Carolina (-3) @ Denver (9-8-16)

[oldunclemark]

Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michelle Tafoya.....on NBC...7:40 EST

very warm..high of 87, ...obviously dropping during the game...but the heat and mile high air will be a factor

over-under 41.5

 

Trevor Siemien makes his Denver debut....and he gets a left tackle in Russel Okung and a right tackle in Donald Stephenson that last year's team didn t have.

1,000-yard receivers Demariyus Thomas and Emanuel Sanders face one new corner for Carolina..rookie James Bradbuery...as all-pro Josh Norman is in Washington

Panthers will certainly play that 'cover-2' and not allow 1-on-1s

CJ Anderson faces the No.1 rushing defense led by all-pros Todd Davis, Luke Kuechley and Kawaan Short (11 sacks) . Leading rusher Ronnie Hillman was cut and replaced by rookie Devonate Booker (5-10, 212) who definetly will play

Carolina has Superman Cam Newton (296 of 495, 3,837, 35 TDs and 10 INTs, 132 carries, 636 yards, 10 TDs) who gets back WR Kelvin Benjamin (6-5, 245) who missed all last year back to go with TE Greg Olsen (77 catches, 1,104 yards) and Ted GinnJr. (44 catches, 739 yards , 10 TDs). Carolina led the NFL in scoring: 31.2 last year.

he same O-line returns..They just hope it plays better than  it did in the Super Bowl

 

Panthers face the returning No.1 overall defense in the NFL with Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller......Chris Harris and 'public enemy' Aqib Talib on the corner

Linebacker Todd Davis replaces Danny Trevethan (Bears) and  free agent Jared Crick replaces Malik Jackson (Jax).. Everybody blitzes for Denver.

...IU's Cody Latimer will return kicks. The Broncos have a rookie punter and he did not do well in the final pre-season game. DeMarcus Ware will play only on passing downs.

 

You've got to talk yourself into going against Denver at home and giving '3'..... Trevor Siemian has never played,.

I can see a scenario where he throws for 300 yards and I can see one where he's replaced by No.1 draft choice Paxton Lynch in the second half.

 

The 'under' seems likely but the best bet is to leave this one alone...any thoughts

 

 

[oldunclemark]

whoops....

..might want to merge this..didnt see the other Den-Car thread.

[oldunclemark]

8:40 EST.....7:40 CST

[Jules]

1 hour ago, oldunclemark said:

whoops....

..might want to merge this..didnt see the other Den-Car thread.

 

Naw thats ok. I had forgotten you kick this off usually with threads every week. 

 

I was ahead of you this year. ;)  

[oldunclemark]

  Broncos just signed Emmanuel Sanders to a 3-year contact extension..

....timing is interesting

[BertJones]

Cam was their entire offense last year. It wont happen  again

[jvan1973]

13 hours ago, BertJones said:

Cam was their entire offense last year. It wont happen  again

Injury would be the only thing keeping him from having a similar season.   He has his number one wr back.

[BertJones]

5 hours ago, jvan1973 said:

Injury would be the only thing keeping him from having a similar season.   He has his number one wr back.

 

similar ? at best he's getting 30. He's always been a good fantasy pick but that wont lead to wins this time around. The Reason the defense looked good last years was because of his 45 TDs.

they wont be able to stop a passing attack this time  by Ryan and Brees with their current corners.

[jvan1973]

51 minutes ago, BertJones said:

 

similar ? at best he's getting 30. He's always been a good fantasy pick but that wont lead to wins this time around. The Reason the defense looked good last years was because of his 45 TDs.

they wont be able to stop a passing attack this time  by Ryan and Brees with their current corners.

Have you seen them play already?

[jvan1973]

I got Carolina and giving three points.

 

Panthers 21

Broncos 13

[2006Coltsbestever]

5 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

I got Carolina and giving three points.

 

Panthers 21

Broncos 13

I have it 24-17 Panthers so I sort of agree. I will also give the 3.

