You know how every modern vampire story has the traditional “Bad Guy” vampires, and then there’s the attractive, moral, “Good Guy” vampires? Good Guys hate killing humans and survive by preying on animals or drinking donated or synthetic blood. Inevitably, a Bad Guy tries to tempt a Good Guy to give into their nature and victimize a human. The rationale being that substituting is just a miserable means to survival. For a vampire to live their best undead life, fresh human blood is the necessary supercharger. I think the closest any of us can come to that feeling is watching Thursday Night Football. By Thursday night, we’re all craving the NFL. Sunday feels far away. So we tune in, and watch, and it’s such a cheap imitation of actual NFL action. It hasn’t been a great slate, and the Week 10 Thursday Night Football game is no exception.

Last week’s Thursday night contest was surprisingly, refreshingly entertaining and competitive between the Eagles and Texans. The NFL again offers up less appetizing fare this time around. The Atlanta Falcons travel to Carolina to take on the Panthers in a Week 10 Thursday Night Football contest that’s about as appetizing as a dead raccoon. But like the Good Guys we are, we need football to make it to the weekend, so we’ll watch. There’s not much in this game that’s appealing from a fantasy perspective, but we’ll try to guide you through it. Before we all sit down to tonight’s meal of donated rat plasma, here’s the lowdown on tonight’s participants.

Note: All point totals and rankings are PPR unless otherwise noted. Odds and betting information are courtesy Quarter4.

Week 10 Thursday Night Preview: Falcons’ Offense

Now that we’re past the season’s weirdest extended metaphor article intro, we can talk about the fantasy frustration that is the Atlanta Falcons’ offense. There wasn’t a whole lot of optimism coming into this season. The offensive line was expected to be abysmal. Franchise stalwart Matt Ryan was replaced at quarterback by Marcus Mariota. The offensive weapons were a young, exciting tight end, an aging jack-of-all trades, and a bunch of rookies and cast-offs. But a funny thing happened on the way to Week 10. The line played better than expected. Mariota has been himself, meaning inconsistent passing and some effective running. The rookies have looked like viable NFL talent. And the Falcons find themselves tied with Tampa Bay atop the NFC South standings.

The fantasy fallout has been all over the map. Mariota is QB12, a viable-if-volatile every week start candidate thanks in large part to his rushing ability. Younghoe Koo is K7 and more startable than the majority of options at his position. Drake London started hot but has been hard to trust for the past month and a half. Cordarrelle Patterson has been mostly effective when healthy, but missed four games with injury. Tyler Allgeier has flashed some potential but isn’t quite ready for primetime. And Kyle Pitts is essentially invisible after being the TE3 by ADP this summer.

Falcons’ Offense Big Question

The Panthers offer a favorable fantasy matchup at almost every position, but the Falcons are hard to trust for the most part. While London and Pitts both carry sizeable target shares proportionally, this offense just does not throw enough to feel good about starting them each week. London is eighth in target share among wideouts, but just WR42 in fantasy. Pitts is third- third!– among tight ends in target share, but TE19 in fantasy. The volume and efficiency numbers just aren’t there. London projects as a WR4/DFS play this week, but his value will depend on if he can score for the first time since Week 3. I have Pitts ranked at TE9 this week, but that’s still based more on talent and matchup than production.

Mariota is streamable/startable, but is just as likely to give you 11 points as he is to give you 25. The best bet for fantasy purposes here is the running game. Carolina gives up the third-most half ppr points to opposing running backs. Allgeier has been unspectacular but solid and is coming off a 99 yard rushing performance. He’s a FLEX candidate and a bye week fill-in here. Patterson looked ready in his return from injury and is an RB2 with possible multiple touchdown upside. He’s my biggest fantasy endorsement for Atlanta this week. Koo and the Atlanta DST are both streamable in this matchup.

Week 10 Thursday Night Preview: Panthers’ Offense

The Panthers season of drama continues. Carolina fired head coach Matt Rhule. They traded away a franchise cornerstone and one of football’s best weapons in Christian McCaffrey. Trade rumors swirled around seemingly every other player of value right up to the deadline. The quarterback situation was a dumpster fire even before benching P.J. Walker at halftime in Week 9. It all adds up to a 2-7 record and the Panthers comfortably nested in their customary spot at the bottom of the NFC South standings.

Alas, the Panthers’ fire sale never materialized. So there are still some interesting pieces on this offense. Unfortunately, that quarterback situation is not getting better before the offseason. Interim coach Steve Wilks announced that Walker will return to his starting role in the Week 10 Thursday Night game, even after a very effective half of football by Baker Mayfield in relief last week. Walker is talented and may be better for the rest of the Panthers’ fantasy prospects. But the threat of being replaced can’t be great for his psyche.

Panthers’ Offense Big Question

Regardless of who starts at quarterback and how much he plays, I can’t realistically recommend a Panther quarterback this week. Unless you’re in a completely desperate place due to an injury/bye week/league size perfect storm, stay away. Which is sad, because the Falcons’ defense is about as good a matchup for fantasy purposes as the Panthers’ is. I’m not chasing the Raheem Blackshear touchdown from last week, and Chuba Hubbard is banged up. I have D’Onta Foreman as a low-end RB2/FLEX play this week. The Falcons are the second-worst team against opposing fantasy wide receivers. For that reason, I’m playing D.J. Moore as a low-end WR2 in spite of the quarterback questions. Tommy Tremble scored last week, but this is not a strong tight end offense, so there’s no exploiting the good matchup here even in a bye week.

Betting Lines (Courtesy of Quarter4):

Favorite: Falcons (-4.5)

Over/Under: 39

Notable Props: Carolina first interception (79%); Johnny Hekker punts (4.3); Cordarrelle Patterson receptions (1.7)

Challenge Chase!

Hey, that Johnny Hekker prop is legitimately the hottest prop bet I could find for this game. Ouch. Anyway, ever wonder how you stack up against the experts? Now’s your chance to find out! You can use teams you’ve already drafted to take me on for weekly bragging rights with Flex Fantasy. Visit https://www.flex.fan/bellyup to sign up and challenge me, as I’ll be using lineups from my own home leagues. You can play for fun, play for money, or play for both! Look for SttChaseFFB’s teams in the Flex Fantasy Arena and sign up today. I promise I won’t rub it in (much) when I win. Got something to say? Leave a comment below, follow me on Twitter @SttChaseFFB, and catch me on the Belly Up Fantasy Live podcast Sundays and Wednesdays all season long. Slàinte!