Seattle Seahawks vs. Carolina Panthers Pick 12/15/19

Seattle Seahawks (10-3 SU, 7-6 ATS) vs. Carolina Panthers (5-8 SU, 6-7 ATS)

NFL Week 15

Date/Time: Sunday, December 15, 2019 at 1PM EST

Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina

TV: Fox

Point Spread: SEA -6/CAR +6 (Bovada – 50% Cash Bonus + Rebates on EVERY Bet!)

Over/Under Total: 48

The Seattle Seahawks come into Charlotte on Sunday to take on the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Seattle saw their five-game winning streak end in LA on Sunday Night Football with 28-12 loss to the Rams last week. They look to get back to the business of winning with some high-stakes playoff ramifications abound. They catch an opponent that is on a big slide, with the Panthers dropping their fifth in a row with a 40-20 loss to the Falcons on Sunday. Do they have any life left in them or will the Seahawks get back to the business of winning and covering?

Trouble Spot for Seattle?

On the heels of some tough games, the Seahawks face their second straight road game, this one being out of conference. Four of their last five games will have been on the road. Among those games were showdowns with some pretty tough teams, squads that had a lot to play for. Against LA on Sunday night, we saw a pretty flat team. With the stakes so high, one would expect a more-urgent Seattle team to surface in this spot. And Carolina is undoubtedly a manageable opponent, especially considering the teams the Seahawks have been playing. But is this a time of the season where the Seahawks will slump a little?

Has Carolina Packed It in?

The honeymoon is definitely over for Carolina QB Kyle Allen. After offering some promise with some early standout performances, some recent sketchiness has soured his season. The line can’t keep the pass-rush dissuaded. But it’s on the other side of the ball where the real troubles are. Unable to stop the run, even their pass-defense is now waning. Allowing 100 total points in the last three games, the Panthers’ defense is showing little resistance. And with all the standout manpower they have on that side of the ball, it’s hard to forgive. If any version of what we’ve seen recently from the Carolina “D” surfaces on Sunday, even an off-key Seattle offense with how they run the ball would be too much.

It’s just essential to break down how the Panthers ended up here. Not long ago, it was all about how well Kyle Allen is doing, as Carolina geared up for a postseason run. Juxtapose that to now. Ron Rivera has been canned—as damning an indictment as there can be on how a team is doing. And in getting lit up by a 3-9 Falcons team in a game that wasn’t even as close as the lopsided score indicates, it was downright sad to see. And at home, the results haven’t been any better, with their last two games in Charlotte being a 29-21 loss to the Redskins and yet another loss to Atlanta a few weeks back, 29-3. So what can they do with a Seattle team that has an axe to grind when teams with just a few wins are mopping them up at home?

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Seattle Offense Looking to Explode

Against a desperate Rams team that has been playing a lot better on defense, Seattle saw a lot of what they do well fail to register the right way. Against a sideways Carolina defense, the story might be a bit different. With Chris Carson and Wilson, they can run the heck out of the ball, an area where the Carolina “D” has suffered badly in recent weeks. With Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf, and a large cast of viable targets, they should be able to mix it up on offense against a Carolina defense that isn’t doing a lot right at the moment. On Sunday, they continued their bad form—both leaky, not clutch when it counts, and making no big plays that could maybe lend a hand to the overall team cause.

Will the Seahawks Defense Cooperate?

Some things are starting to materialize on the Seattle defense and not all of it is positive. Granted, the Carolina offense isn’t exactly on fire right now, but with Christian McCaffrey, they’re always a danger to score some points. The Seattle “D” can play in a pretty wide range of forms. Some games, they’re stout, and the youth movement is taking hold, with big plays being made left and right. Other times, we see them failing to apply much of a pass-rush, with a leaky secondary that threatens to upend the whole operation. With 58 points allowed in the last two games, are they getting a little road-weary? Are they eroding at the wrong time? Some injuries have contributed, but one would have liked to have seen a different trajectory from this group over the course of the season.

Off by a Mile

You just have to wonder when a team is missing covering the spread by such a ridiculous distance. Last week, the Panthers were 3.5-point dogs, and they lost by 20. As 10.5-point favorites the previous week, they fell to Washington by 8 points. A few weeks before that, as 3.5-point favorites, Atlanta beat them by 26. As 4.5-point dogs to San Fran a few weeks before that, they lost by 38 points. They’re only 6-7 ATS, which isn’t that bad, but most of those covers were to start the season. It’s just hard to get behind a team that is likely welcoming the end of the season, missing some spreads by gargantuan amounts.

Lay the Points on the Road Favorite

A lot of things match up for the Seahawks other than the different stations in life that each team occupies. Morale counts for a lot, and I would expect the Seahawks to show a little more overall energy and urgency. Seattle’s defense fares better when there is less to keep track of, and with McCaffrey being the main dog in the Panthers’ offense, maybe they can keep him from running amok. The idea of this late-season weary Carolina “D” containing all the things Seattle does well is a bit hard to fathom. I think it will be enough to get Seattle the win and cover this week in this tricky road-spot.

Loot’s Pick to Cover the Point Spread: I’m betting on the Seattle Seahawks minus 6 points. Bet this game for FREE by depositing $100 and getting $100 FREE at MyBookie!