NFL Falcons-Panthers Player Prop: Best Desmond Ridder Bet (Dec. 17)

Falcons-Panthers Odds

Odds via bet365
Falcons: -155 | Panthers: +130
Falcons -3: -110 | Panthers +3: -110
Over 33: -110 | Under 33: -110
When: Sunday, Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. ET
Expert: Isaiah Sirois

Desmond Ridder Player Prop Bet

The Carolina Panthers are not a good football team, but their flaws make fading Desmond Ridder here a sharp bet.

The Panthers have allowed the third-fewest passing yards to quarterbacks on the year (2,423), good for 186.4 per game, largely because they cannot stop the run. With Atlanta passing at the fourth-lowest rate (52%), I don’t expect to see much out of Ridder.

Beyond Carolina’s poor rushing defense and Atlanta’s low-volume passing attack, Ridder just isn’t that efficient, especially when forced to play on the road.

The second-year quarterback is averaging 198 passing yards per game on a completion percentage of 63.5%, but those numbers drop to 145.5 and 59.7% outside of Atlanta. He has cleared his passing prop total of 179.5 in just half of his road starts.

There is another reason to fade Ridder on Sunday: the weather. The forecast in Charlotte calls for an 80% chance of rain or greater from 11 a.m. through 7 p.m. — and that’s with winds of around 20 mph.

Ridder will struggle to complete passes in those conditions, and with Atlanta leaning heavily on the run already and Carolina unable to stop it, I’m fading him on the passing yardage markets. Ridder tallied only 121 passing yards against the Panthers at home earlier in the year.