Bills vs. Panthers Point Spread: NFL Pre-Season Week 3 Odds, Prediction
The Bills travel to Carolina after turning in the most dominant performance of the 2022 NFL preseason campaign in last week’s 42-15 rout of the Denver Broncos. Conversely, the Panthers look to rediscover their offensive touch after dropping a 20-10 decision in New England last weekend.
Amid lingering uncertainty as to who will suit up for Buffalo in Friday’s preseason finale, the Bills have held steady since opening as lengthy 6-point underdogs. However, the current Super Bowl betting favourites have commanded the support of a massive 97% majority of sports bettors. The Panthers have emerged as -242 moneyline favourites. The total has rocketed to 42.0 since opening at 38.0, with the OVER backed by 72% of the betting action.
NFL Pre-Season Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Friday night’s matchup at Bank of America Stadium marks the fifth preseason meeting between these teams since 2014. Road teams have enjoyed steady success in previous August head-to-head clashes, prevailing in each of their past four, capped by the Bills’ decisive 27-14 victory in Carolina three years. Recent preseason matchups between these teams have tended towards higher scoring, with the total reaching 49 or higher on three occasions over that stretch. Accordingly, the OVER current enjoys a 4-0-0 run. Overall, the Bills have emerged as a dominant force during their current 10-0-0 preseason run. Buffalo as covered in each of their recent August wins, and claimed victory by double-digit margins in each of their past four preseason contests.
Things have not gone quite so well for Carolina. The Panthers have tallied consecutive wins just once during a 4-6-0 preseason run, which features just two victories in four home contests. Carolina also sports a middling 2-2-0 record, both straight up and against the spread, in their past four as preseason home chalk.
Buffalo Bills
For the second time in as many preseason contests, few Bills starters saw much action in last week’s demolition of the Broncos. But that has not been a problem for this team do far. Among the standouts in the early going has been Case Keenum. The 10-year NFL veteran solidified his grasp on his job as backup to star quarterback Josh Allen with a two-touchdown performance against Denver. Raheem Blackshear has also positioned himself for a breakout rookie campaign while racking up 69 rushing yards and two scoring runs, along with six catches for 81 total receiving yards.
Carolina Panthers
The battle for the Panthers starting quarterback job was settled in the wake of the team’s somewhat lopsided 20-10 loss to the Patriots last week. Despite seeing limited action in just one preseason contest, Baker Mayfield has been named as the team’s starter to begin the regular season. Accordingly, the Cleveland Browns cast-off is expected to see plenty of action on Friday night. Mayfield should benefit from a supporting cast that is expected to feature some starters, at least early on in the contest. However, among the most notable absences expected are rusher Christian McCaffrey, tight end Ian Thomas, receiver Robbie Anderson, and center Bradley Bozeman, all of whom are nursing injuries. That further deepens the challenge facing Mayfield, who leads a Panthers attack that has not found the end zone since early in the second half of their preseason opener against Washington.
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