Can Carolina Panthers break losing streak against Detroit Lions? What NFL experts say
The Carolina Panthers are winless after Week 4 for the first time in more than a decade. Will they stay that way?
The surging Detroit Lions (3-1) are their next test, a team with a quarterback with a Super Bowl appearance in Jared Goff, a Pro Bowl receiver in Amon-Ra St. Brown, a stingy defense and a beloved coach in Dan Campbell. The Week 5 contest will take place at Ford Field in Detroit at 1 p.m. Sunday on FOX.
Per FanDuel, the Panthers are 8.5-point underdogs. The over/under is set at 45.
Here’s what NFL experts — both at The Charlotte Observer and across the country — are predicting for the game.
Charlotte Observer predictions for Panthers-Lions
Keeping accountable, Scott Fowler has been right each week and reluctantly leads the Observer newsroom at 4-0 in his predictions. Alex Zietlow and Mike Kaye are each 2-2 and Langston Wertz Jr. is 1-3.
Scott Fowler: Lions 27, Panthers 24. Having vowed to pick the Panthers to lose every week until proven wrong, I can’t stop now. And yet I have a suspicion the Panthers have a chance in this one — every NFL week has 1-2 upsets in games just like this one, where it seems clear that one team is far superior. I’ll settle for predicting a close loss.
Mike Kaye: Lions 30, Panthers 20. The Panthers’ offense has shown an inability to throw the ball down the field consistently. Against the Lions, Bryce Young will need to create chunk plays, or he will watch the Panthers get zoomed by on the scoreboard. The Lions are dynamic on offense and defense, and pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson is a nightmare matchup for the Carolina offensive line. I expect N.C. State alum, Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill, to have a field day.
Langston Wertz Jr.: Lions 31, Panthers 17. I think this is a game Detroit has circled on its calendar, remembering how the Panthers pushed them around in Bank of America Stadium last season, winning 37-23 in a game where Detroit still had some playoff hopes. Detroit is 3-1 now, has won two straight and the Lions’ pass rush will cause problems for a Panthers offense that has struggled to push the ball down field and protect QB Bryce Young.
Alex Zietlow: Lions 28, Panthers 24. Don’t mistake my one-possession margin as faint faith. It’s really just belief that the Carolina defense can keep this one close. (The unit did so against the surging Minnesota Vikings, after all.) As for the offense? That’s a different story. Last season, Lions coach Dan Campbell colorfully admitted to then-interim coach Steve Wilkes that the December 2022 matchup between these teams (a 37-23 Panthers win) was “an absolute ass kicking,” which materialized thanks to a potent Carolina run game. The Panthers’ offense hasn’t proven it has a decent run game this year yet. And while my faith in Bryce Young hasn’t ceased, I don’t see his day being good enough to cash in Carolina’s first win.
What ESPN, CBS Sports, Fox experts believe
ESPN: ESPN’s talent overwhelmingly is taking the Lions in this one.
NFL.com: Dan Parr is taking the Lions, citing Bryce Young being under the brutal pass rush posed by Detroit. “Protect yourself, Bryce,” he warns.
CBS: Pete Prisco is predicting the Lions take a 16-point win thanks to a rested Detroit team.
The Ringer: Sheil Kapadia is taking the Lions and is even expecting them to cover the 10-point spread, writing that he believes there’s a “wide talent gap between these two teams.”
