2021 Carolina Panthers Betting Preview: Odds, Lines, Predictions

2021 Carolina Panthers Betting Preview

The rebuild for the Panthers is going as well as Carolina has envisioned it.

Winning the NFC South is out of the question for the Panthers since the reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in their division and eyeing a repeat. They also have to compete with the Saints, and while they did lose Drew Brees to retirement, are a more complete football team than the Panthers at this moment in time.

But the Panthers do have some pieces that can be useful for when Carolina is competing for a title a couple of years from now. Sam Darnold steps in as the starting quarterback after escaping from the dumpster fire that is the New York Jets. They also have some excellent and talented receiving threats in WR Robby Anderson, WR D.J. Moore, and one of the top 3 running backs in the league Christian McCaffery.

The Carolina defense isn’t too shabby either as they have some young players who can get after the quarterback and lockdown receivers. In the front seven, DE Brian Burns and DT Derrick Brown are aggressive players who love to make the quarterback’s life uncomfortable. In the secondary, CB AJ Bouye, CB Donte Jackson, rookie CB Jaycee Horn, and safety Jeremy Chinn are all players who can throw off a receiver’s rhythm or stop them cold in their tracks.

The pieces of the puzzle are slowly forming for the Panthers and they are a year or two away from getting to the point where they can compete for a playoff spot.

2020 Carolina Panthers Team Stats

• Points For: 362
• Points Against: 415
• Passing Yards Per Game: 243
• Rushing Yards Per Game: 106.5
• Passing Yards Allowed Per Game: 239.1
• Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 121

Key Offseason Transactions

The Panthers need to beef up their entire roster this offseason. They lacked talent at most of their positions and needed an upgrade everywhere.

At quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater was a good filler for them last year. But the Panthers wanted more and made a pretty risky trade by trading for Sam Darnold. Darnold has the arm strength and talent to succeed in the league, but he was ruined by the horrible situation he was put in when he was with the Jets.

Sticking with the offense, RB Mike Davis and WR Curtis Samuel left in the offseason. To make up for these losses, the panthers drafted a big physical receiver in WR Terrence Marshall Jr.

On defense, the Panthers were done with letting up so many yards through the air, so they spent a lot of money to patch up their secondary. With their 8th overall pick, the Panthers picked a player who is getting comparisons to Jalen Ramsey and Jaire Alexander in Jaycee Horn. They also signed AJ Bouye to add another great corner to a team that looks pretty loaded in their secondary.

2020 Carolina Panthers Betting Stats

• Record: 5-11
• MOV: -3.6
• ATS: 9-7
• ATS +/-:  +0.3
• Over/Under: 7-9
• Total +/-: +1.6

2021 Carolina Panthers Betting Outlook

How you should bet on the Panthers depends on how good you think Sam Darnold is going to be.

Last year, the Panthers struggled to put points on the board with Teddy Bridgewater at the helm and star running back Christian McCaffrey out for the season with an ankle injury. If Sam Darnold is the massive upgrade the Panthers think he is, then we can see a Panthers team that can light up the scoreboard with the weapons they have.

Their defense was turnover happy last year and was the reason why they were so good ATS. The Carolina defense was full of chaos creators who forced enough turnovers to give their offense more chances to score.

The Carolina schedule might not be favorable, but they should compete in every game they play in and might have enough to outscore teams in a shootout.

Carolina Panthers Super Bowl Odds

The Panthers are not ready to make a Super Bowl run and their odds support that.

Currently, the Panthers have +7000 odds to win the Super Bowl, which is tied for the 6th worst odds in the league.

These odds are tied with the Raiders and Eagles and are only better than the odds for the Jaguars, Bengals, Jets, Lions, and Texans. Like I said before, the Panthers are still rebuilding and still have a ton of growing pains to get through before they are ready to compete in the playoffs.

Now, the Panthers have upside and their young talent could be enough to shock some teams. But for right this season, the Panthers are still at the bottom of the mountain, waiting for their time to climb to the top.

Carolina Panthers Playoff Odds

The odds are tilted against the Panthers’ playoffs odds.

Carolina is not expected to make the playoffs in 2021 as the odds that they miss the playoffs are -360 and their odds that they make the playoffs are +275.

The issue with Carolina is that they are not good enough to win their division and they are not good enough to compete with the plethora of teams eyeing a wildcard spot.

For their division, the Buccaneers are one of the best teams in the league and will continue to stomp on Carolina, New Orleans, and Atlanta for the foreseeable future.

Out in the Wild West that is the wildcard, Carolina is not as good as other teams like the Cardinals, Seahawks, 49ers, Saints, and Vikings who are all also looking to get into the playoffs through the wildcard.

Keep your expectations low if you’re a Carolina fan because this is going to be another year where the Panthers miss the playoffs.

Carolina Panthers Win Total Odds

7.5 wins is the line that Carolina will have to hit this season.

The over for 7.5 wins pays out at +105 odds while the under pays out at -125 odds.

Looking at their schedule we can see that the Panthers have to play the Buccaneers, Saints, and Falcons twice as well as the Jets, Texans, Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Vikings, Patriots, Cardinals, Washington Football Team, Dolphins, and Bills.

The line from Vegas seems right as there are some games that the Panthers will definitely lose, like against the Buccaneers both times, the Saints at least once, the Vikings, Cardinals, Bills, Dolphins, Football Team, and Patriots.

Then there are some games where the Panthers are the better team or can sneak up on teams like against the Cowboys, Jets, Giants, Texans, and Eagles.

So if we think about it really hard, then we can see that the Panthers will probably not reach over 7.5 wins which means you should place a bet on the under, though I will note that I think it will be close by the end of the season.

Carolina Panthers Player Future Odds

The only award that a Panthers player can win is the DROY.

The Panthers didn’t waste their 8th overall pick on any old schmuck because they picked a lockdown corner in Jaycee Horn. He has the same size, speed, and intelligence as one of the best cornerbacks in the league, Jalen Ramsey, so expectations are high for the young man out of South Carolina. Horn has the 8th best odds to win the award out of all defensive rookies at +1400.

These odds are tied with fellow first-round cornerback, Patrick Surtain, and are behind players like Micah Parsons, Jaelen Phillips, Jamin Davis, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Kwitty Paye, and Zaven Collins. These players are ahead of the corners because of how valuable sacks are towards defensive awards.

But Horn is a baller and with his excellent hands and ability to stick to receivers, he can rack up interceptions in a hurry and might be able to become the frontrunner for the DROY award come January.