The NFL season kicks off in a few hours and what better way for the campaign to begin than with a repeat of the final match of last season as the Carolina Panthers head to the Denver Broncos for a Super Bowl repeat.
Revenge is a word used often in sport but you get the feeling Carolina will be eyeing some up this week after getting a bit of a going over in the main event to conclude last season. This is a slightly changed Denver side they will face though which makes this one interesting.
Denver Broncos
The champions begin their title defence in a new era. Peyton Manning guided them to the title last season but he retired after that win which leaves a bit of a void in their offense although by the end of their run last year he wasn’t throwing the ball as much. Perhaps the bigger loss is that of Brock Osweiler who had a hand in getting the Broncos to the playoffs when Manning was injured.
The one thing the Broncos can rely on is their water tight defence which has the commitment of Von Miller in the close season to boost it. Miller and DeMarcus Ware are sack machines but it isn’t just the pass rush that makes this defence so good. Very few get change out of Aqib Talib and Chris Harris in the back field.
Carolina Panthers
All eyes will be on one man for the Panthers here and that is the man who lit up the NFL last season in Cam Newton. He is the new superstar of the NFL but he will need to deliver for his side against this tough defence. If the Panthers can establish a run game it would be a huge help but any run game that is established Newton will need to be a part of.
Luke Kuechly is probably the best player in the middle line backer position and if the Panthers can get men through to the quarterback they will probably feel that in Newton they have the difference maker in the match but getting to whoever starts at QB for Denver will be easier said than done as we saw at times in that Super Bowl.
Betting
Super Bowl 50 was a tight match in the end with just 34pts in it and I’m expecting this one to be even tighter. I’m not convinced by the Broncos offense unless they can establish the run – which is perfectly possible but at the same time all that is going to do is run more of the clock down and you would think that is the policy the Panthers will take too.
Denver won the Super Bowl by 14pts but with the doubts over whether Trevor Siemian is ready for the big time I have to believe Carolina will be much closer than that and they may even win the game although I do fancy Denver’s defence to just about edge this for them.
In terms of a bet I think the standout one is for there to be under 41pts. We got nowhere near that when both sides were at their best in Santa Clara at the end of last season and so with a little bit of rustiness on either side I don’t see us getting near that especially with the likelihood of both sides running the ball and managing the clock.
Tips
PUSH – Back Under 41pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.87 with Boylesports
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