[BleedBlu8792]

20 hours ago, BertJones said:

Cam was their entire offense last year. It wont happen  again

 

You're saying it like it's a bad thing. He now has Benjamin back, Funchess is in year 2, Ginn, and Olsen. That's also to go along with a top-5 OL and running game. Him not having to shoulder a large percentage of the load should take away a lot of the late season wear and tear on his body. Again, I don't see that being a bad thing.

 

1 hour ago, BertJones said:

 

similar ? at best he's getting 30. He's always been a good fantasy pick but that wont lead to wins this time around. The Reason the defense looked good last years was because of his 45 TDs.

they wont be able to stop a passing attack this time  by Ryan and Brees with their current corners.

 

Umm what? How does Cam's total number of TD's have anything to do with how the defense played? There is no correlation to that statement. However, if you said the Carolina offense was efficient and that's why the defense was good then there is no argument. That offense should be even better this year. They can run the football whenever and however they want, which in turn keeps that defense fresh the whole entire game. That defense isn't going to have any problems and their corners will be fine. Carolina's front 7 DEFINITELY makes the back-end of that defense shine, not the other way around.

[BleedBlu8792]

I'm taking the Panthers as well, especially with Denver's QB situation. Symian may be alright by mid-season, but (+3) is no where near enough for me to lay money on them right now, against that Panthers defense. Give me +7/7.5 and my opinion could change.

[2006Coltsbestever]

4 minutes ago, BleedBlu8792 said:

I'm taking the Panthers as well, especially with Denver's QB situation. Symian may be alright by mid-season, but (+3) is no where near enough for me to lay money on them right now, against that Panthers defense. Give me +7/7.5 and my opinion could change.

I agree I figured this spread would be 6 or 7. I guess with the game being in Denver a lot of people still feel the champs might pull this out.

[BertJones]

41 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

Have you seen them play already?

 

they have  weaker CBs than Atlanta and Orleans have passing attacks.

Its not that hard to come to that conclusion.

 I also read multiple articles and read between the lines.

there arent very positive tones for the most part.

and yes, I've seen enough preseason and Cam is sloppy.

sure its just preseason but has to indicate a few things.

 

 

[BertJones]

Quote

Umm what? How does Cam's total number of TD's have anything to do with how the defense played?

 

they had more room to fail last year. This year they wont have the cushion.

they gave up 20 or more points last year, 9 times.

 thats not great/good defense. Their defense was good in  the middle of the field but not in the red zone.

i'm sure youll say something about garbage time but I doubt thats why.

 I simply dont see Carolina as anything more than last years hot team.They wont have the tools and wont get the breaks this year.

 

 

[jvan1973]

20 minutes ago, BertJones said:

 

they had more room to fail last year. This year they wont have the cushion.

they gave up 20 or more points last year, 9 times.

 thats not great/good defense. Their defense was good in  the middle of the field but not in the red zone.

i'm sure youll say something about garbage time but I doubt thats why.

 I simply dont see Carolina as anything more than last years hot team.They wont have the tools and wont get the breaks this year.

 

 

They have more tools on offense than they did last year.   Cam might not be the MVP again,  But barring injury he will be dominant.  I haven't seen anything that says otherwise

[2006Coltsbestever]

9 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

They have more tools on offense than they did last year.   Cam might not be the MVP again,  But barring injury he will be dominant.  I haven't seen anything that says otherwise

I think Cam has a Good season. He has Benjamin back but I don't see him duplicating what he did last season, that will be nearly impossible. It will be tough for Luck as well to duplicate what he did in 2014 ever again, those type of seasons are career type seasons when he threw for 40 TD's. One thing that really helped Cam out last season was the Panthers going 15-1 as well, winning helps your QB win MVP in the media eyes. A lot of that had to do with him but the Panthers Defense was scoring Defensive TD's too like it was going out of style in certain games. I see them at around 11-5 and Cam being Good but not like last season. Then again he may prove me wrong. I do have them winning tonight though.

