Panthers at Saints: Preview, prediction, odds and pick
By John Buhler
The New Orleans Saints will host the Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon in Week 13. Here is a game preview, the betting odds and a final score pick.
We’ve made it to Week 13 of the 2017 NFL season. In one of the very best games of the Sunday afternoon slate, a pair of NFC South rivals will square off in The Big Easy, as the New Orleans Saints (8-3) take on the Carolina Panthers (8-3) for the division lead.
Kickoff from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans will be at 4:25 p.m. ET on Dec. 3. This will be the featured late afternoon game on FOX with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in the booth to call this massively important NFC South rivalry game.
Carolina enters play at 8-3 on the season and would be the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs had the season ended after Week 12. The Panthers again have one of the best front-sevens in all of football. They seem to go as middle linebacker Luke Kuechly’s health goes.
As for the offense, it’s consistently inconsistent. This team is still able to win despite getting a bad game out of franchise quarterback Cam Newton. His offensive playmakers have come on off late, but this team is really cooking with gas when Newton is able to use his dual-threat talents at a high level. An A game out of Newton makes this one of the toughest teams to beat in the NFL.
New Orleans enters play at 8-3 on the season and would be the NFC South champion if the season ended after Week 12. The Saints hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Panthers because of their victory over Carolina in Charlotte back in Week 3. This Saints team had won eight straight games before falling to the Los Angeles Rams on the road last week.
Without hesitation, this looks to be the best team that New Orleans has had since it won the Super Bowl at the end of the 2009 NFL season. Quarterback Drew Brees has the defensive playmakers on the other side of the ball to back him up. His skill position players are excellent as well, including potential NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate running back Alvin Kamara.
Betting Odds
Point Spread: New Orleans -4.5
Moneylines: New Orleans -200, Carolina +184
Over/Under: 48
According to OddsShark, the Saints will be laying 4.5 points at home to the visiting Panthers. The associated moneylines for this game are New Orleans -200 and Carolina +184. This game’s over/under comes in at a combined 48 points.
This will be a game that will go down to the wire. With it being indoors and on the Saints’ turf, let’s take the over just to be safe. Most games go over at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome anyway. We should be getting more than 50 points in this NFC South rivalry.
New Orleans will take a 23-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Carolina will make this one of the best games of the weekend by putting up 10 straight points early in the fourth quarter to take a one-point 24-23 lead over the hometown Saints.
Brees will lead the Saints down the field on a well-orchestrated drive resulting in a Mark Ingram Jr. rushing touchdown. The Saints will now lead 30-24. Carolina will get the ball back with four minutes left and two timeouts.
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On the ensuing series, Newton will get strip sacked near midfield without less than two minutes on the clock, but will have the two timeouts remaining. Then, Brees will lean on his running game with Ingram and Kamara doing enough to run out the clock on Carolina, even with two timeouts in their pocket. Saints win 30-24 to improve to 9-3, complete the season sweep of the Panthers and cover the 4.5-point spread.
Pick: Saints 30, Panthers 24