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The NFL’s Week 10 slate kicks off in primetime with the Atlanta Falcons facing the Carolina Panthers. This NFC South showdown marks the second time in three weeks that these two rivals have faced each other. Kick-off is set for 8:15 p.m. ET with the game airing on Amazon Prime Video.
We’ll take you through some starts and sits for this Thursday night matchup.
Start
Cordarrelle Patterson, RB, Atlanta Falcons
Patterson was quick to make his return felt in last week’s performance in which he had a team-high 13 carries for 44 rushing yards and two scores. The short week should play perfectly into this matchup, with the Falcons likely to continue running the ball against the league’s 28th-ranked run defense. Carolina allows 139.3 rushing yards per game and an average of 1.3 touchdowns surrendered on the ground.
DJ Moore, WR, Carolina Panthers
Atlanta is the league’s worst pass defense as their secondary gives up an average of 300.0 yards per game. It may be difficult to imagine a shootout through the air given Thursday Night Football’s history of playing on a short week, but that shouldn’t mean disregarding a good performance from Moore. He is arguably the Panthers’ best offensive threat, and just two weeks ago he torched this Falcons' secondary for 152 yards and a receiving touchdown.
Sit
Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons
After finding the endzone for the second time this season in Week 8 to go along with 80 receiving yards, Pitts disappeared once again in a pedestrian performance in Week 9. The second-year tight end had just two catches on seven targets for 27 yards, and the short week does not instill much confidence in a get-right game for him. The return of Patterson to the backfield only increases the likelihood that the Falcons focus on the run game in Week 10, which comes at the expense of Pitts’ fantasy ceiling.
PJ Walker, QB, Carolina Panthers
It is easy to get swayed by Walker’s 317-passing-yard performance with a touchdown just two weeks ago versus this same Falcons team, but much of that production came on a miraculous hail-mary at the end of regulation. He is also coming off a two-interception performance last week that got him benched in favor of Baker Mayfield. While he has been named the starter heading into Thursday night, his inconsistency over the past two weeks makes him a risky bet, even against the league’s worst-ranked pass defense.