule Carolina faces.

CAR @ ATL

Our line: Atlanta by 4

While both Win Grade (team fundamentals) and Real Points (strength of schedule) find Carolina to be the better team, the two rankings do not find the upcoming matchup at Atlanta to be a favorable for the Panthers. Carolina will need it's A game in Atlanta, but so far this season Carolina has struggled to play well on both sides of the ball when their team travels outside of Bank of America Stadium. We see potential for Carolina's surging run attack to have another big day on the ground against the 22nd ranked run defense of the host team, but the passing game is another matter. Back to back less than 100 yard passing showings by the aerial attack does not bode well for the Carolina offense. When this is combined with their 14 points per game and 2.5 turnovers per game average on the road we have trouble figuring out how Carolina will be able to outscore Turner and Ryan. Expect both teams to struggle to find the end zone early on in this game, but for Carolina's greater struggle on offense to slowly allow Atlanta to win the battle for field position, providing several good opportunities for Atlanta's offense to put touchdowns on the board and take control of the game.

ITN rankings:

- Carolina #7 - Two not so impressive wins in a row have allowed a few teams to slip in front of Carolina in the rankings. Detroit gave this team all they could handle, which surprised us and it looked like it surprised the Carolina players as well. More disturbing than anything are back to back games where the offense has had less than 100 yards passing, which to us overshadows the big games by the RB's. Carolina certainly has the players to have a solid balanced offense, but with the toughest remaining schedule of all the teams in the NFC South, they need it to come out of hiding fast.
Stat: the defense has allowed opponents to complete only 4 of their 14 (29%) fourth down attempts (3rd).

- Atlanta #15 - Unfortunately, the loss at home to Denver puts a serious damper on Atlanta's chance to contend for the NFC South division title, and on their chances of making it to the playoffs. There aren't any glaring deficiencies on this team, but they lack experience in tight games on and on the road. There is still plenty of opportunity to get back into contention, but the question is will the youth on the team be able to step up and make big plays when they need it?
Stat: the offense is scoring TD's on only 44% of its trips to the red zone (28th)