Seahawks-Panthers Betting Preview: Will Carolina Bounce Back at Home?

Betting odds: Seattle Seahawks at Carolina Panthers

• Spread: Panthers -3
• Over/Under: 47
• Time: 1 p.m. ET
• TV channel: FOX

Betting market: After opening as three-point favorites, the Panthers moved up to -4 within a half hour. But by Monday morning, they were back to -3 (find updated odds and data here).

The Seahawks are getting a slight majority of bets, but the money is on Carolina at a 2-to-1 clip, which has helped keep this spread glued to the key number of 3. — Mark Gallant

Trends to know: In Russell Wilson’s career, he is 17-7-2 against the spread as an underdog in the regular season, but over the past two seasons he is just 6-5-1 ATS when getting points. — John Ewing

As great as Wilson has been as an underdog in his career, Cam Newton is flirting with the same type of success at home against quality opponents.

According to our Bet Labs data, Newton is 21-12 ATS (63.6%), profiting bettors 7.8 units, when playing teams with a positive point differential at home, making him the NFL's third-most profitable quarterback in this spot.

When Newton enters these games off of a loss, he has gone 10-4 ATS, including 5-1 ATS since 2015.

Not to mention, Newton is 7-3 ATS in his career off consecutive straight-up losses and is 10-3 ATS at home coming off a road trip of at least two games.

Newton lost both road games in that spot five times in his career and Carolina is 5-0 ATS in that home game, covering the spread by 10.7 PPG. — Evan Abrams

Biggest mismatch: Carolina’s defensive line vs. Seattle’s offensive line

Shut down the run and you can slow down Seattle’s offense, which relies on the run more than any team in the NFL (the Seahawks run the ball a league-leading 32.3 times per game).

Carolina’s defensive line can do just that, with its run stuffers up the middle. The Panthers rank No. 1 in the NFL in defending the run up the middle, per adjusted line yards. On the whole, the Panthers' D-line ranks No. 3 vs. the run, according to Football Outsiders' metric.

Add in their excellent linebacker corps and the Panthers should force Seattle into plenty of third-and-long situations, which spells trouble against a Seahawks offensive line that struggles to pass protect, ranking 29th in the NFL in adjusted sack rate. — Stuckey

Which team is healthier? Seahawks

Wide receiver Torrey Smith (knee), cornerback James Bradberry (shoulder) and linebacker Shaq Thompson (shoulder) are the only Panthers at risk of missing Sunday’s game.

The Seahawks are also in a better spot, with K.J. Wright (knee), Doug Baldwin (groin) and Mike Davis (knee) seemingly at risk of being limited come Sunday.

Note: Info as of 6 p.m. ET Thursday. See our Injury Report for daily practice participation and game statuses up until kickoff. — Ian Hartitz

DFS edge: The Panthers receivers are set up well against the Seahawks secondary. Justin Coleman (88th), Tre Flowers (92nd) and Shaquill Griffin (106th) all rank poorly in PFF grades. The trouble is, at the time of writing, there’s some murkiness around their receivers.

Devin Funchess (back) didn’t practice Wednesday and Torrey Smith (knee) returned to practice. Both players' participation or non-participation on Sunday will affect the outlook of D.J. Moore, who costs just $4,600 on DraftKings.

Funchess’ potential absence would free up 21.5% of the Panthers’ targets share, resulting in a boost for Moore, along with Greg Olsen and Christian McCaffrey.

Be sure to monitor Funchess and Smith on the FantasyLabs NFL newsfeed. — Justin Bailey

Bet to watch: Panthers -2.5 1H

The Panthers dropped two straight games, and now return home to face the Seahawks, who are coming off of a win against the Packers and well-rested due to playing on Thursday night last week.

Let’s start with Carolina. Losing to the Steelers in primetime was excusable, but the loss to Lions, who were down multiple weapons, was not.

I think Carolina will bounce back nicely in this spot at home facing a Seattle team on extra rest, which oddly enough has not been a great thing for Wilson. He is 9-15-1 ATS (37.5%) in his career with extended rest, including 2-10-1 ATS (16.7%) in his past 13 games.

Newton is 40-22-1 (64.5%) against the first half spread at home, including 15-7-1 (68.2%) when he is coming off a loss in his last game. Since 2015, Cam is 6-0-1 against the first half spread at home off a loss, covering the spread by 9.7 PPG.

And from a pure matchup perspective, Like Carolina's advantage in the run game. Seattle ranks 19th against the rush and the Panthers' offensive line run-blocking (ninth) should have a large advantage over the Seahawks' D-line (23rd). — Evan Abrams

Editor’s note: The opinions on this game are from the individual writers and are based on their research, analysis and perspective. They are independent of, and may not always match with, the algorithm-driven Best Bets from Sports Insights.