The Carolina Panthers will look to continue their domination on home turf with a 13th consecutive straight-up victory, and sixth-straight win against the spread, when they host the Arizona Cardinals in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game as three-point betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Carolina’s current successful run at home includes victories by at least a touchdown in eight of its past 10 games, with the team scoring a whopping 36.2 points per game over its past six outings ahead of Sunday night’s Cardinals vs. Panthers betting matchup at Bank of America Stadium.
The Panthers’ potent offense, led by MVP candidate Cam Newton, tallied an average of over 392 total yards in home games during the regular season, forcing the point total over in seven of their past 10 in Carolina.
This weekend’s contest marks the first time since November 2014 that the total in a Panthers home game has reached 48 at the sportsbooks, with the under prevailing in three of the last five when the total was set at 45 or higher.
However, that trend could be dramatically reversed with the arrival of the Cardinals, who wrapped up their regular season as the second-highest scoring team in the NFL, tallying 30.6 points per game, second only to Carolina, which led the league with 31.3 points per game.
Arizona takes a five-game SU win streak on the road into its third playoff meeting with the Panthers since 2009, with the total playing over in three of those matchups, according to the OddsShark NFL Database.
But it is the under that has paid bettors in six of the Cardinals’ past seven overall, bolstered by an Arizona defense that has surrendered just 19.5 points per game.
That did not keep the point total from inching higher in progressive Cardinals outings this season, pegged at 47 or more in five of their last eight, with the under prevailing on three occasions.
While the stage looks set for a shootout in Charlotte, low-scoring affairs have not been unusual in recent meetings between these two clubs.
The Panthers claimed a 27-16 victory over the Cardinals in their Wild Card Weekend matchup last season, blowing away a small point total of 38. However, the two teams have combined to score more than 45 points just twice in their past eight clashes, averaging a combined 39.5 points per game during that stretch.
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