Carolina Panthers at San Diego Chargers Preview 2012

Week 15 NFL Free Bet Game: Carolina Panthers @ San Diego Chargers

Last week we let you down. The mood and attitude in the Atlanta locker room was down, the players were lazy and seemed not to be paying attention after locking in a playoff spot and division title. This week we turn our focus to the West Coast as Carolina travel cross country to Qualcomm to take on San Diego.
The Panthers pulled off a surprise win over the Falcons last week but still remain on the bottom of the NFC South. Carolina run one of the most balanced offenses in the NFL, averaging 28 runs and 29 passes per game per week. Their biggest issue offensively is Newtown. He is the focus, their leading rusher and passer, so everything falls on his shoulders. This season on the road the Panthers are 2-4 (beating the Eagles and Redskins), although they are yet to travel west. Defensively they are a top 10 defense in in terms of points throughout the 3rd and 4th quarters. This is what keeps them in the game. The Panthers have the best a pass defense on the road this season only allowing 175 total yards, unfortunately they give up an average of 140 yards on the ground a week.
San Diego meanwhile are looking to finish out a disappointing year in style. They own a 12th ranked defense (points/per game) who are conceding only 20 points per game with a decent offense which seems to be in a mid season funk. Earlier in the year they were scoring over 24 points per game at home, recently playing a tougher schedule at home (Baltimore, Cincinnati) that has dropped to 17 points. I expect Rivers and co to fight for their jobs over the next few weeks, and am expecting a explosion from them. The Chargers already control the ball for 32 minutes a game, I expect them to use their running game to control the clock and get the ball close to the end zone before using Rivers to finish the job.
The bookies have San Diego as 3 points favourites, a mere field goal. This is a line I feel we can take advantage of. A field goal or more gets us money back. Willing to trust the Chargers at home in this one to get the job done.

San Diego -3 (2 units)

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