Panthers open as underdogs vs. Saints, but not by as many points as you may think

Are sports bettors encouraged by the Panthers’ 19-14 win over the Jets? Or are they afraid to overreact to what went down in Jacksonville on Sunday, when the Saints dismantled the superstar-laden Green Bay Packers, 38-3?

Whatever happened, they’ve spoken: According to multiple online betting services, Carolina has opened as a three-point underdog against the New Orleans Saints, who will travel to Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Sunday for an early AFC South divisional matchup.

• Vegas Insider’s Consensus Line (-3) has an over/under of 46.
• Action Network, after opening at -2, had the Panthers as a three-point underdog as of Monday at 10:15 a.m.
• FanDuel opened at -1.5.
• Fox Sports have the Saints favored to win by three, too.

The lines may change slightly as more bettors get in on this upcoming Sunday’s action, but the information is nonetheless interesting: New Orleans, after all, shocked the Packers behind Jameis Winston’s 148 yards and five passing touchdowns. And the Panthers got a Week 1 win, but they defeated the rebuilding New York Jets and didn’t do so convincingly.

This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 11:01 AM.

Alex Zietlow

The Herald

Alex Zietlow writes about sports and the ways in which they intersect with life in York, Chester and Lancaster counties for The Herald, where he has been an editor and reporter since August 2019. Zietlow has won nine S.C. Press Association awards in his career, including First Place finishes in Feature Writing, Sports Enterprise Writing and Education Beat Reporting. He also received two Top-10 awards in the 2021 APSE writing contest and was nominated for the 2022 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Rising Star award for his coverage of the Winthrop men’s basketball team.