The Carolina Panthers will face the Arizona Cardinals to help kick off Week 10 of the NFL season. It's time to continue our NFL odds series and make a Panthers-Cardinals prediction and pick.
This game is the huge opportunity for the Panthers to right the ship. They will face a Cardinals team that won't be anywhere near full strength. A win here would work wonders for the confidence in Carolina's locker room while keeping the Panthers in playoff contention. This game also holds a lot of weight for Arizona. The Cardinals are still only ahead in the NFC West by a single game, and the Los Angeles Rams won't be easy to put away later in the season. Arizona's goal has to be to just stay afloat as they heal up from various key injuries, and a win here would go a long way in staying afloat.
Here's how the bookmakers have set the lines for the Panthers-Cardinals game.
NFL Odds: Panthers-Cardinals Odds
Carolina Panthers: +10.5 (-110)
Arizona Cardinals: -10.5 (-110)
Over: 44 (-110)
Under: 44 (-110)
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Why the Panthers Could Cover The Spread
It's hard to imagine an injury report longer than Arizona's this week. Twelve Cardinals have missed multiple practices this week, and another five have missed at least one practice. Quarterback Kyler Murray is obviously the most important injury on the list, but there's a plethora of other key players who will be questionable at best for this game. Wide receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Rondale Moore, safety Budda Baker, offensive lineman Justin Pugh, and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips are among the starters who haven't practiced yet. There's a good chance that the Panthers will essentially be facing the Cardinals' second-string team here.
Arizona has been surprisingly strong on defense, but they do have one weakness that Carolina should easily exploit. The Cardinals rank in the bottom half of the NFL in run defense, as they allow 111 rushing yards per game. That number should probably be higher, but teams have been forced to pass the ball in order to keep up with the explosive Cardinals offense. Now that that explosive offense has several key players sidelined, it's likely that the Panthers will be able to control time of possession and run the ball efficiently throughout this contest.
Why the Cardinals Could Cover The Spread
There were high hopes for Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold over the offseason, but those hopes fizzled out a couple of weeks ago. Darnold has been a complete turnover machine for Carolina while totally failing to move the offense down the field. Now, Darnold is sidelined. Backup quarterback PJ Walker will take the field for this contest, something that Arizona should be very excited about. Walker hardly has any NFL experience, and the experience he does have has come from less-than-stellar play. The Cardinals have been a top-ten pass defense this entire season, so it's hard to see Walker playing well in this one.
While Arizona will be relying heavily on their depth here, there's reason to believe that it will work out. Backup signal-caller Colt McCoy started for Kyler Murray in Week 9, and he did exactly what was asked of him. McCoy controlled the football, didn't make stupid mistakes, and made the easy throws. That, combined with a monster day on the ground for running back James Conner were enough to win against the division rival San Francisco 49ers. Carolina has become a below-average team against opposing run games, so expect the Cardinals to lean on a run game that produced over 150 rushing yards last week in this one.
Final Panthers-Cardinals Prediction & Pick
It's nearly impossible to trust the Panthers here. Their offense was horrendous with Darnold, and now the backup is starting. Arizona covered this ten point spread against the Niners in Week 9 even with all of their injuries. Take the Cardinals here.
Final Panthers-Cardinals Prediction & Pick: Arizona Cardinals: -10.5 (-110)
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