New Orleans at Carolina Odds, Betting Pick & TV Info

It hasn’t been the greatest Thursday night schedule in the NFL this season and it’s another matchup of teams with losing records this week was New Orleans visits Carolina in an NFC South showdown. Both face long odds to reach the playoffs, but the loser can all but forget about it. The Panthers are favored on NFL odds.

New Orleans at Carolina Odds, Betting Pick & TV Info

#Saints will wear #ColorRush uniforms for the first time this Thursday! #NFL #NOvsCAR pic.twitter.com/CNcPazfP2F
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) November 14, 2016

When: Thursday, Nov. 17, 8:25 PM ET Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte TV: NBC Radio: New Orleans / Carolina Stream Option: NFL Live Opening NFL Lines: Panthers -3.5 (51.5)

Why Bet on New Orleans?

The Saints (4-5) lost in unprecedented fashion on Sunday at home to Denver, 25-23. The Broncos’ Justin Simmons used a perfectly timed leap over the offensive line to block an extra-point kick that would have given New Orleans a late lead, Will Parks ran it back 84 yards for a defensive 2-point conversion. It appeared for a moment that Parks might have stepped out of bounds on the return, but the replay review upheld the call. Denver then recovered the Saints’ onside-kick try and knelt the game away. The decisive play came while the Superdome crowd was still celebrating Brandin Cooks’ twisting, 32- yard touchdown catch between two defenders. That put New Orleans in position to take the lead with 1:28 left. It’s the first time the winning points in an NFL game have come via a returned PAT try. Saints players questioned whether Broncos defensive end Jared Crick should’ve been penalized for pushing down on long snapper Justin Drescher’s helmet to clear an opening for Justin Simmons to leap through. The Saints’ defense had arguably its best performance of the season, with interceptions by cornerback Sterling Moore and safety Kenny Vaccaro and a total of six sacks to keep the game close despite all of the turnovers. Drew Brees completed 21 of 29 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns, with the first two scoring passes going to Willie Snead. Brees now has 452 career touchdown passes and joined Peyton Manning (539) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre (508) as the only quarterbacks in NFL history with at least 450 touchdown passes. Mark Ingram rushed 11 times for 50 yards in the Saints’ Week 10 loss. Ingram got the start, but remained in an even timeshare with Tim Hightower. Ingram out-touched Hightower just 13-10, and out-gained him 63-55. The snaps were roughly even. Ingram appeared to tweak his thigh at one point, but missed little time.

Why Bet on Carolina?

The Panthers (3-6) also lost in crushing fashion in Week 10. Four teams have rallied from a 3-6 record to make the playoffs since the NFL expanded the postseason to 12 teams in 1990. That’s what faces defending NFC champion Carolina now. Carolina led Kansas City 17-0 but blew it all in a last-second 20-17 home loss. Marcus Peters stripped Kelvin Benjamin with 20 seconds left, and Cairo Santos kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired. The game was tied when Benjamin caught a pass from Cam Newton, and Peters ripped the ball from his arms. Newton passed for 261 yards with a touchdown and rushed for 54 yards with a touchdown in the Panthers’ loss. Newton has 20,257 passing yards and 3,468 rushing yards in his career and is the only player in NFL history to have at least 20,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards in his first six seasons. But Newton threw a horrible pass off of his back foot into double coverage that former Atlanta high school rival Eric Berry returned 42 yards for a touchdown. In the first half Sunday, Newton was pressured on 21 percent of snaps and not sacked. In the second half, the Chiefs got to him for more pressure (29 percent) and two sacks, while also forcing a pick-six. The Panthers also had a 20-play drive in the third quarter was the longest for any NFL team that ended in a punt in the last 15 seasons in terms of number of plays. The previous long was 16 plays. The Panthers placed punter Andy Lee (hamstring) on injured reserve and signed punter Michael Palardy. Lee suffered the injury early on Sunday against Kansas City. He ranked fourth in the NFL in punting average (49.1). Carolina lost in New Orleans 41-38 in Week 6. Brees passed for 465 yards and four touchdowns, and Lutz kicked a 52-yard field goal with 11 seconds left. Newton passed for 322 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a 2-yard score and threw a 2-point conversion to Devin Funchess that tied the game at 38 with 2:58 left.