Carolina Panthers (+9.5)* at New Orleans Saints
When was the last time a bad team went on the road to play a better divisional opponent and beat the spread? The Week 11 Raiders at Chargers; the Week 9 Rams at the 49ers; the Week 8 Redskins at Dallas. Oh, so, all the time.
At 5-7, the Saints are only a tiebreaker behind the Falcons for the NFC South lead. New Orleans smells blood in the water against a sputtering Panthers team, and can correct what has been a terrible season with a few more wins and division title. Most teams don’t have that opportunity with only five wins before December. Most teams don’t have the pedigree of the Saints.
New Orleans will hold serve at home and beat the Panthers, but Carolina enters this game as one of the worst teams in the league. They tend to play the Saints tough, and have the benefits of a large spread. Dare we even mention that, at 3-8-1, the Panthers may actually play this game like they are still mathematically able to win the division. Because they are.
To the rest of the football-watching world, we know Carolina’s season has been over for weeks. But division underdogs often rise to the occasion and put their opponents to the test, especially late in the season when they can play the role of ‘spoiler.’
Carolina loses a close game by four, but beats the spread.
