Pittsburgh Steelers vs Carolina Panthers Betting Picks & Predictions
Pittsburgh is on the road playing Carolina at the Bank of America Stadium stadium on Sunday, 12/18/2022 @ 1:00pm EST. Pittsburgh -1.5 was the opening favorite and current
Game outlook
Pittsburgh is on the road playing Carolina at the Bank of America Stadium stadium on Sunday, 12/18/2022 @ 1:00pm EST. Pittsburgh -1.5 was the opening favorite and current line is Carolina -3.
With a victory over the Bucs in hand and another game upcoming later this season, Carolina controls its own destiny in the NFC South. There's also a chance the Panthers could end the week in first place since Tampa Bay is a home underdog. Steve Wilks deserves a lot of credit for keeping the team afloat after Matt Rhule parted ways. Wilks' leadership style has been widely criticized over the last few weeks and he seems to be making the most of the talent he has available. Since the Panthers got blown out by the Bengals in Week 9, they are 4-0 ATS covering by almost 10 points per game, and they are also 3-1 SU in that stretch, with Baltimore being the only outright loss. Despite Baker Mayfield and PJ Walker suffering from ups and downs this season, Sam Darnold has graded out like an above-average quarterback, especially on early downs.
A 3-headed monster of Chuba Hubbard, D’Onta Foreman, and Raheem Blackshear has emerged as a threat on the rushing attack as well. Although this Panthers team has shown some improvement on offense, it is their defense that drives them, ranking 3rd in EPA/play during this recent stretch, allowing an average of 15.5 points per game. It is allowing interim DC Al Holcomb to be creative with his blitz packages since both Jaycee Horn and CJ Henderson are former first-round picks and having outstanding seasons. The team will likely get the benefit of facing Mitchell Trubisky this week, since Kenny Pickett is currently undergoing concussion protocol for the second time this season, which means he is unlikely to play this week.