[BleedBlu8792]

1 hour ago, BertJones said:

 

they had more room to fail last year. This year they wont have the cushion.

they gave up 20 or more points last year, 9 times.

 thats not great/good defense. Their defense was good in  the middle of the field but not in the red zone.

i'm sure youll say something about garbage time but I doubt thats why.

 I simply dont see Carolina as anything more than last years hot team.They wont have the tools and wont get the breaks this year.

 

 

 

You're forgetting about their defensive and special teams turnovers/scores. You're also greatly over-valuing Josh Norman and the Panthers losing him. That offense should be better than it was last year, and those TD's won't be lost, but spread out amongst the other players. Again, that defense is good enough all on it's own and the strength is that front-7. They've done nothing but gain much more than they lost. They're still the team to beat in the NFC South and a top-2 NFC team period.

[2006Coltsbestever]

6 minutes ago, BleedBlu8792 said:

 

You're forgetting about their defensive and special teams turnovers/scores. You're also greatly over-valuing Josh Norman and the Panthers losing him. That offense should be better than it was last year, and those TD's won't be lost, but spread out amongst the other players. Again, that defense is good enough all on it's own and the strength is that front-7. They've done nothing but gain much more than they lost. They're still the team to beat in the NFC South and a top-2 NFC team period.

Panthers will win their Division IMO. Getting back to the SB will be tough as no SB loser has done it since the 1993 Bills

[jvan1973]

17 minutes ago, BleedBlu8792 said:

 

You're forgetting about their defensive and special teams turnovers/scores. You're also greatly over-valuing Josh Norman and the Panthers losing him. That offense should be better than it was last year, and those TD's won't be lost, but spread out amongst the other players. Again, that defense is good enough all on it's own and the strength is that front-7. They've done nothing but gain much more than they lost. They're still the team to beat in the NFC South and a top-2 NFC team period.

I agree.   They are the favorite in the NFC.  Doesn't mean they get back,   But they will win the division

[BleedBlu8792]

10 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Panthers will win their Division IMO. Getting back to the SB will be tough as no SB loser has done it since the 1993 Bills

The Bills did it 3 times from 91'-93'.

[2006Coltsbestever]

Just now, BleedBlu8792 said:

The Bills did it 3 times from 91'-93'.

They were the last team to do it. That has been over 20 years ago. I am liking the Packers in the NFC.

[BleedBlu8792]

2 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

I agree.   They are the favorite in the NFC.  Doesn't mean they get back,   But they will win the division

 

I'm definitely not saying they will be back in the Superbowl, but barring injuries they should, at the least, be as good as they were last year.

[BleedBlu8792]

1 minute ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

They were the last team to do it. That has been over 20 years ago. I am liking the Packers in the NFC.

 

I still don't think to highly of the Packers defense and to be honest that Vikings squad, even with Bradford, is pretty scary. I like the Vikings to take that division and possibly the NFC.

[2006Coltsbestever]

3 minutes ago, BleedBlu8792 said:

 

I'm definitely not saying they will be back in the Superbowl, but barring injuries they should, at the least, be as good as they were last year.

If I had to pick 2 teams to play in the NFC Title Game it may be the Panthers vs Packers, Seahawks and Cards are no joke though. The Packers caught a break when Teddy got injured and they are in a Division with the Bears and Lions. They may go 6-0 in that Division alone.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, BleedBlu8792 said:

 

I still don't think to highly of the Packers defense and to be honest that Vikings squad, even with Bradford, is pretty scary. I like the Vikings to take that division and possibly the NFC.

I like the Boldness of that pick. If the Vikings had Teddy I would be more confident in picking them to be dangerous. I am not sure Bradford can stay healthy, that is my dilemma with them.

[BleedBlu8792]

Just now, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I like the Boldness of that pick. If the Vikings had Teddy I would be more confident in picking them to be dangerous. I am not sure Bradford can stay healthy, that is my dilemma with them.

