Imagine being a pretty decent-sized underdog to a team that asked two retired quarterbacks to play a Monday night game for them on short notice. Then imagine that team’s usual starting quarterback is actually best used as a running back/special teams gunner.
Well, if you’re the Carolina Panthers, then you don’t have to imagine that!
This reeling 5-10 squad enters Week 17 as more than a touchdown’s worth of an underdog to the host New Orleans Saints this Sunday. Tipico Sportsbook currently has the spread set at 7.5 points.
Carolina will travel to the bayou with a five-game losing streak on their backs. Their most recent loss, a 32-6 shellacking courtesy of the new NFC South champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, saw the team’s most dysfunctional display under center yet.
Head coach Matt Rhule not only split time between Cam Newton and Sam Darnold, but repeatedly swapped them out for one another throughout the entire course of the afternoon. That, unsurprisingly, resulted in just 206 passing yards and zero touchdowns.
Speaking of zero touchdowns, the Saints come in to this matchup void of any end-zone visits over the past two weeks. The white-hot Miami Dolphins shut rookie Ian Book and the New Orleans offense down to the tune of a 20-3 win in Week 16.
We’ll keep tabs on this line in case Drew Brees or Philip Rivers decides to unhang their cleats.
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