Carolina Panthers (5-10) vs. New Orleans Saints (7-8)
January 2, 2022 4:25 pm EDT
The Line: New Orleans Saints -6.5 / Carolina Panthers +6.5; Over/Under: -39.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers square off Sunday in an NFC South week 17 NFL rivalry from the Caesars Superdome.
The Carolina Panthers come into this game looking to bounce back from a 5th straight loss after a 32-6 beating at the hands of Tampa Bay last time out. Sam Darnold has thrown for 2,176 yards, 7 touchdowns and 11 interceptions on 58.3% passing while Cam Newton has tossed for 684 yards, 4 touchdowns and 5 INTs on 54.8% passing. Chuba Hubbard leads the Panthers on the ground with 509 rushing yards and 4 scores while PJ Moore has 1,041 receiving yards with 4 TDs and a team-high 83 catches and the next closest receiver is Robby Anderson who has 44 grabs for 459 yards and 4 scores as well this season. On defense, Jeremy Chinn leads the Panthers with 103 total tackles while Haason Reddick has a team-high 11 sacks and Brian Burns has 9 sacks of his own this season.
The New Orleans Saints will try to rebound from a 20-3 beating at the hands of Miami on Monday night. Ian Book threw for 135 yards and 2 interceptions in his debut while Trevor Siemian has 1,083 passing yards with 9 touchdowns and 3 picks on 57.2% passing and Taysom Hill’s thrown for 649 yards, 2 touchdowns and 5 INTs. Alvin Kamara leads the Saints with 720 rushing yards and 4 scores while the aforementioned Hill has 311 rushing yards and 5 TDs. Marquez Callaway leads the Saints with 40 catches for 601 yards and 6 receiving TDs while Deonte Harris has chipped in 523 receiving yards and 3 scores as well this season. On defense, Demario Davis leads the way with 95 total tackles while Marshon Lattimore and P.J. Williams each have a team-high 3 interceptions. Cameron Jordan leads New Orleans with 8 sacks and Marcus Davenport is right behind with 7.5 sacks as well this season.
Carolina is 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following an ATS loss while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 division games. New Orleans is 9-4 ATS in their last 13 division games and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 home games while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 games overall. The underdog is 12-3 ATS in the last 15 meetings between these two teams.
This is a bit of an interesting situation as the QB situation for New Orleans really dictates the play here. Be sure to keep checking the injury report, but if it’s still Ian Book for the Saints, it makes my play on the Panthers even stronger. The underdog’s owned this matchup covering in 12 of the last 15 meetings and I just think this is going to be a hard-hitting rivalry game even if both sides are pretty much done from the postseason discussion. Give me Carolina here.
