A Super Bowl Champion will be crowned when the Carolina Panthers go up against the Denver Broncos in Santa Clara on Sunday, Feb 7. The NFL’s third-leading rusher, Jonathan Stewart (1,178 yards, 8 TDs), will be a player to watch in this game. It will air Sunday, Feb 7 at 6:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
Denver won in a close one over the Patriots 20-18 in the AFC Championship last week. Owen Daniels had a quality performance in the victory, pulling in two receptions for 33 yards and two TDs. Carolina dominated the Cardinals 49-15. Cam Newton had a huge game through the air for the Panthers, connecting on 19 of 28 pass attempts for 335 yards, two TDs and one interception. Greg Olsen also had a great game with 113 yards on six catches.
Carolina is a three-point favorite in this game against the Broncos. According to the oddsmakers, the Over/Under (O/U) is currently at 45 points.
Sitting at 12-4 Straight Up (SU) and 7-7-2 Against The Spread (ATS), the Broncos will look to improve heading into Week 22. In their five most recent matchups, the Broncos went 4-1 SU and 1-2-2 ATS. Denver is averaging 127.0 rushing yards in its last five games, an improvement over its season average of 107.4. As for the Denver defense, a few key matchups could decide this game. When the Panthers meet the Broncos this week, they face the No. 1 pass defense in the NFL. The Broncos give up 199.8 passing yards per game. The Panthers will have to keep Denver from hitting their quarterback. The Broncos average the most sacks per game in the league with 3.2. The Broncos are one of the best in the league at scoring in the fourth quarter, averaging eight points.
Shifting to the opposition, the Panthers head into Week 22 with records of 11-5 ATS and 15-1 SU. Over their last five games, the Panthers have a SU record of 4-1 and a 3-2 record ATS. Carolina’s game plan centers around running the football. The Panthers run 32.9 times per game, most in the NFL. Moving on to the Carolina defense, it has some favorable matchups that it may be able to take advantage of as well. The Panthers have the fourth-ranked run defense in the league, giving up 88.4 yards per game on the ground. The Broncos will need to be mindful of Carolina’s ability to get takeaways. The Panthers defense averages 2.4 turnovers per game, the most of any team in the league. The Broncos will have to stay focused in the second quarter against Carolina. The Panthers finish off the first half strong, averaging a league-leading 10.4 points during the second quarter. It’ll be difficult to keep Carolina’s offense off the field this week. The team’s average time of possession is 32:04, ranking fifth in the league.
Predictions: SU Winner – Car, ATS Winner – Car, O/U – Under
Notes
Denver is 1-3-2 ATS in its last 6 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Denver’s last 7 games.
Carolina is 14-0 SU this season, when leading at the half. Denver is 9-2 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
This season, Carolina is undefeated (3-0 SU) in games where it wins the turnover battle.
The Denver defense is averaging 3.3 sacks per game this season, and Carolina is a perfect 4-0 SU when allowing at least 3.0 sacks in a game.
The Carolina pass defense is ranked 11th in the league, while the Denver passing attack is ranked only 14th. The Panthers’ passing game is ranked just 24th, compared to the first-ranked pass defense of the Broncos.
Denver has only given up 18.5 points per game at home this year, which is ranked ninth in the NFL. The Carolina offense has averaged 29.5 points per contest on the road (ranked second overall).
