Football Betting — Do the Panthers Have a Chance in Seattle?

Updated: January 10, 2015

By Charles Jay

The Carolina Panthers were a rarity in the NFL this season as they won their division with a record below .500. But they brought some momentum into the post-season, where they proceeded to completely stymie the Arizona Cardinals, who were headed toward the league’s best record until they ran into quarterback problems. Things have fallen right so far, but could that possibly continue as they pay a visit to the VERY loud CenturyLink Field for the NFC Divisional round playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks? We’ll find out, as they have a tall mountain to climb. Football betting action kicks off at 8:15 PM ET.

The NFC South was like a hot potato this season, because it appeared nobody really wanted it. The Panthers got hot at the right time, winning four consecutive regular season games to end the season with a 7-8-1 record. The finale was a 34-3 win over the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome, which is not an easy place to win. And last weekend, the Carolina defense set an NFL record by yielding just 78 yards to Arizona, which was forced to go with Ryan Lindley at quarterback. The competition may not have been top-shelf down the stretch, but there is no denying that this team has a lot more confidence as they venture into a city in which they have never won.

In the football betting line that has been posted at BetAnySports, the Seahawks are laying a lot of points:

Seattle Seahawks -11
Carolina Panthers +11

Over 40 points -110
Under 40 points -110

The Panthers have outgained opponents by an average of 130 yards a game over their last seven contests, and they have allowed a total of 59 points over their last five games. They are essentially relying on a formula that is generally recommended for playoff football, in that they are playing defense and running the football. There was a point earlier in the season when the Panthers had no healthy running backs, but now Jonathan Stewart (4.6 ypc) is back to being a major contributor, and Cam Newton, despite a series of injuries, including two broken bones in his lower back that were sustained in a car accident, is utterly unafraid to pull the football down and run with it. Newton has 539 yards on the ground, so Russell Wilson is not the only quarterback in this matchup who can use his feet.

BetAnySports patrons have seen some very tight games between these two squads recently. In fact, even though Seattle has won the last three encounters, they have been decided by a total of thirteen points. And the games themselves have totaled only 69 points. This year the Seahawks won a 13-9 decision in which there were only 576 total yards between the two teams.

This might point NFL football bettors in the direction of the “under,” and that might indeed be a strong play. The crowd noise at CenturyLink Field, which is notorious for causing false starts, may play some havoc with the Carolina offense at the line of scrimmage, as they have used a number of rookies on that side of the ball, including wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, who had 1008 yards this season, 94 of them against the Seattle secondary in this year’s meeting. That game was played in Charlotte, however; he’ll get extra attention from Richard Sherman & Co. this time around.

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