Demolishing the Green Bay Packers in front of the football world will do a lot to raise your profile. But oddsmakers aren’t predicting a blowout when the New Orleans Saints fly out to Carolina. While Tipico Sportsbook opened up by favoring the Saints by 3.5 points in Carolina, an over/under of just 44.5. That suggests a finally tally near Saints 25, Panthers 21.
It would outperform the 19 points that Carolina managed to score on the New York Jets last week. And it would be a big drop from the 38 points New Orleans just dropped on the Packers, a defense that outplayed the Panthers last year by nearly every measure.
So, yeah, that feels like a generous line for the Panthers. It’s anyone’s guess how well Sam Darnold will play against the Saints, especially now that Christian McCaffrey is healthy. But they’ll have to make big strides after all the trouble the Jets gave them in Week 1.
