Carolina Panthers: NFL Season Betting Preview

Carolina Panthers
(+5250) – Odds to Win the Super Bowl
(Over 7.5, +125: Under 7.5, -145) – Over/Under Total Wins
(+605) – Odds to Win Division

The Panthers are definitely a dark-horse-surprise team to impress some people, at least from this guys’ point of view. If they didn’t have John Fox coaching, I’d probably like them even more. Listen, I see that Fox has done some things well, and his career record and winning playoff mark speaks for itself, but watching him call pass plays early and often while Jake Delhomme was playing catch with opposing secondaries, was painful – especially when Carolina’s run-game was so potent. But Delhomme is gone, and Matt Moore is the guy I see getting the snaps in Carolina, and here I am giving John Fox a second chance. Moore doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, and that’s going to be huge for the Panthers. They tried to improve offensive in the draft, and I think Brandon LaFell will help them right away at receiver. They picked up Jimmy Clausen, and while I think the pick was worthy, I’m not expecting him to help anytime soon. Eric Norwood is a solid LB picked late, he should help in situations. Remember, this team lost Julius Peppers, easily their biggest name on the defensive side of the ball, probably on their entire team. I don’t know if they’ll turn into mush defensively, but they’ll miss the very talented defensive end. This team has a legitimate shot to win their division, Atlanta and New Orleans are obviously favored, but the Panthers are good enough to make waves. They played very well down the stretch, winning 4 of their final 5 games including 3 straight to end the season. They played close games against good teams and beat Arizona, Miami, and Minnesota in meaningful games. Don’t count them out. I like their over and odds to win the NFC South – both have solid payouts and I expect them to win at least 8 games.