Panthers vs. Giants Week 7 Picks: Carolina Gets Back on Track

Carolina heads to MetLife Stadium for this NFL Week 7 matchup. Losers of three straight, find out why we like Carolina to cover as a short road favorite in our Panthers and Giants picks.

The Carolina Panthers won their first three games but have dropped three in a row as quarterback Sam Darnold has regressed to his Jets days. Sunday will be Darnold’s first trip back to the New York City area since his trade to Carolina this past offseason.

The New York Giants, meanwhile, are 1-5 but not far from being 3-3 as they have lost two games on field goals as time expired. However, the club seems to be going in reverse with back-to-back losses by a combined 51 points. Second-year coach Joe Judge is on one of the hottest seats in the NFL.

Carolina is a 2.5-point home favorite and has ticked up to -3 at a number of sportsbooks, but the underdog is 4-0 against the spread in the past four head-to-head meetings.

Here are my picks and predictions for the NFL Week 7 matchup between the Panthers and Giants (odds via Betway).

Panthers vs. Giants Week 7 Game Info

Date/Time: Sunday, October 24, 1 p.m. ETTV: FOXLocation: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJWeather: 62 degrees, no precipitation

Panthers vs. Giants Odds Analysis

It's important to shop around on this spread because many books have it Panthers -3, and if you want to back Carolina it’s obviously smarter to get it at -2.5. I don’t see this going to -3.5 anywhere. For what it's worth, the SBR consensus shows the majority of bettors backing the home underdogs.

The Over/Under opened at 42.5 and is up to 43, which is the lowest total of any Sunday game. With two inconsistent quarterbacks here in Darnold and Daniel Jones, that’s not a huge surprise. The Over is 6-2 in the past eight meetings.

Panthers vs. Giants Betting Picks

Panthers -2.5 (-110)Over 43 (-110)

SEE ALSO: Washington vs. Packers Week 7 Picks

Panthers vs. Giants Betting Predictions

Panthers -2.5 (-110)

The Panthers sure mishandled the Christian McCaffrey situation. He played in the first three games and Carolina won all of them. Alas, McCaffrey injured his hamstring in that third one in Houston and has been out since. It appeared for much of last week that he would return against the Minnesota Vikings but McCaffrey was ultimately placed on injured reserve last Saturday. That means he can’t return until Week 9. Why didn’t the team just put him on IR to begin with and save the roster spot?

Rookie Chuba Hubbard, probably the best-ever Canadian running back in NCAA history from his days at Oklahoma State, will continue to be the featured back going forward. He has been pretty good overall, rushing for 220 yards on 56 carries, but Hubbard is no McCaffrey, who has been especially missed in the team’s short passing game.

Darnold had one interception in the first three games with McCaffrey but has six in the past three without his security blanket. He completed just 41.7 percent of his passes in last Sunday’s 34-28 home OT loss to Minnesota. It’s now pretty evident that Darnold is not an NFL-caliber starter. Don’t be surprised if Deshaun Watson is traded to Carolina as early as next week if Darnold is awful again Sunday.

Top Carolina linebacker Shaq Thompson has been out since late in Week 4 with a foot injury and probably won’t return Sunday, but the Panthers are still a better defensive team than the Giants. Carolina also has more offensive weapons because of all of New York’s injuries.

New York has been a great road bet the past few seasons but has covered just six of its last 27 at home. The Panthers, meanwhile, are 8-1 ATS in their past nine road games and we like them to cover the -2.5 spread in this NFL Week 7 matchup.

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Over 43 (-110)

I'm really only going Over here because it’s such a small total. I mean, it’s almost hard not to score at least 24 points in the offensive-minded NFL these days unless you are the Bears or Jets.

That said, New York has totaled only 31 points the past two weeks in blowout losses to the Cowboys and Rams, but those are two of the NFC’s best teams.

Jones was a question mark last Sunday with a possible concussion. He did play but frankly didn’t look right, going 29-for-51 for 242 yards and three picks in a 38-11 loss to LA. For some reason, Judge still had Jones out there when the game was out of hand. The 27-point margin of defeat was tied for the largest in Judge's 22-game tenure as the Giants' coach.

Big Blue played without top running back Saquon Barkley and No. 1 wideout Kenny Golladay due to injury, and both have been ruled out again for this Sunday. First-round rookie wideout Kadarius Toney injured his ankle vs. L.A. and is also out.

The Over is 3-0-1 in the Giants’ past four as an underdog. The total has gone Over in three of the Panthers’ past four against teams with a losing record, with the average combined score in those four contests 50.8 points.

Carolina will win. Expect something around 24-20 for this NFL Week 7 game.

SEE ALSO: Week 7 Betting Trends to Monitor

Picks made on 10/19/2021 at 2:35 p.m. ET.