What NFL Week 2 Picks Reveal About Panthers-Falcons NFC South Tilt

The Carolina Panthers are visiting the Atlanta Falcons this week. They're favored, and it appears to be just the sort of matchup they need to get right defensively and get into the win column in 2026. What do the experts say?

Experts predict Panthers to beat Falcons, but not universally

Carolina Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble (82) runs with the ball in overtime | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

ESPN's trio (Eric Moody, Pamela Maldonado, and Seth Walder) all believe the Panthers will win, though the level of dominance varies. Maldonado foresees a three-point win, while Walder thinks they take it by 13.

Over at NFL.com, four out of five analysts picked the Panthers. Dan Parr wrote, "The Panthers demonstrated the ability to put the ball in the paint, albeit in a 59-37 season-opening loss to the Bears. The Falcons could muster just 13 points."

CBS Sports' Pete Prisco, in a wholly unsurprising twist if you've seen anything from Prisco lately, picked the Falcons. "The Panthers were mauled on defense last week by the Bears. This Falcons offense isn't close to that. But I think they will just hand it to Bijan Robinson to keep the Panthers off the field," he wrote.

USA Today's Adam Kaufman picked Carolina, saying, "Carolina gained 478 yards and scored 37 points in that debacle. Atlanta, meanwhile, converted just 16.7% of its third downs against Pittsburgh and simply can't be trusted offensively right now unless you're rostering Bijan Robinson in fantasy."

His colleagues, Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, Richard Morin, and Nate Davis, both picked the Panthers as well. "Between last week and 2025's second matchup with Atlanta, Bryce Young could be poised to again ignite some fireworks with big-play aerial strikes," Middlehurst-Schwartz argued.

Jeremy Cluff of Arizona Republic and Sayre Bedinger of NFL Spin Zone agreed, picking the Panthers. Over at Bleacher Report, Moe Moton is taking the Panthers, while Wes O'Donnell is taking the Falcons in this one.

The Athletic's Vic Tafur believes this is a classic trap game, and he's taking the Falcons. "Trap! Bryce Young set career highs in yards per completion (15.7) and first downs per passing attempt (46 percent) while throwing for 361 yards in the loss to the Bears. And the Falcons couldn’t get anything going with Cooper Rush against a creaky, lethargic Pittsburgh Steelers team. And the Panthers are not even laying a field goal?!? Easy money. On the Falcons," he wrote.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) reacts to a touchdown in the fourth quarter | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

What does it all mean? Well, one would think that an ugly offensive showing against a pretty mediocre team by the Falcons combined with an offensive explosion (and some surefire regression to the mean on defense) would make this an easy Panthers pick.

Obviously, it's not, though, and it very well could be a trap game. Cooper Rush is starting, but Bijan Robinson is very dangerous, so the Panthers cannot waltz into Atlanta expecting the Falcons to just roll over.

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