Look for lots of offense on TNF

With a little help from overtime, the Grizzlies-Spurs over cashed for us yesterday in the NBA, and so did the Vancouver-Montreal over in the NHL. Is that a 2-0 night at Bark Bets? We checked the math, and it adds up. Let's keep it rolling into the NFL this evening.

Both offenses should find opportunity in Falcons-Panthers tonight

We're not overly worried about the weather in Carolina tonight. There's some expected rain, but the wind looks manageable, which is the weather factor we put far more stock into. When we look at these two NFC South teams, our eyes immediately zero in on the defenses, or the lack thereof.

Carolina's run defense is a serious issue, with the crowning example occurring in Week 9, as Joe Mixon piled up 153 yards and four touchdowns on the ground (backup RB Samaje Perine chipped in 51 more rushing yards). The Panthers are allowing the fifth-most rushing yards per game and 4.5 yards per rush. Running the football is what the Falcons do best. Atlanta averages the third-most rushing attempts per game and the fourth-most rushing yards per game. Knowing that this Carolina vulnerability exists has us confident that a big game from Cordarrelle Patterson and this ground and pound attack is coming. Consider a bet on Patterson's over and for him to score.

Atlanta shouldn't be the only team able to move the football. The Falcons secondary is atrocious, one of the worst in the NFL. No team is allowing more explosive plays through the air, and the Atlanta defense is allowing the third-most yards per passing attempt. While we won't sit here and tell you the Panthers passing offense is a strength, DJ Moore is enough of a presence to aid this offense in getting the ball down the field and finding points. 

These two teams met just two weeks ago, an OT thriller with a final score of 37-34. All we need tonight are 42 points, a mark we feel good about reaching. If you want in on the prop action, we recommend Patterson and Moore for big games. We'll sit back and fret not about who is getting involved and instead turn our rooting interest to simply points.

Betting: Over 42 points (-110 DK)

In the news ...

Tiger Woods returning to the golf course soon — We'll soon get to see Tiger back on the course competitively; Woods will be playing in the Hero World Challenge on Nov. 28. Tiger has not played since The Open Championship in July, and it's a welcome sight for golf fans to see him back on the course. Woods will also be playing with World No. 1 Rory McIlroy in the latest iteration of "The Match," scheduled for Dec. 10. 

Brooklyn Nets hire Jacque Vaughn as full-time coach — Vaughn was elevated to interim coach in the wake of the Steve Nash breakup, and instead of hiring Ime Udoka like Brooklyn was reportedly mulling, the Nets decided to give Vaughn the full-time job. Since he took over, the Nets are 2-2. The former player will be getting his second coaching opportunity after running the Magic for three seasons. The Nets are 5-7 and currently +550 to win the Eastern Conference, the third-best odds.

Two Los Angeles injuries to keep an eye on — LeBron James suffered a groin injury at the tail end of a Wednesday night loss to the Clippers, with further testing to be done today and tomorrow to determine the severity of the injury. The Lakers are 2-9, so an extended loss from James would all but torpedo their postseason hopes even at such an early stage of the season. In the NFL, another L.A. team isn't getting better news, as quarterback Matthew Stafford has entered the concussion protocol for the Rams. His status against the Cardinals is unknown, and a divisional loss for the 3-5 Rams would put them in a hole they likely can't climb out of. The 6-3 division-leading Seahawks are +150 to win the NFC West.

Today's Bark Bets is written by Griffin Carroll