Carolina Panthers Begin Rough Stretch This Week
The Carolina Panthers got the better of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football.
The Carolina Panthers are 5-3, have won four in a row and are only one game back in the NFC South. That is good reason for Panthers fans to feel excited about their team so far. That is the good news.
The bad news in the Panthers have not had a real rough schedule so far. They in fact have no wins against a team with more than three wins. Of their three losses, one of those was to a 4-4 Arizona Cardinals and another was to a 3-6 Buffalo Bills. Now the Panthers schedule toughens up. This week, they have a road game at the San Francisco 49ers. Next week they host the New England Patriots. After that follows a road game at the Miami Dolphins. That’s three potential losses in a row which would erase all the good work the team has done over the last month.
They get a reprieve with a home game against the Tampa Bay Bucs after the Miami game so at worst they should be 6-6. If they can beat Miami, they could be looking at 7-5. But then they get the New Orleans Saints, New York Jets and then the Saints again before ending the year at the Atlanta Falcons. If they can steal the Jets game, the Panthers are still looking at 8-8. If you believe they have no chance at beating the Niners, Pats or Saints, that is seven losses at minimum. That means they must beat the Dolphins, Jets and Falcons to get to 9-7. And then there is no guarantee that will make the playoffs.
You say they should beat those teams? Maybe so. But they lost to the Bills and Cardinals, so no game is a lock. Maybe they have gained enough confidence in these last gout games to steal a win over the Niners or Saints? That is not out of the realm of possibility. The Saints are a bit beat up especially at the skill positions. Plus, the Panthers can play defense. When you can hold the opponents close, then you give yourself a chance to bust a big play or catch a crucial break and steal a game. Not to mention, the Patriots have had occasional lapses this season into mediocrity.
These next two games are huge for Carolina. If they can get one of them and go to Miami with confidence, they could very well be playoff bound. So what are the odds on this week’s Panthers-Niners game?
Bovada has the Panthers +6 +105 and the 49ers -6 -125. The Over/Under is 43 with over -115 and under -105.
As much as it would be nice to see the Panthers upset the 49ers just to get a new team into the Super Bowl discussion, there are too many question marks about them. They have no quality wins, unless you count the St. Louis Rams as a quality win. They have two bad losses. If the playoffs were decided like the NCAA Tournament selection process, the Panthers might not even get in over some of the 4-4 teams right now. So we have to take the 49ers at home -6 and we also like the under -105.
