Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints odds, picks and predictions

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The Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints open their regular seasons at the Caesars Superdome Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET (FOX). Below, we analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s lines around the Panthers vs. Saints odds, and make our expert NFL picks and predictions.

The Panthers have QB Bryce Young entering Year 2, and apparently he made strides in training camp. The team also surrounded him with more weapons, trading for WR Diontae Johnson, while getting back into the 1st round of the 2024 NFL Draft to select South Carolina WR Xavier Legette.

The Saints swept the season series in 2023 while going 1-0-1 against the spread (ATS) at most shops. New Orleans has won 4 of the past 5 games at home against Carolina, with a meaningless Week 18 game won by the Panthers Jan. 8, 2023, as the lone exception. The Under has cashed in 7 straight meetings in this series.

New Orleans has won and covered 3 in a row inside the NFC South, and the Under cashed in 5 of 6 divisional games last season.

Carolina also saw the total go 5-1 in the past 6 divisional contests while going 1-5 straight up (SU) and 2-3-1 ATS in those outings.

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Panthers at Saints odds

Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:20 a.m. ET.

Moneyline (ML): Panthers +176 (bet $100 to win $176) | Saints -210 (bet $210 to win $100)
Against the spread: Panthers +3.5 (-104) | Saints -3.5 (-118)
Over/Under (O/U): 41.5 (O: -108 | U: -112)

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Panthers at Saints key injuries

Panthers

TE Tommy Tremble (hamstring, back) out

Saints

LB Willie Gay Jr. (back) questionable
DT Khalen Saunders (calf) out

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Panthers at Saints picks and predictions

Prediction

Saints 23, Panthers 16

Moneyline

The Saints (-210) will set you back more than 2 times your potential return if you want to back the home side straight up and not play around with the points. That’s a little too expensive for a standalone wager, but as part of a multi-leg parlay, especially in Week 1, when we’re being a little more conservative, it’s OK to toss in with a few other teams.

PASS.

Against the spread

The SAINTS -3.5 (-118) are worth a look laying the points, although that hook is always bothersome. When betting the favorite, it’s always more appealing taking the flat 3, rather than the 3 and a hook.

Still, New Orleans should be able to handle its business against the Panthers +3.5 (-104), who need to prove to bettors and NFL fans that they’re way better than the past 2 seasons before we start trusting them again.

Over/Under

UNDER 41.5 (-112) is a strong play in this NFC South battle.

The Under cashed in 5 of 6 divisional games for each of these teams last season and went 2-0 in their head-to-head meetings.

The most recent meeting in New Orleans saw the home side win 28-6 in Week 14 of the 2023 campaign. In fact, the total has gone low in 7 straight meetings since Jan. 3, 2021. Until we see big offense in this series again, keep going low.

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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.

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