Prediction - Why The Carolina Panthers Will Win This Sunday

[Saca312]

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/2017/10/22/carolina-panthers-chicago-bears-2/

On Sunday, the NFL’s greatest coaching battle will take place on Soldier field. With Ron “punt at the 35” Rivera versus John “a punt’s a good play” Fox, the possibilities are endless. Who knows what levels of insanity these two can achieve when the Carolina Panthers visit the Chicago Bears.

All jokes aside, the Panthers enter this game in a good spot. After all, they are 4-2 while being perfect on the road. When considering their losses, it looks a lot better on paper to know they didn’t lose to any bottom-feeder teams.

According to the SRS rating (Simple Rating System For NFL Teams), the Panthers are 3rd in the NFC – behind only the Eagles and Saints. Sure, it’s never good to lose to any team, but it’s still better to lose to strong competition rather than weak.

On the other hand, the Bears are coming off a win of their own. While their record (2-4) is nothing to be proud of, they do appear to have a little fight in them. The Bears pride in a decent defense with a good front alongside an offense looking to get back on its feet. While they lack in overall talent, they do have enough pieces to challenge.

However, in terms of matchups, everything seems to fall in the Panthers favor. From the Bears weaknesses being the Panthers strengths, to their strengths negated by Carolina’s strengths, everything lines up for a Panthers victory.

So, why will the Carolina Panthers defeat the Chicago Bears this Sunday? Here’s a few reasons.

Carolina Panthers Defense Will Dominate

Believe it or not, the Panthers defense has been pretty well off. In total defense, the Panthers are tops in the NFC – 4th overall in the NFL (280 ypg). They are 7th against the pass (196.7 ypg), 5th against the run (83.3 ypg), and allow the 4th fewest yards from tight ends (214 yards total). Considering the competition (only team to beat SF by more than three points, BUF, NO, NE, DET, and PHI), it’s pretty impressive.

This Sunday, the Panthers face off against a Bears offense revolving around their runningbacks and tight ends. TE Zach Miller and RB Tarik Cohen both find themselves top 3 in receiving yards while leading the team in targets. Only WR Kendall Wright has more receiving yards (236) than the rest.

To add on, the Chicago Bears just started a rookie quarterback three games ago. QB Mitchell Trubisky revolves around setting the run and rolling out to the right side out of the pocket in passing situations. Considering his inexperience, the Bears commonly use basic pass concepts and RPOs to get him going. However, this approach simplifies the offense and makes it very predictable.

If the Bears keep this trend up, the Panthers defense will feast. Even without Luke Kuechly, it’s very likely there won’t be any noticeable downgrade. Backup MLB David Mayo is solid against the run and would likely start for other teams. The Bears use the run game extensively to set up their RPOs to their tight ends – both in which the Panthers are top 5 against.

If the Carolina Panthers can stop the run, it will eliminate the threat of any RPOs the Chicago Bears might use. Forcing Trubisky to throw left – his biggest weakness – will also help. Considering the circumstances, the Panthers defense should dominate.

WR Curtis Samuel Will Have A Big Game

Well, looks like the Carolina Panthers coaching staff finally accepts the obvious. After the Eagles disrespected the Panthers deep game, they’ve come to terms with the fact they lack a deep threat. The issue isn’t that the Panthers lack an actual deep threat. Rather, they just haven’t used their best deep threat much at all.

In terms of snap usage, Curtis Samuel has been at WR4 status. After injury ruined his growth during training camp and throughout the season, the Panthers haven’t really used their second round pick all too much. Whether it be lack of practice or lack of trust, the Panthers for whatever reason pay little attention to their rookie speedster.

Throughout this week, Ron Rivera has spoken about the need to increase Samuel’s role. Having twelve snaps or less a game isn’t feasible for an electric rookie. While some argue Samuel’s lack of production during his chances justify his lesser usage, it appears more-so a lack of opportunities being the issue when looking at film.

Against the Saints, there’s been one instance where he beat nearly beat a man with a beautiful move and route. The defender had no choice but to hold Samuel to prevent the potential deep touchdown. While Cam Newton never looked his way, it showed the potential Samuel has as a stout route-runner and deep threat. If the Panthers want a deep threat, they should look to Curtis as their option more often.

If the Panthers use Curtis Samuel, expect him to have a big game. He’s been very stout with his routes, finding himself open on plenty of non-looks. The Bears will likely try to key in on everyone but Samuel to their doom. If the Panthers use Samuel right, expect him to show up in a big way.

The Offensive Line Will Look Decent

Now, this is a pretty bold prediction. The Bears have arguably one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL and boast a stout front four. In terms of pass rush, they could challenge as much as the Eagles did.

