The Carolina Panthers may be the best win-less team in the NFL right now, but that doesn’t exactly sound like something you’d want to put on a poster. The experts have very little faith that Carolina will get a win on Sunday, despite facing the lowly Arizona Cardinals.
Here’s a review of who they’re picking this week.
ESPN: Cards
Over at ESPN, seven out of 10 experts have predicted that Arizona will win this one.
USA Today: Cards
Five of seven of USA Today’s national writers are picking the Cardinals.
CBS Sports: Cards
Seven out of eight experts at CBS Sports are picking the Cards. Jared Dubin is the lone holdout for the Panthers.
Sporting News: Cards
Tadd Haislop at Sporting News doesn’t have much faith in Carolina’s offense, apparently. He’s predicting a 23-14 win for Arizona.
SB Nation: Cards
It was pretty close at SB Nation, where four experts picked the Panthers. Six went with the Cardinals, though.
NFL.com: Cards
At the league’s official website, Gregg Rosenthal has Arizona winning by a field goal, 24-21.
Pro Football Focus: Cards
Finally, seven of eight members of PFF’s panel are going with the Cards.
That’s quite a lot.
If you’ve been following a while, you know this kind of consensus sometimes can get us in a contrarian mood.
If Cam Newton is out of the lineup, then realistically it’s tough to see them beating anybody right now, even the Cardinals. However, the emotional/motivation factor for Carolina could be massive. The Panthers absolutely need to win, or their season is already over. That desperation will count for a lot. Probably.
We’re going out on a limb and predicting a Panthers victory on a field goal by Joey Slye in overtime.
