NFL Football: Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers

By BetOnline November 8, 2019

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The Green Bay Packers are coming off a humbling loss last week to the Los Angeles Chargers, This week, they’ll host the Carolina Panthers, who now know they’ll be without Cam Newton for the rest of the regular season. The Panthers haven’t needed him, though, as Kyle Allen has filled in admirably. Can they go on the road and humble the Packers for a second straight week or will Aaron Rodgers and company rebound?

CAROLINA PANTHERS AT GREEN BAY PACKERS
NFL ODDS: PACKERS -5.5
NFL TOTAL: 46.5

WHY THE PANTHERS WILL COVER THE SPREAD

The Panthers will look at what the Chargers did to the Packers’ offense and notice, along with everyone else in the NFL, that Green Bay simply doesn’t have a lot of resources at wide receiver if Davante Adams isn’t prominently involved in the offense. Adams was rusty after an injury layoff. He did catch seven passes, but for only 41 yards. None of the Packer receivers were able to stretch the field. Aaron Rodgers threw a lot of dump-offs and checkdowns, not testing the Chargers vertically, and he was harassed in the pocket throughout most of the game. That could happen again this week as the Panthers lead the NFL in sacks. Taking a look at the forecast, it looks like we’ll have either snow, frigid temperatures or both, which means it might be easier for Carolina to contain the Packers, keep the game close, and win with Christian McCaffrey – who is having a better season than Aaron Rodgers – making the biggest plays of the day in the fourth quarter.

McCaffrey – on an offense without Cam Newton – has a chance to have a big game here as the Packers have been brutal at stopping the run. They held the Chicago Bears to 46 rushing yards in their opener but have allowed a whopping 137.9 rushing yards per game since. If McCaffrey has a good game and the Panthers can win the time of possession battle, they’ll have a shot to do more than just cover here.

WHY THE PACKERS WILL COVER THE SPREAD

The Panthers have actually done well with Kyle Allen as the backup quarterback to Cam Newton, winning five of six games since Newton was knocked out for the season with an injury. However, it was felt at the time of Newton’s injury in September that he would be back with the team. Only in the past few days has it been made known that Newton will not play again in 2019. This changes the reality of Carolina’s situation. Allen will have to play the whole season at a high level for this team to make the playoffs.

The Newton injury news should put more pressure on Allen figuratively and he’s likely to face more pressure literally this week too. The Packers pass defense has picked up 22 sacks, which is in the middle of the pack, but they’ve frequently harassed passers.

The other thing to note here is that the Panthers have beaten a lot of teams with losing records under Allen: the Cardinals, the Jaguars, the Titans, and the Bucs. Only the Houston Texans have a winning record – that is the only winning team the Panthers have beaten. They were shredded by 38 points in a blowout loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Going on the road to face a 7-2 team in the cold might give us a really good idea of just how good Allen actually is.

The Packers, coming off a loss and playing at home, should be able to put the Panthers in their place.

TAKING A LOOK AT THE TOTAL

The Panthers scored only 13 in their decisive loss to the Niners, but they have scored 30 or more points in a majority of their games with Kyle Allen. However, with weather being a factor here, look for the Panthers to run McCaffrey as much as possible, play ball control and keep this a low-scoring game.