The Carolina Panthers came up with one of the more impressive defensive efforts of the season last weekend. But duplicating that might be extremely difficult, as they have to come face to face with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the Monday night football game, which is slated to get underway at 8;40 PM ET on ESPN, at Bank of America Stadium, home of the Panthers in Charlotte.
Carolina has been on a surge, as most NFL bettors know by now. They are putting pressure on the New Orleans Saints in the NFC South, and loom as a primary contender for one of the NFC’s wild card berths. It is a foregone conclusion that the Patriots are going to get to the playoffs, and most likely as the AFC East champions, unless the New York Jets (with a rookie quarterback) or the Miami Dolphins (with an ongoing soap opera) somehow mount a furious charge.
In the pro football lines that have been posted on this game at BetAnySports, the Panthers are the team laying points:
Pro Football Lines Courtesy of BetAnySports
Carolina Panthers -3
New England Patriots +3
Over 46.5 Points -110
Under 46.5 Points -110
There is no question that Tom Brady is going to be able to spread the ball around to a number of different receivers, especially since he seems comfortable with Danny Amendola and has clicked with Rob Gronkowski again. With Shane Vereen coming back from a wrist injury, this is just about a full arsenal Brady’s working with right now.
Pro football bettors know that the Panthers have been a team that is somewhat permissive against the pass, at least to an extent. They have allowed opposing passers to complete 66%, but only for 6.6 yards a pop. And in the red zone, these guys are tough against the run; in fact, they have only permitted two rushing touchdowns this season.
It will be kind of interesting to see what Cam Newton will be able to do against the Pats’ defense, which has yielded just 55% completions and an opposing passers’ rating of 74.2 (lower than that of Carolina). Newton is -115 to throw for more than 230.5 yards on Monday night, according to the NFL props at BetAnySports, and that could be a tall task if he’s not able to make Brandon LaFell or Ted Ginn Jr. a big part of the offense. It’s a scary thing to imagine giving Bill Belichick extra time to get ready for an offense (the Pats are coming off a bye week), and he will often try to take the other team’s top offensive weapon out of the game.
In this particular case that would be Steve Smith, and judging from his 10.7-yard average per reception, more than one Carolina opponent has taken great pains to make sure he doesn’t do big damage. And it makes for an interesting betting proposition; at BetAnySports, for example, Smith is -140 to have five catches or more, but the over/under on his receiving yardage is 60.5 (-115 either way). if he can’t make a big play, Ginn (almost 17 yards a catch) will probably have to. The edge may go to Brady and the Pats, with more offensive weapons.
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