This NFC Divisional Round game will take place at Bank of America Stadium with both the Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers seeking to stay alive. The game will air Sunday, Jan 17 at 1:05 p.m. ET on FOX.
In its last game, Carolina dominated the Buccaneers 38-10. Cam Newton had a huge game through the air in the victory, connecting on 21 of 26 pass attempts for 293 yards and two TDs. Devin Funchess also had a great game with 120 yards and a TD on seven catches. Seattle edged out the Vikings 10-9. Bobby Wagner led the defensive effort for Seattle, recording six tackles and one sack.
The Seahawks are a three-point underdog against the Panthers and the Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is sitting at 43 points.
Sitting at 15-1 Straight Up (SU) and 11-5 Against The Spread (ATS), the Panthers will look to improve heading into Week 19. In their five most recent matchups, the Panthers went 4-1 SU and 2-3 ATS. Carolina’s offense is averaging 407 total yards over the last five games. During their last five games, the Panthers have also done a better job stopping the run, giving up an average of 87.8 rushing yards. The Seahawks will need to stop Carolina’s defense from getting to their quarterback in order to be successful in this game. The Panthers rank fifth in the league in sacks with 2.8 per game.
Across the field, the Seahawks head into Week 19 with records of 8-7-1 ATS and 10-6 SU. Over their last five games, the Seahawks have a SU record of 4-1 and a 3-2 record ATS. Seattle’s game plan focuses on running the football, averaging 31.3 rushing attempts per game. Moving on to the Seattle defense, it has some favorable matchups that it may be able to take advantage of as well. Seattle is a menacing group for opposing offenses. The Seahawks give up 210.2 yards per game through the air, second in the league. The Panthers will have to stay focused in the third quarter against Seattle. The Seahawks start off the second half with confidence, averaging 6.9 points during the third quarter.
Predictions: SU Winner – Sea, ATS Winner – Sea, O/U – Over
Notes
Carolina is 15-1 SU in its last 16 games.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Carolina’s last 7 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Carolina’s last 5 games at home.
Carolina is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home.
Carolina is 2-3-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Seattle.
Carolina is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing Seattle.
Seattle is 9-2 SU this season, when leading at the half. Carolina is 12-0 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
This season, Seattle is 3-2 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle, and an even 4-4 SU in games where it loses the turnover battle.
The Carolina defense has forced an average of 2.4 turnovers per game this season. Seattle is an even 2-2 SU when turning the ball over at least 2.0 times in a game.
Seattle is rated higher in the ground game on both sides of the ball. Its third-ranked rushing attack will face the fourth-ranked run defense of Carolina, while its first-ranked rush defense will look to contain the second-ranked run game of the Panthers.
