Panthers vs. Saints Point Spread: NFL Week 15 Odds, Prediction
The New Orleans Saints can continue to play spoiler when they host the Carolina Panthers in a divisional bout on Sunday.
Carolina enters Week 15 coming off a bye and tied for the NFC South lead with Tampa Bay at 7-6. The 3-10 Saints were eliminated two weeks ago, but that didn’t stop them from earning a 24-20 victory at Tampa Bay last week. And the same goes for when the Saints played the Panthers five weeks ago as an underdog and left with a 17-7 road win.
Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough has been behind both of these wins and is now 2-3 since being promoted to the starting role. Shough had has hands all over New Orleans’ win last week too, rushing in two scores. Rookie running back Devin Neal scored the Saints’ other TD, as a youth movement is officially underway in The Big Easy.
Kickoff at Caesars Superdome gets started at 4:25 p.m. EST, with the Panthers coming in as -145 moneyline favourites and -2.5 on the point spread. The total is at 40.5 on the NFL odds.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
All it took for the Saints to have one of their games go over the total was for them to finally score 20 points in a game. Entering last week, eight straight Saints games had finished under the total. And in all eight games, New Orleans did not reach 20 points. And with 24 points last week, the Saints finally had a game go over.
The same trend exists when Carolina and New Orleans go head-to-head, as eight of their last 10 outings have finished under the total including the 17-7 Saints win back in Week 9. The Saints are 5-1 in their last six outings hosting Carolina too. But, New Orleans has only been able to come out victorious in one of their last nine home contests overall. The Saints are also 1-5 ATS at home this season.
Carolina Panthers
The biggest hurdle the Panthers had to overcome last week was dealing with losing momentum around their bye week. Two weeks ago Carolina pulled off an upset win over the top-seed L.A. Rams, getting the Panthers to 7-6 and in a tie for the NFC South lead. Carolina’s in a seven-year playoff drought but the results from these past two weeks have increased their playoff odds to 30 per cent according to ESPN Analytics.
The combination of Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dowdle carried the ball 35 times in that win, with Hubbard totalling 124 yards and a score in the win. Dowdle is 71 rushing yards away from his second straight 1,000-yard season. Rookie Tetairoa McMillan is 174 receiving yards away from 1,000, but also has 569 more than any other Panthers player as depth remains an issue.
Centre Cade Mays (ankle) and linebacker Christian Rozeboom (hip/hamstring) were full participants on Wednesday in practice after both missing Carolina’s last games. Cornerback Jaycee Horn was limited in practice, as he missed the L.A. game with a concussion.
New Orleans Saints
These Saints rookies are not throwing in the towel despite the 3-10 record. Quarterback Tyler Shough finally broke out scoring-wise, rushing in two touchdowns in last week’s 24-20 upset win at Tampa Bay. Devin Neal added 70 rushing yards and a score, as the two rookies made up for all of New Orleans’ touchdowns. Veteran running back Alvin Kamara (knee/ankle) was a DNP in Wednesday’s practice, indicating the bulk of the work will go to Neal again in Week 15.
Arguably more importantly, New Orleans forced five of Tampa Bay’s drives last week to result in turnovers on downs. The Saints have quietly been strong on defence as of late and rank 12th in yards allowed per game and 10th in yards per play allowed. They also allowed a season-best seven points back int heir Week 10 victory at Carolina.
NFL Prediction: Who Will Win Panthers vs. Saints?
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CAR
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