However, this time the Panthers look to start 5 time pro-bowler and 3 time all-pro Ryan Kalil. While he’s been injury-prone as of late, he’s still vital for the offensive line’s success. One of the biggest reasons the Panthers fell to the Eagles was due to Trai Turner overcompensating for backup C Tyler Larsen’s mistakes. With Ryan Kalil back, the run game and pass protection should be notably better.

While nothing will help with the Panthers iffy tackle situation, having Ryan back will at least help with communication issues. For Matt Kalil, a lot of his problems stem from just simply missing his assignment. Ryan Kalil has continually been the guy up front calling protections and making sure everyone’s in the right spot.

According to NextGen Stats, the Panthers run game has been significantly better with Ryan Kalil in, averaging positive yardage rather than negative without him. With the Panthers best center back in the game, expect the offensive line to look a bit better and get things rolling for our runningbacks, even against a formidable front.

Prediction

Carolina Panthers – 20

Chicago Bears – 10

[Ace_Aladdin]

This is why we will win.

 

 

 

[JakeDel5674]

Same guy that said we would destroy the Saints, and beat the Eagles.  Take this with a grain of salt people.  

[Saca312]

6 minutes ago, JakeDel5674 said:

Same guy that said we would destroy the Saints, and beat the Eagles.  Take this with a grain of salt people.  

I never made a prediction against the Eagles. If so, that was mainly me venting my frustration of the Eagle fanbase by saying we’d destroy them as a part of banter. I said I could see us winning, but I also could see us losing.

Saints I thought we’d beat simply because I assumed our defense would hold fine, but I was wrong. I still predicted their dline would dominate our oline and give Cam a rough time.

[JakeDel5674]

Just now, Saca312 said:

I never made a prediction against the Eagles. If so, that was mainly me venting my frustration of the Eagle fanbase by saying we’d destroy them as a part of banter. I said I could see us winning, but I also could see us losing.

Saints I thought we’d beat simply because I assumed our defense would hold fine, but I was wrong. I still predicted their dline would dominate our oline and give Cam a rough time.

If you honestly thought their D-Line would dominate, why in the Hell did you predict them to win 31-3?  That's borderline ridiculous.  

[beastson]

The rain changes everything.

[Saca312]

4 minutes ago, JakeDel5674 said:

If you honestly thought their D-Line would dominate, why in the Hell did you predict them to win 31-3?  That's borderline ridiculous.  

Who didn’t expect us to beat them? 

Their secondary issues would’ve negated any push their dline had. Communication and discipline weeks 1-2 for them was atrocious. They got a lot better week 3, which I never predicted.

Because of that, our offense was stagnant and our defense underperformed, which was disappointing.

[Saca312]

4 minutes ago, beastson said:

The rain changes everything.

Good point. This was made without consideration of the weather.

Low scoring defense struggle now imo.

[JakeDel5674]

2 minutes ago, Saca312 said:

Who didn’t expect us to beat them? 

Their secondary issues would’ve negated any push their dline had. Communication and discipline weeks 1-2 for them was atrocious. They got a lot better week 3, which I never predicted.

Because of that, our offense was stagnant and our defense underperformed, which was disappointing.

The Defense preformed how I expected.  The Saints have one of the best O-Line's in the NFL.  And we've had to blitz to get pressure for the most part.  Plus, Drew Brees was going to pick apart shitty Daryl Worley regardless.  So, none of what happened shocked me at all.  

[uncfan888]

We get up by two touchdowns, sit on the lead, end up winning by three 

[NavyPF4L]

Couple of things to look for in this game. Shaq and TD will have to have big games for us today as Mayo will be filling in for the greatest mlb ever to play the game. We will be facing a fast shifty player in Cohen and he will be our biggest issue. The dline will need to keep the line backers clean and we will need to make good open field tackles.

The plus to this is that Wilkes LOVES playing a base 4-3 defense and this game it actually bodes well for us considering the Bears starting a rookie QB with pedestrian players on the outside. 

Don't sleep on that bears defense though.. They play scrappy and solid defense.. Very bend but don't break.. It won't be as easy as some may think or feel should be. This isn't a bad team. They've played some great games versus good teams and should have won a couple of them. This will not be a push over by any means.

 

[caatfan]

The Bears want to run the ball. They lead the NFC in rushing. Their two wins though, were against the Ravens and Steelers, teams weak against the run. Make the rookie throw the ball and hopefully our pass rush is effective. 

[jfra78]

1 hour ago, uncfan888 said:

We get up by two touchdowns, sit on the lead, end up winning by three 

you can say this every week and be right 10 out of 16 times.  Which is what i think the Panthers record will be.

[JakeDel5674]

LOL, on the way to another failed prediction.