Two favorites to reach Super Bowl LI out of their respective conferences will close their preseason slates out in Charlotte in Week 4. The defending NFC champion Panthers will look to bounce back from last week’s disappointing home defeat to the New England Patriots, while the Steelers will look to build off their impressive showing in the bayou where they took it to the Saints to log their first win of the preseason.
Week 4 of the preseason kicks off for both of these clubs at Bank of America Stadium on Thursday, September 1 , 2016, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Odds Analysis
With this being the fourth and final exhibition game for both squads, don’t expect to see any of the big names even see the field in this one. This is the game for the backups and guys in position battles to strut their stuff. With that the case, this is a coin flip at best so look for linemakers to open this one near a pick ‘em and for the betting public to move the line as more info on the game is released.
Quarterback Rotation
Big Ben is a no go. The Steelers already cut back up quarterback Dustin Vaughan due to injury. Bruce Gradkowski sat out of last week’s game in New Orleans due to a hamstring injury. If he isn’t able to go this week, it’s likely Mike Tomlin elects to let Landry Jones go the distance if another quarterback isn’t picked up.
Reigning MVP Cam Newton went into the third quarter of last week’s game against the Pats. He wasn’t very efficient or successful in completing just 13 of his 29 passes for 100 yards and a pair of interceptions. Though Ron Rivera is known as the “Riverboat Gambler”, there’s no way he gives Cam any run in this one. That likely means Derek Anderson and Joe Webb will split duties with each likely taking a half.
Coaching History
After coaching his squad to the 27-14 outright win as underdogs last week, Tomlin moved to 22-19 for his career in the exhibition season. A win here would see him put an end to three straight losing preseasons as well as two straight wins on the road after Pittsburgh dropped its previous seven.
Rivera sits one game over .500 for his career coaching in the preseason, but currently finds himself in position to tally his first losing preseason since first taking over the head coaching duties in Carolina back in 2011. The Panthers have earned at least a split if not better in the previous four seasons, and have gone 3-2 in Week 4 of the preseason under the current regime.
Free ATS Pick
Carolina’s starters didn’t show much of anything last week in managing just three points against the Patriots starting defense. The backups led the charge back in the game behind Webb who completed 6 of 17 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately, the lead was too much to overcome. Look for him to look the way of big target tight end Marcus Lucas whom he connected with for both scores.
Pittsburgh went all out to make a good impression last week, and it showed in a big time way as the starters went on to take a 21-7 lead into the break. The backups were more or less able to go through the motions to secure the win. Still, Pittsburgh doesn’t have many position battles going right now evidenced by it already releasing a number of players a couple days before roster cuts were mandatory.
The Panthers second and third teams have been much more competitive this preseason. The Steelers have scored a grand total of nine points in the second half through their first three games. Look for Carolina to want it a bit more here and snag the win and cover.
NFL Odds: Panthers 17, Steelers 9
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