Blackballed by the Yogurt Industry: Cam Newton Looks to Silence his Football-Loving, Sexism-Hating Critics
Week 6 of the NFL opens tonight with arguably the best game we have seen this year as the Eagles travel to Carolina to take on Cam Newton and the Panthers. Both teams are 4–1 this year and have beaten good teams in the process. The Panthers are coming off two tough road wins (last week in Detroit and the week before in Foxborough). As for the Eagles, they pummeled the sans-David Johnson Cardinals by nearly four touchdowns. Their only loss on the season comes against the Chiefs in KC, who are the only undefeated team left in the NFL.
Cam Newton looks to be in 2015 form, when he won the MVP and took his Panthers to the Super Bowl. He’s been in the news all week with his sponsors dropping him for the sexist comments he made to a reporter about women’s knowledge of the game of football. None of that matters. Cam Newton is not OBJ (apologies to kicking OBJ while he’s down/wishing him a speedy recovery); he won’t let the media affect his play on the field. In a video he posted to his social media pages he said, “if you are a person who took offense to what I said, I sincerely apologize to you.” Basically — I’m not apologizing for what I said, that’s on you for taking it the way you did. He doesn’t care; it’s a non-factor.
As for the rest of the Panthers, their offense is coming into form. Newton’s passer rating is up just under 100 after two good weeks; he’s also thrown for 300+ yards in those games. Jonathan Stewart will play after a full practice on Wednesday, and with him and Christian McCaffrey in the backfield along with Cam Newton’s legs, the Panthers running game will be tough to stop. As for their passing attack, the Panthers spread it out well with four receivers including McCaffrey averaging 50 yards a game. The Panthers offense is a lot better than their season averages, as their shaky start can be blamed on Cam Newton still recovering from his shoulder surgery in March. If his last two games are indicative of anything though: he’s back. The important matchup in this game is the Panthers defense against the rushing attack of the Eagles. Luke Kuechly and the Panthers D have been great against the run in their four wins, limiting opponents to less than 80 yards a game. In their one loss to the Saints however, they gave up 149 yards on the ground.
If the Eagles can establish LeGarrette Blount, it will give them a chance to win this game. That’s a big “IF” though, as Blount has had a lackluster season so far, compared to the huge year he had for New England in 2016. He’s averaging 65 yards a game for the year and just one touchdown with №2 back Wendell Smallwood adding another 28 yards a game to the Eagles rushing attack. As a team, the Birds average 140 yards on the ground, but that includes 20 from Carson Wentz on scrambles and another 20 from Darren Sproles, who now has a broken arm and torn ACL, which is just absurd and a whole other article in itself. Headline: After 12 Seasons, Sproles Finally Proven Too Small for NFL.
The Eagles passing O is a big question-mark, despite quality outings from their second-year man out of North Dakota State. Wentz hasn’t been in the spotlight much in his first two years with the Eagles, so this nationally televised game will be a true test to see if he’s got what it takes to be a star in this league. With two narrow wins against two of the worst teams this year in the Giants and Chargers, Wentz hasn’t impressed me enough to prove he can win this game for Philly. The spread is -3 in favor of the Panthers, and I’m going with Cam on this one. In their last 10 games on the road, the Eagles are 3–7 ATS. The Panthers are 18–5 SU in their last 23 games at home. A three-point spread isn’t much, and it’s likely that a win for the Panthers results in either covering the spread or pushing the bet.
As for the O/U, it sits at 44. Thursday Night Football has been bizarre the year in terms of score, to say the least. Three games have been extremely high scoring, and the other two have been impossibly low scoring. But, in 7 of the last 10 for Philly, the total has gone over, and the Eagles haven’t put up less than 20 points all season. As for the Panthers, they only put up 45 points total in their first three games, but in the last two (when Cam Newton has put up 300+ yards in the air) they’ve put up 60 points. That’s enough for me to take the over. My picks are Panthers -3 and Over 44. As for where my money is tonight, I’ve got the Panthers covering the spread parlayed with the Cubs moneyline. Ride the Panthers spread with us tonight and Rob The Bookie!
