Panthers vs. Saints: 6 takeaways from a close Week 12 loss.
The Carolina Panthers almost rallied from a huge deficit against the New Orleans Saints, but they came up just short, losing 34-31 on a late field goal.
Here are a few takeaways from the loss.
Christian McCaffrey continued his phenomenal season
(Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
The Saints came into this week having not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 36 consecutive games. McCaffrey was unbothered. While they were mostly able to contain him on the ground, McCaffrey torched the Saints as a receiver. He caught all nine of his targets, totaling 133 yards from scrimmage and scoring two touchdowns. This is one of the greatest seasons any NFL running back has ever had. Carolina fans should be enjoying that if nothing else about this year.
Tackling Christian McCaffrey is easier said than done. Watch Saints safety Vonn Bell do his best and come up with nothing but air before McCaffrey scores his second touchdown of the game. He’s up to 16 on the season, now.
The Panthers still trail the Saints 31-24 going into the fourth quarter.
A week after the Myles Garrett fiasco, NFL players are still breaking safety rules.
Apparently, last week’s violent incident between Cleveland’s Myles Garrett and Pittsburgh’s Mason Rudolph hasn’t made the rest of the league settle down this week. At least for one team’s defense.
The New Orleans Saints defense made two violent plays in the first half of Sunday’s game with the Carolina Panthers. New Orleans’ Cameron Jordan punched Carolina quarterback Kyle Allen in the facemask.
A bit later, New Orleans safety Von Bell did essentially the same thing to Carolina running back Christian McCaffery.
The league made a big issue out of last week’s fiasco and fined 33 players for their roles in the incident. Shouldn’t New Orleans defensive coordinator Dennis Allen have told his players to stay within the rules – especially this week? Apparently, Allen didn’t get the memo.
Pat Yasinskas has covered the NFL since 1993. He has worked for The Tampa Tribune, The Charlotte Observer and ESPN.com and writes for numerous national magazines and websites. He also has served as a voter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
What a turnaround in the second quarter for the Panthers. After falling behind 14-0, it looked like this one might be another blowout. Carolina rallied in a big way though, beginning with a 51-yard bomb of a touchdown from Kyle Allen to D.J. Moore.
The Panthers closed the first half out with a 17-play drive, capped off by this touchdown pass to McCaffrey on a nice design by Norv Turner.
The two-point attempt failed, so at halftime the Saints lead 17-15.
Analyzing key Week 12 NFL prop bets that seem poised for a pay-day, featuring props around Odell Beckham Jr., Christian McCaffrey and Russell Wilson.
Sometimes when you make prop bets, you want to get things done in a hurry — for better or worse. With that in mind, this week’s three prop picks are all about who will be the first player to find the end zone in a trio of early games on the Week 12 slate.
Odell Bet-him
Look for Odell Beckham to break out of his slump on Sunday. Early. Scott R. Galvin – USA TODAY Sports
Who will score the first touchdown? The big money can be made by going after a Dolphins player, since they’re all more than +1000, but our money is on Cleveland getting off to a fast start. While Nick Chubb (+330) and Jarvis Landry (+600) are tempting because they’ve been scoring consistently in recent games, our bet is a big early play from a frustrated Odell Beckham Jr. (+500) to get on the board early.
Looking to place a bet? Get some action at BetMGM. NEW CUSTOMER OFFER: Risk-Free first bet (up to $500; paid in free bets).Sign up now!
Bet the money and run (CMC)
When you get these kinds of odds on Christian McCaffrey, you make a run to the betting window. Jeremy Brevard – USA TODAY Sports
The Saints are prohibitive favorites at home and are expected to roll up points. But when are you ever going to get a scoring machine like Christian McCaffrey at +550 to score the first touchdown of the game? The Saints will score touchdowns throughout the game by Run CMC strikes first and brings better than a 5-to-1 return on investment.
Win your fantasy football league withTheHuddle.com. SPECIAL MID-SEASON RATE!Subscribe with code “sbw25” to take $25 OFF. Valid for new subscribers through 11/30/19.
Gold Russ
In case you forgot how dangerous Russell Wilson can be on the ground, tune into Sunday’s game early. Cary Edmondson – USA TODAY Sports
The spread is pretty even among the usual suspects as to who will score the first touchdown of the game between both teams, so you have to go with your gut. We can envision a scenario where the Seahawks march down the field and face a critical third-and-goal play that Russell Wilson (+1200) escapes the pass rush and runs into the end zone for the first score of the game. Take Wilson and run with him.
