NFL Week 15 Betting – Panthers’ Unbeaten Record on the Line at NYG

Carolina Panthers (-5, 48 o/u) at NY Giants

Carolina’s quest for perfection will travel through East Rutherford this weekend as the Panthers (13-0, 6-0 Away) take on the New York Giants (6-7, 3-3 Home) at MetLife Stadium (1:00 PM Eastern).

Apart from a potential 16-0 record, there isn’t much at stake for the Panthers; they have a two-game lead over Arizona for the top seed in the NFC with just three weeks to go. That has head coach Ron Rivera is thinking big-picture.

“It does go back to the fact that it’s really not about going undefeated, it’s about winning the Super Bowl,” Rivera told the Associated Press. “That’s the thing that you have to really focus on … what is the goal?”

The Panthers already ruled out running back Jonathan Stewart with a foot injury. Stewart is 11 rushing yards away from just the second 1,000-yard season of his eight-year career.  Former Longhorn Fozzy Whittaker will start in his place on Sunday. Whitaker has just 78 career rushing attempts over four seasons but found paydirt with a 16-yard TD scamper in last week’s 38-0 rout of the Falcons.

After that drubbing of Atlanta, Carolina is now averaging 31.6 points per game, best in the NFL. They’ve generally been a run-first team this year, but with Stewart out and QB Cam Newton playing the best ball of his career, look for the Panthers to take to the air against New York’s league-worst pass defense.

Despite a porous secondary and a middling 6-7 record, the Giants remain tied for first (with both the Eagles and Redskins) in the dreadful NFC East.

On Monday, WR Odell Beckham Jr. proved too much for the Dolphins, torching Miami for 166 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-24 New York win. His matchup with Panther cornerback – and Defensive Player of the Year candidate – Josh Norman will be a key game-within-the-game.

With the Redskins home dogs to the Bills this week, and the Eagles facing the NFC West-leading Cardinals, there’s a good chance New York would take sole possession of first in the division with a win over Carolina. A win over the undefeated Panthers would also come with bragging rights, but that’s not something the players are worried about.

“I don’t think it’s about knocking the other team off,” New York QB Eli Manning told the Associated Press. “In this situation in the season, it’s about us needing a win, and we need a win to keep our playoff dreams alive.”

The Giants are just 3-3 at home, but their three losses have been by a total of eight points (including a one-point setback to the mighty Patriots). Carolina is an impressive 5-1 ATS away from home this year, but five is too many to lay on the road against a Giants team that tends to keep it close.

Pick: NY Giants +5.

(Photo credit: Keith Allison (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)