The New Orleans Saints look to play spoiler to the Panthers perfect season on Sunday afternoon. (Getty)
The Carolina Panthers can book their postseason ticket on Sunday afternoon and stay perfect in the process, with a victory over the New Orleans Saints.
The league’s only undefeated team is fresh off a 33-14 hammering of the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day and are red-hot heading back to the Superdome. After all, this is where the regular season win streak began last year. That’s why the Panthers come into the divisional tilt as 6.5-point favorites according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.
So, how do the Panthers keep that zero in the loss column? Strike early and strike often. Cam Newton has been dominant this season and if he’s going to quiet the New Orleans crowd, he’ll need to find the end zone fast. Last year the Panthers jumped out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter and cruised to a victory. A few big passes (or runs, let’s not be picky) by Newton and Carolina could be rolling early.
Of course, there’s plenty of reason aside from the Panthers record to think Carolina will walk away on Sunday at 12-0.
Carolina is 7-1 ATS in its last eight games and 10-5 ATS in its last 15 games against the Saints. They’re also 5-2 SU in their last seven games against New Orleans, including back-to-back victories in the last two matchups. As if that weren’t enough, the Panthers are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games as road favorites.
Meanwhile, the Saints have failed to inspire as much confidence.
New Orleans is coming off a lopsided 24-6 loss to the Houston Texans as Drew Brees failed to find the end zone for the first time in 45 games. The Saints have been up-and-down this season and while the offense has been known to put up points, the defense hasn’t done much of anything to slow down opponents.
And the odds reflect that. The Saints are 0-3 SU and ATS in their last three games. The squad is also 2-7-1 ATS and 3-7 in its last 10 games at home.
The total for Sunday’s New Orleans and Carolina matchup is set at 49.5 points according to the sportsbooks. The total has gone OVER in 10 of Carolina’s last 13 games on the road and OVER in six of the last nine games against the Saints.
The OddsShark computer is predicting a 29.2 – 19.4 Carolina victory.
Carolina vs. New Orleans pick: Carolina SU & ATS