Carolina Panthers: What Does Vegas Say?
Vegas likes the Carolina Panthers as much as they do any team in the League, but what’s behind the number of wins they have projected?
When trying to figure out what the Carolina Panthers are going to do this year, one might turn to the almighty Vegas oddsmakers. After all they are people with something to lose if they provide an incorrect betting line.
So coming off a 15 win season with Kelvin Benjamin back and Josh Norman gone, what does Vegas think of the Panthers’ chances? Answer: 10.5 wins. That may seem like an odd number or just low but the Panthers are at the top of the Vegas win numbers list. They are tied with the Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Green Bay Packers.
Of course the only team up there with the Panthers that they play is Seattle, and since that is a road game it likely fits as one of the Panthers’ losses. It might even be the elusive half game that Vegas is playing between ten and eleven wins.
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So what are these likely ten a half wins?
The Panthers should be favored in every home game they play. The likeliest home upsets are Arizona and Kansas City, but let’s work on the assumption that the Panthers win every game at home. That means the Vegas people would believe that the Panthers would drop between five and six road games.
The easiest one to pick out is Seattle. Atlanta held their home turf last year. Denver beat the Panthers in the Super Bowl so I guess they would be favored in the first game of the year? Getting from three to five is where it gets sticky. You have to give New Orleans a home win. Then it would be the Rams, Raiders, or Bucs. The Rams play closest to the Panthers while Tampa gets the last game of the season when the Panthers might be comfortably in the playoffs.
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I don’t think that is how Vegas got to this number. I think they like Seattle, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Denver as home teams. I think they believe the Panthers will drop a game either to the Chiefs or the Cardinals. Then the magic half game is the Bucs at the end of the year depending on whether the Panthers need the game for playoff positioning or not.
Unlike Vegas, I do not like Denver and Atlanta at home. Those are the Panthers’ only revenge games on the schedule. I could see a determined Seattle team and some Cajun craziness happening down in New Orleans. So I would have put the number at 12.5. That is pretty bold for me since I normally just try to figure out how the team gets into the playoffs.
There is a lot to be positive about the Panthers right now. Hopefully they can feel that head wind and use it to their advantage.