Bradford was healthy last year, and played decently, considering the offense and team he was on. I think Bradford will thrive with AP behind him and playing in a Norv Turner offense. That defense is very good as well. I think they are a much more solid team than the Packers. I don't trust the Packers defense nor their OL for that matter. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

3 minutes ago, BleedBlu8792 said:

Bradford was healthy last year, and played decently, considering the offense and team he was on. I think Bradford will thrive with AP behind him and playing in a Norv Turner offense. That defense is very good as well. I think they are a much more solid team than the Packers. I don't trust the Packers defense nor their OL for that matter. 

I don't fully trust the Pack Defense either but they have #12. I think this season is really a crapshoot regarding predicting. I got lucky last season (I admit) when I picked Denver to win it all before the season. I just figured it was going to be Manning's last season and he would go out a winner. I loved Denver's Defense on paper as well and that was a huge factor in them winning. It was just a feeling I had. I didn't think the Pats would repeat and I didn't think the Seahawks would make it back 3 years in a row. We will see what happens shortly.

[Happy2BeHere]

I mean I don't really care much who wins this game except perhaps it's better that the NFC wins over the AFC only for playoff positioning ??

 

but none the less I am ready for some football!

[2006Coltsbestever]

What I find amusing is everyone on the NFL Network picked the Panthers to win tonight and it was based on they aren't sure about the Broncos QB position. Same guys that have been saying Peyton was the worse QB in the league last season . Hey I thought you could just plug in anyone to play QB on that team because after all it's their Defense that won the SB. Peyton was a stiff right (sarcasm)?? Broncos fans are in for a huge disappointment this season, they have 8-8 written all over them and no Playoffs. We are about to find out if the Broncos can just plug in any QB and win shortly.

[oldunclemark]

Has a 7th-round draft choice ever started at QB for anyone?

[oldunclemark]

Calvin Benjamin vs Aqib Talib I guess..

..now talib knows its 2 personal fouls and you're out this year, right?

[BertJones]

2 hours ago, BleedBlu8792 said:

 

You're forgetting about their defensive and special teams turnovers/scores. You're also greatly over-valuing Josh Norman and the Panthers losing him. That offense should be better than it was last year, and those TD's won't be lost, but spread out amongst the other players. Again, that defense is good enough all on it's own and the strength is that front-7. They've done nothing but gain much more than they lost. They're still the team to beat in the NFC South and a top-2 NFC team period.

 

I actually dont care about Josh Norman. He has nothing to do with it for me.

Defense- you can not plan or assume turnovers go your way. They may well not for the Panthers this year.
 

Quote

They've done nothing but gain much more than they lost. They're still the team to beat in the NFC South and a top-2 NFC team period.

 

 

they "were" "Last year"

 

top 2? they might get second place in their own division.

 

but here comes 3 months to find out

 

 

 

 

 

[shakedownstreet]

Go Team!!! 

[oldunclemark]

They let Peyton bring out the trophy.....nice touch. They didn't have to let him do that

[oldunclemark]

I'm still rooting for Denver....the defense is fun to watch and the idea of an 'everyman' at quarterback..

...an orduinary guy.

 

..sure hope he does well

[jvan1973]

Just now, oldunclemark said:

I'm still rooting for Denver....the defense is fun to watch and the idea of an 'everyman' at quarterback..

...an orduinary guy.

 

..sure hope he does well

Now that Peyton is gone I will not root for denver against an NFC team.  Doesn't make sense as a colts fan

[jvan1973]

3 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

They let Peyton bring out the trophy.....nice touch. They didn't have to let him do that

Ratings my man.   I'm sure the network asked for that

[jvan1973]

34 minutes ago, BertJones said:

 

I actually dont care about Josh Norman. He has nothing to do with it for me.

Defense- you can not plan or assume turnovers go your way. They may well not for the Panthers this year.
 

 

they "were" "Last year"

 

top 2? they might get second place in their own division.

 

but here comes 3 months to find out

 

 

 

 

 

You clearly have an axe to grind with cam.   They are without question the best team in the nfc south.