NFL Predictions – Carolina vs Pittsburgh

People who are in the business of making football betting predictions are aware that the Pittsburgh Steelers can be very rough on opposing offenses, and are a little upset about their loss to the New York Jets. On Thursday night they step onto the natural grass on Heinz Field to host the Carolina Panthers, who are in the final stages of their nightmare season.

Game time is 8:20 PM ET on the NFL Network. In the football betting odds on this game, the Steelers are a 14.5-point favorite, with the total at 37 points. We will base our NFL predictions on those numbers.

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NFL Predictions

Carolina Panthers (2-12 SU, 4-10 ATS) at Pittsburgh Steelers (10-4 SU, 8-6 ATS)

Live at Heinz Field

Pittsburgh, PA

Thursday, December 23 — 8:20 PM ET

TV:  NFL Network

Odds for NFL Predictions:

Pittsburgh -14.5

Carolina  +14.5

Total  37

We didn’t lie when we said Carolina was going through a nightmare season. This whole thing didn’t start too well, when Matt Moore, who was given the starting quarterback job because Jake Delhomme was let go, got hurt in the opener, which thrust raw rookie Jimmy Clausen into action much sooner than expected. Clausen, who made a LeBron James-like announcement to attend Notre Dame at the the College Football Hall of Fame, hasn’t been so cocky as he has learned the NFL ropes. Thus far, Clausen has two TD passes and seven interceptions in 243 attempts.

Steve Smith hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 2, and he has taken his shots at the rookie quarterback. It isn’t likely he’ll be in Charlotte next season, and the same can be said for coach John Fox, who didn’t get a contract extension. Our NFL prediction is that he will probably be fired in a couple of weeks’ time.

The Panthers won a 19-12 decision last week against the Cardinals, and that actually gave them two wins inside the division, but they have reached 20 points in only two games all year. You are not goo cover many games like that, and they are indeed sitting with just four covers against the NFL odds.

Here are some of the trends as they impact our NFL prediction on this game:

• Carolina has covered two of its last eight games
• Carolina has played four of its last six games OVER the total
• Carolina has lost seven of its last eight games SU
• Carolina has lost its last six road games SU
• Carolina has covered two of its last six road games
• Carolina has played five of its last seven road games OVER the total
• Pittsburgh has played four of its last five games UNDER the total
• Pittsburgh has won four of its last five games SU
• Pittsburgh has won 16 of its last 21 home games SU

How will the Steelers come back following their loss to the Jets? They permitted something not too many defenses have lately – we’re talking about big plays by New York’s Mark Sanchez, who was 19 for 29 without an interception. On the statistical sheet, the Steelers outgained the Jets by about a hundred yards and had 25 first downs, so for the sake of us sizing this up for an NFL prediction, a lot of things went well.

I don’t really know how many teams are going to go out there and control things on the ground against the Steelers, but the Jets barely got to the 100-yard mark against them. You’ve got to be impressed by Jonathan Stewart’s effort the last two weeks, as he has run for 270 yards against Atlanta and Arizona, neither of which were burned by Clausen as a result. Stewart is the key guy for the Panthers, clearly, but is he enough? Maybe, with an offensive line that doesn’t seem to have quit, a rookie quarterback who has just won his first game as a a starter, and a special teams unit that has been effective enough to have been introduced before the last game,  Carolina could be competitive. Then again, six of the last eight losses they’ve suffered have been by two touchdowns. Pittsburgh is capable of putting that on them, as we don’t expect the Panthers to be very interested in the second half. Our NFL prediction is a decisive win by the Steelers, but it’s not an especially big play.

JAY’S PLAY:  PITTSBURGH -14.5 **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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