Carolina Panthers at New England Patriots - 8/19/22 NFL Picks and Prediction
The Carolina Panthers will play the New England Patriots in Week 2 of the preseason on Friday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.
The Carolina Panthers are 1-0 during this preseason after defeating Washington by a score of 23-21 last week. Carolina jumped out to an early lead and led for most of the game. Washington took a one-point lead with 2:26 left in the fourth before Zane Gonzalez kicked a 45-yard game winning field goal with 24 seconds left. Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold continue to compete for the starting quarterback job, while Matt Corral and P.J. Walker compete for the third string role. Carolina’s offense only gained 288 yards, but the defense was able to hold on for the win.
The New England Patriots are 0-1 this preseason after losing to the New York Giants by a score of 23-21 last week. This was a back and forth game where both teams had multiple leads throughout the night. New England led by one point late in the fourth quarter, but the Giants were able to kick a field goal to win the game at the end of regulation. New England starting quarterback Mac Jones did not play in this game, but is expected to play a series or two on Friday. When Jones exits the game, Brian Hoyer and Bailey Zappe will take over the quarterback duties for the Patriots.
Carolina is 2-12 ATS in their last 14 games and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 road games. The over is 4-1 in Carolina’s last 5 road games. New England is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games. The over is 6-0 in New England’s last 6 home games. Carolina is 5-1 ATS in these two teams last 6 head to head meetings.
The joint practices between these two teams this week were very physical and a few players were actually ejected from the practices. This should make for an interesting game, even if it is only the preseason. It will be good to see Mac Jones under center for New England, but we won’t get to see him for long. With Carolina still in the heat of a quarterback battle, I think we will get much better offensive play from them compared to New England. I like the Panthers with the points here.