Sport: NFLPick Selection: Seattle Seahawks vs. Carolina Panthers: Panthers
I'm taking the points with CAROLINA. Despite last week's loss, the Panthers aren't quite out of the playoff race. As safety Deke Cooper said: "With adversity like this, that's when we've got to come together. "We can't let a loss separate us. We've got three games left. Who knows what's going to happen in the playoff race? We've got to play every game like we're still in the playoffs."Even if they don't really believe they can still make the playoffs (its a major longshot) the Panthers should be able to draw motivation from the fact that they're playing at home and also due to the fact that this will be their first meeting with the Seahawks since the teams met in the NFC Championship game, in January of 2006. You may recall that Seattle won that game, 34-14 and advanced to the Super Bowl to face the Steelers. The Seahawks enter this week's game playing well, having won five straight. However, this is an extremely tough spot as they are coming off a huge divisional win vs. Arizona and are now playing an early game in the Eastern Time Zone. Additionally, last week's victory clinched their fourth NFC West Division title in a row. Considering they've already won the division and that they can't realistically catch the Packers or Cowboys for top overall record, there's really very little left to play for. Regardless of their mindset, the Seahawks never tend to fare too well when coming off a win vs. a divisional opponent. In fact, they're just 16-35 ATS (20-31 SU!) the last 51 times they were coming off a victory vs. a division rival in their previous game. The Seahawks had been home favorites for that game after winning as road underdogs the previous week. Knowing that he has an extensive database going back many years, I checked in with respected handicapper Tom Scott with regards to teams in this situation. Tom's database confirmed some interesting results. Road favorites of -4 points or greater, who won outright as a road underdog two games back, and won and covered last week as a home favorite are just 11-35 ATS over the past 26 years. Regardless of how the Seahawks view this game, I expect an extremely motivated effort from the Panthers, who were embarrassed with last week's effort. Carolina, which convincingly won its last game here, has always thrived in the underdog role under Coach Fox, going 70-45-4 ATS since 1992. The Panthers are also 5-1 SU/ATS the last six and 10-3 SU/ATS the last 13 times they faced a team from the NFC West. I'll glady take all the points I can get but won't be at all surprised when the Panthers score the outright win. *NFL Underdog GOY
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