Typically prop bets focus on yardage totals for a game. This week, we’re getting in and out quickly and having our bets decided within a half hour or so of kickoff from the early games and then getting on with the rest of our day.
Now that you have the skinny on what to do with each player, visit BetMGM to place a bet on your favorite NFL Prop Bets now. For additional sports betting picks and tips, visit SportsbookWire.com now and for a complete set of today’s live odds, access them at USA TODAY Sports.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
If they’re going to pull off an upset, they’re going to have to win some key individual matchups.
The Carolina Panthers are big underdogs (9.5 points) for tomorrow’s game against the New Orleans Saints. If they’re going to pull off an upset, they’re going to have to win some key individual matchups.
Here are six we will be watching on Sunday.
Kyle Allen vs. Kyle Allen
(Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
Sometimes the greatest adversary comes from within. For Kyle Allen, he has to figure out a way to stop turning the ball over and hurting his team. If a pass gets tipped and picked off that’s one thing, but the interceptions Allen has been throwing the last few weeks have been of the awful, unforced variety. He’s also been panicking and running into sacks ever since the collapse in Santa Clara. If Allen can avoid any turnovers and throw at least two touchdowns, he’ll have done his job for the day.
Watch McCaffrey and his teammates react to his joining the 99 club.
Realistically, the chances of Christian McCaffrey winning the MVP award this year are not good. Team success is ultimately what determines that more than anything else and the Panthers simply aren’t winning enough games. However, there are still records to break and accolades to earn.
Getting a boost in your ‘Madden’ ratings is always a nice feather in the cap. Watch McCaffrey and his teammates react to his joining the 99 club.
Cook already has career highs in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, receptions and receiving yards.
Even after being limited to just 26 rushing yards and 31 receiving yards in a Week 11 win over the Broncos, Vikings running back Dalvin Cook still ranks second in NFL.com’s running back rankings.
On the season, Cook has 1,017 yards for a league-leading 11 touchdowns to go with 45 catches for 455 yards.
That puts him on pace for 1,479 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns along with 65 catches for another 661 yards.
Cook will have a chance to add onto his impressive numbers in Week 13 against the Seahawks. The Vikings have a Week 12 bye. Seattle is allowing just 101 rushing yards per game, a mark that ranks 12th in the NFL.
The only running back ahead of Cook on the list is Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey has 1,059 rushing yards and 517 receiving yards.
The Panthers got destroyed by the Falcons on Sunday, losing 29-3 at home. One of a handful of bright spots was the play of Christian McCaffrey, who continues to have one of the best years any NFL running back ever has. Here’s McCaffrey’s top plays against Atlanta from Week 11.
McCaffrey finished the game with 70 rushing yards on 14 carries. He added 121 more on 11 catches. He’s still on pace to break Chris Johnson’s single-season record for the most yards from scrimmage.
Make that two losses in a row as the Panthers got utterly dominated by a rejuvenated Falcons team today.
Make that two losses in a row as the Panthers got utterly dominated by a rejuvenated Falcons team today. There’s plenty of blame to go around.
Let’s take a look at this week’s winners and losers.
Loser: QB Kyle Allen
Remember just a few short weeks ago when some fans were saying that they did not need Cam Newton anymore? Those same people are nowhere to be found now. Allen was atrocious on Sunday. He might have thrown for a career high of 325 yards but he had no choice but to throw the ball as he fought from behind all day long. Allen threw four interceptions and could have had even more.
A lot went into the loss, but Allen should take most of the blame here after such a horrendous performance.
Loser: Panthers offensive line
One reason Allen struggled so much was the performance of Carolina’s offensive line. The right and left tackles kept allowing Allen to get pressured by a bad Atlanta pass rush. In the end, the Falcons had five sacks and 10 QB hits and forced Allen to make some bad decisions.
Winner: RB Christian McCaffrey
With 121 yards caught through the air and an additional 70 yards on the ground, running back Christian McCaffrey had himself another stellar game. He set a record for becoming the first NFL player to total 1,000 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in 10 games. Unfortunately, it was all for nothing. McCaffrey can’t be expected to do everything.
Loser: WR Curtis Samuel
For a player who was supposed to have a breakout season, Samuel has been quiet for a while now. Today, he caught four passes for only 25 yards. You can only blame Allen for so much. The Panthers need more from their play-makers, Samuel included.
