Predicting the Carolina Panthers' Final 5 Games of the Season
How will the Carolina Panthers finish out their 2020 regular season? Take a look below for my predictions!
11/29 at Minnesota Vikings: Loss
The Vikings, believe it or not, still have a chance to make the playoffs. They need a lot to happen of course, but they're right in it. They have been playing much better football as of late, aside from this past Sunday's home loss to Dallas. Dalvin Cook is going to be a big, big problem for this Panthers defense and I don't see how they slow him down. If Teddy Bridgewater is ruled out again, I don't believe P.J. Walker can go and win on the road.
12/13 vs Denver Broncos: Win
Denver is a tough team to figure out. One week they look like one of the bottom feeders in the NFL and the next week they look like they compete with anyone. We saw that this past week when they knocked off the red hot Miami Dolphins. I'll give the Panthers the advantage here thinking that by this time there should be no worries around Bridgewater's knee and I never like west coast teams coming east for an early kick.
12/20 at Green Bay Packers: Loss
The Packers can be a Super Bowl contender if they want to be. Some days they just don't have it and a lot of that falls on their defense. I think Carolina will actually keep this game much closer than many think, but Green Bay's offense is just too dynamic to overcome.
12/27 at Washington Football Team: Loss
This is a very winnable game for the Panthers, but how are they going to keep Teddy Bridgewater upright going up against one of, if not the best, defensive line in the NFL? It's not that Washington will beat Carolina because of Alex Smith's arm, but because of its defense. This looks like a low-scoring game that favors Washington at home.
1/3 vs New Orleans Saints: Win
No, that's not a typo - hear me out. It will be the final game of the season and the Saints pretty much have the NFC South all but locked up unless they just lay an egg over the next three weeks. They have a two-game edge on Tampa Bay, but really have a three-game edge since they hold the tiebreaker by sweeping the Bucs in the season series. If New Orleans rides into this game at 13-2 with the No. 1 seed clinched, there's a good chance the Saints rest their starters. Meanwhile, the Panthers don't really have much left to play for other than to finish the season on a strong note with a win. I have the Panthers winning this game, solely based on my assumption that New Orleans will be resting a lot of players.
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