A LAZY SUBSTITUTE FOR THE HIGHLY BIASED GAME PREVIEW

 
With CK off on a business trip I thought I would sub in for the writer of the HBGP. This will be a lazy effort with very little research on the Carolina Panthers. Here we go:
 
Quarterback – Patriots. Rookie Mac Jones has an edge over possibly still concussed Sam Darnold and a bigger advantage over Darnold’s possible replacement – PJ Walker
 
Running Backs – Panthers. This is making the huge assumption that McCaffrey is activated and plays full time.
 
Wide Receivers – Patriots. Carolina has the 5th worst average passing yards per game in the league.
 
Tight Ends – Patriots. I can’t name a Carolina Tight End.
 
Front Seven – Panthers. The front seven for the Patriots hasn’t played very well except for Judon and my lazy look shows the Panthers giving up the second least number of yards per game in the league.
 
Secondary – Panthers. Based on total defense I’m just going to give this to Carolina.
 
Special Teams – Patriots. Big surprise, right? Actually, the Panthers are terrible on special teams per ESPN stats and the Patriots are pretty good.
 
Coaching – Patriots. Again, as expected. Matt Rhule is actually doing a pretty good job with the Panthers but HC B Belichick has done a good job of improving his team over last year’s and the Patriots have been improving while the Panthers look like their quick start was just because they played three very weak teams.
 
Highly Biased Score Prediction: Patriots 17 – Panthers 13
 
Look for a defensive battle with Carolina’s strong defense and weak offense. This has the makings of a trap game for the Patriots. The key will be protecting Mac Jones and Jones himself limiting rookie mistakes.