Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers, Bank of American Stadium, Charlotte, NC
Sunday, December 19, 2010, 1:00 pm EST, TV: FOX
Opening Line: Panthers -1.5
Current Line: Panthers -2.5
Opening Total: 38.5
Current Total: 37.5
Money Line: Panthers -145 / Cardinals +125
A pair of rookies will be under the spotlight on Sunday when the Carolina Panthers (1-12) host the Arizona Cardinals (4-9), but not for positive reasons. Both teams have struggled so much this season to the point that neither has much of a choice than to go with quarterbacks who were playing in college at this time last year. The Panthers (-2.5) are hoping they will have a bigger edge with the experienced Jimmy Clausen under center over Arizona’s John Skelton.
Clausen has played in 10 games so far for Carolina but was not on the field during the team’s only win against San Francisco in Week 7. He has thrown just one touchdown pass this season with one interception in five of his last six games. The Panthers rank dead last in scoring offense with 12.6 points per game and passing offense with 151.1 yards per game.
The Cardinals have not been much better through the air, ranking second-to-last with 182.1 passing yards per game. Skelton made his first career start in a 43-13 rout of Denver at home last week, and his greatest accomplishment in that game was that he did not throw a pick and was not sacked. Kicker Jay Feely was responsible for most of Arizona’s scoring, making five field goals and scoring a touchdown on a five-yard run off a fake field-goal play. Skelton ended up completing 15 of 37 passes for 146 yards and ran for nine yards on three carries.
Arizona running back Tim Hightower also had a huge game against the Broncos, rushing for 148 yards on 18 carries and scoring two touchdowns. Hightower has carried the ball at least 12 times in five of the last six games and could be a valuable asset against Carolina if the teams decide to grind the game out on the ground.
The Panthers are glad to have running back Jonathan Stewart back in the mix after missing a couple games with a concussion. Stewart is averaging nearly 108 rushing yards in the last three games to help balance out the offense and take some pressure off Clausen.
Carolina is 1-6 against the spread in the last seven games with the OVER going 4-0-1 in the past five. However, the Panthers have won six of the last seven meetings with the Cardinals, and the lone loss came in the playoffs two years ago when Kurt Warner led them to the Super Bowl.
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