Will you take a look at FanDuel finally putting some respect on the Carolina Panthers name. All it took was two weeks of putting up 34+ points on offense, one week of holding their opponents to a single field goal, and one future week of facing the Cleveland Browns.
For their part, the Browns showed hints of the juggernaut they were hoping to become three years ago by barely defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That’s what almost adequate quarterback play gets you against the NFC South, don’t you know.
So what do the numbers actually look like?
Week 3
Spread
Panthers: -2.5 (-115)
Browns: +2.5 (-105)
O/U
40.5 (-115/-105)
Moneyline
Panthers: -144
Browns: +122
Remember that home-field advantage is traditionally accounted for by spotting the home team—the Browns, in this case—three points on the spread. That would actually see the Panthers favored by almost a whole touchdown on a neutral field.
Marginal odds make sense for this point in the season. These are the touchdown favorite conditions that the Detroit Lions find themselves enjoying against the New York Jets next week. The Panthers have been a team of chaos and inconsistency for years, and that’s on their good days. We’ll keep beating the drum that two weeks, while encouraging, isn’t the same thing as a trend. Another 34-3 performance will cement the Panthers as early season contenders. Another 59-37 performance will just confuse everybody. And anything in between will tell us that we still have much to learn about this young season.
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