Denver at Carolina

Time: NOON EST, CBS

Spread: CAR -3

Total: 45.5

Odds c/o 5dimes

The Carolina Panthers is currently 4-8 as it prepares to host the Denver Broncos as 3-point home favorites. The betting total is set at 45.5 combined points, according to NFL oddsmakers at bookmaker 5dimes. The game will kick off at Noon (EST) on CBS and CBS affiliates.

CAR

The Carolina Panthers lost last week in a shutout, falling 0-20 to the Detroit Lions. It now has lost six of its last seven, but it still finds itself 3-point favorites this week.

The Panthers have had some offensive struggles. Despite being ranked nearly middle of the pack in both passing and rushing yardage, it ranks No. 21 in scoring at 23.3 points per game. Surrendering 25.0, this results in a -1.7 point differential.

The Panthers at least have replaced Cam Newton with a strong QB in Teddy Bridgewater. Bridgewater has had his dealings with knee injuries, but he is putting together a strong year. Bridgewater averages 275.2 yards per game, and he has 14 touchdowns with eight interceptions and 19 sacks (1.8 per game) for a total loss of 118 yards. His passer rating of 96.3 is solid, and Bridgewater has done a job rushing the ball, too. He ranks No. 3 in rushing yardage and No. 2 in yards-per-carry with 5.6. Bridgewater also ranks tied for No. 2 in TDs with three. Lead running back Mike Davis has 504 yards and also three touchdowns. No. 2 in yardage with 225 on 59 carries, Christian McCaffrey leads the team in touchdown rushes with five.

The Panthers have already got 900 or more receiving yards from its top-2 receiving options. DJ Moore and Robby Anderson rank No. 1 and No. 2 and the pair is responsible for six of the team’s 15 receiving touchdowns. Curtis Samuel ranks No. 2 in TDs as the No. 3 receivers with 517 yards on 63 receptions. Christian McCaffrey has come out of the backfield to catch 17 passes for 149 yards with a touchdown. The Panthers average 10.9 yards-per-catch as a team.

Kicker Joey Slye is 24 of 31 on field-goal attempts this year, but five of his seven misses have come from beyond midfield. He is 7 of 7 from 30 to 39 yards. Punter Joseph Charlton averages 46.6 yards per punt and has a net average of 41.9. He has landed 12 of his 29 punts within the 20-yard line.

DEN

The Denver Broncos are 4-8 and in third place in the AFC West.

The Broncos began its 2020 season with three straight losses, and have been notably better since that point.

It has won just two of its last six, though, and it has lost its last two.

That is including an 18-12 win over the New England Patriots. The offense is still managing just 18.8 points per game, but the rush offense has been showing more signs and the team is still struggling to convert a good percentage of its third downs.

Adding in a mix of some miscues, some turnovers, and it has not equated to a good balance, not with the defense allowing 26.7 points per game itself. The differential is -7.9 points.

The Broncos have benefitted from Drew Lock being available and decent. He threw for 313 yards two weeks with two touchdowns, but he threw another interception, and he has had six of those this season already. He also managed just 6.5 yards-per-attempt, and the Broncos lost again 27-34 to the Atlanta Falcons. Last week, in the loss to Kanas City, he completed 15 of 28 for 151 yards with two touchdowns, but he also threw two costly interceptions and had a quarterback rating of just 66.9.

These stats are all very telling: Lock ranks No. 30 in Quarterback rating at just 38.5 with his INTs exceeding his TDs,  his overall season outlook is hardly that good.

Drew Lock has rushed 26 times for just under four yards-per-attempt, but the Broncos are a team also rostering both Jeff Driskel and Brett Rypien.

It remains to be seen how long it sticks with Lock as the starter. It is not as though it has any options capable of guiding a contending-caliber football team. Driskel was good as a Florida Gator and even at Louisiana Tech, but those systems were entirely centered around exploiting what he did well, and that does not really translate to the NFL level. Driskel is not talented enough to build around, nor is Lock, nor is Rypien. The Broncos are headed nowhere until the shelves are stocked with far more talent.

To this juncture, Lock has thrown just 55.4 percent for completion with 13 interceptions overshadowing his nine touchdowns. His passer rating of 67.1 is abysmal. So much for the hopes expressed. The Broncos have one of the worst pass offenses in the NFL, and Lock is mostly why.

Melvin Gordon III has rushed 4.6 yards-per-attempt on 149 carries this season, and he leads the team with six of the team’s nine rushing touchdowns. Phillip Lindsay has rushed at tying-team-best 4.6 per-carry, and he has a 55-yard rush to his credit. The Broncos average 4.4 per-carry as a team, and it has averaged 118.9 rushing yards per game.

The No. 2 receiver is Jerry Judy who has caught just 37 of 78 targeted looks but leads the team with 589 yards. Lead receiver Tim Patrick leads in touchdowns with five, but Jeudy leads in first downs 29, to Patrick’s 25. Patrick leads in total yards with 607.

Tight end Noah Fant has been big this season with 492 yards and two touchdowns, and he also ranks No. 3 in first downs with 21.