Carolina Panthers (3-8 SU, 5-6 ATS) vs. Kansas City Chiefs (1-10 SU, 4-7 ATS)
College Football Week 13
Date and Time: Sunday, December 2, 2012, 1:00PM EST
Where: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
TV: FOX
by Bob, Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: CAR -3/KC +3
Over/Under Total: OFF
Not much to say about this matchup. These are two bad teams, really bad. The Kansas City Chiefs will play host to the Carolina Panthers this Sunday in Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs come in with a record of 1-10 while the Panthers sit at 3-8, coming off their win against the lowly Eagles. Many experts liked the Panthers this offseason, some even had them winning the NFC South while others had them in the wildcard spot of the NFC playoffs. Well, that’s just simply not going to happen. Carolina is 1-3 against their own division and haven’t given anyone reason to think things will get much better this season. While this contest doesn’t carry much weight in the playoff race or division races, it will be a very competitive game since both teams are struggling so much.
Like I said earlier, the Carolina Panthers are sitting at 3-8 overall. However, 5 of their 8 losses were decided by a TD or less. They have been competitive but just haven’t been able to close teams out late. Earlier this season, on the road in Atlanta while running out the clock in a game that was over and in their favor, they fumbled on what was going to be the final play and a first down but then was forced to punt with just 40 seconds on the clock. Atlanta starting from their own ONE YARD LINE drove the field in under 30 seconds for a game winning field goal. They also suffered a 1 point loss to Dallas, and a 4 point loss to Seattle in a game where their defense actually played pretty well. Wins just haven’t been easy to come by this season for this group. From a statistical standpoint, Carolina isn’t that bad of a team. They rank 11th in pass defense, 16th in passing, and 18th in rushing. This puts them right in the middle of the league in these categories. The one downfall to this team is their rush defense which is giving up over 125 yards a contest and ranked only 25th in the league. Carolina will be playing a short as they travel to KC, but will that be enough to keep them from winning game number 4 on the season?
Kansas City has had a rough run of it as of late too. Coming in to this game with a 1-10 record, this season has been a pure disaster. If not for the Saints starting this season with NO defense, the Chiefs would be winless. The Chiefs battled back from two scores down to force overtime in the Superdome and narrowly escaped that one. As bad as they have looked however, there are two areas that has looked pretty good for the tribe. With Jamaal Charles leading the way, they rank 4th in the NFL in rushing yards and their defense actually sits as the 10th best against the pass. Not too bad really. And what I like most about this is that being ranked 4th in rushing, they can expose the Carolina weakness against the run. Now don’t get me wrong, the Chiefs will need to get the pass going too in order to keep the Panthers defense honest, but I think KC can have some success in this game, especially being at home.
Bob’s Pick to Cover the Point Spread: This is a tough one. One team is 3-8 and favored on the road, while the home team sits at 1-10 and has only averaged a little over 10 points a game in their last 4 contests. With that said, I’m riding with the home team. Neither team can be trusted and with that said, I will take the team who’s being given points at home over the team that is coming off the short weeks rest that is having issues of their own. I think the rowdy Arrowhead Stadium crowd can rattle Cam Newton enough to force mistakes and keep the Chiefs in the game. Look for a nail biter type of game. I like a 23-21 type contest with the home team getting win number 2 on the season. PICK: KC CHIEFS +3
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