By Charles Jay
You might say that the quarterback situation for the Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns is somewhat questionable at the moment. The Panthers are not absolutely certain that Cam Newton is going to be able to make the start, while the Browns will be going with Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel once again behind center, which, by definition, makes things a bit questionable. Football betting action between these teams gets underway at 1 PM ET at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
Newton got into what appeared to be relatively serious car accident last week, which kept him out of action for Carolina’s 19-17 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In case Vietbet patrons don’t think football players are tough, Newton suffered two fractured bones in his lower back, and he has been dealing with leg and rib injuries during the season, but according to coach Ron Rivera, he is “on target” to start against Cleveland.
The Browns have been eliminated from the playoffs, so what remains is an opportunity to see if Manziel can actually be a quarterback this team can count on in the future. Judging from his first starting assignment, he has an awful long way to go. The former Texas A&M star completed just ten out of his 18 passes for 80 yards, and was intercepted twice. He often took off and ran at the slightest hint of pressure.
Carolina is 5-8-1 straight-up on the season, and they are still in the running for the NFC South title, in what has been a wretched year for the division. The Panthers are 6-8 against the football pointspread. With last week’s 30-0 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Browns dropped to 7-7 straight-up and 8-6 versus the points.
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In the football betting lines that have been established on this game by the people at Vietbet, the Panthers are favored at home:
Carolina Panthers -3.5 (-115)
Cleveland Browns +3.5 (-105)
Over 41 points -110
Under 41 points -110
According to Rivera, Newton has been moving around with a lot of flexibility at practice, and so he is not uncomfortable at all projecting that he will make it to post on Sunday. Derek Anderson filled in for Newton last week, as he did in the season opener, and scored his second win over Tampa Bay. Newton has had a rough campaign, completing 58% of his passes with 11 interceptions. He has also been sacked 36 times. And more often than not, he has not had the support of a real running game. He is the team’s second-leading rusher, which is inexcusable, considering his wide variety of ailments.
What Vietbet customers have to worry about when handicapping this game is what kind of confidence level Manziel’s teammates are going to have in him. Most football bettors will recall that some of the veterans, including All-Pro offensive tackle Joe Thomas, approach coach Mike Pettine and asked him not to start Manziel, because it would mean to them that the Browns were giving up on the season. He certainly hasn’t given any of those players additional confidence after leading his team to only five first downs and 107 total yards against Cincinnati. It is going to be tough to gauge what the attitude of these players is, considering that Brian Hoyer (55%, 12 interceptions), who was benched in favor of Manziel, commanded much more from a leadership standpoint.
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