Cleveland Browns @ Carolina Panthers Preview & Predictions

Kyle Ledbetter: [00:00:12] There is a fun Panther style. I think it was 2020, the Bridgewater season where it's like when the Panthers defense allowed less than 22 points. They were five and oh, and when they allowed more than 22, they were only 11. So that's basically you can bet on the Panthers to bet on 20 points from the Panthers. It's like the old Lawndale white joke where if you need or the Jaylen Brown joke, if you need 27 points, they'll give you a 20. If you need 13, they'll give you 20. That's what the Panthers are good for, 20 points with shitty quarterbacks. [00:00:40][27.7]
Julian Martinez: [00:00:41] 20 points, but they got a one and a half point line. James, this is a revenge game. Baker Mayfield. Are you worried he's waking up feeling dangerous? [00:00:49][8.3]
James Puopolo: [00:00:50] I'm very much so worried. I mean, I'm happy for him. So like a fan of Baker. But there is no reason this dude is always done better through college, I'm sure. Through high school. I don't really know that far back then. And any football setting he does better being the underdog, it just better being the comeback story. So if you don't think that this dude for at least one game is going to come out and burn the world down against his old team that chose a. Alleged sex offender over him. I can't see any way that he doesn't come out and just torture us. [00:01:26][35.7]
Julian Martinez: [00:01:27] Well, he did have that one moment his rookie year when Hue Jackson changed sides mid-season and he made it a point to just stunt a little. And he was face I kind of wonder if he's got a little bit of that dog in him this coming weekend. And I have been back and forth on this this entire off season of how good the Panthers are. I remember seeing a lot of statistics that would suggest that they were a top ten defense at the very least last year. And I look at their opponent matchup this week. We joked about it in another segment, but Jacoby Brissett doesn't really inspire confidence of any offense or any kind of offensive output. And that's that's true in the Vegas line because you have it as 41 and a half point over under. Even Vegas is looking at this game, looking at Baker Mayfield, looking at Jacoby Brissett, and not saying that they see a lot of points going up on the scoreboard. [00:02:15][47.6]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:02:16] The Panthers are interesting defensively. Just because Carolina has a base level of talent that makes them pretty good. Jeremy Chen's a very good player. Brian Burns is a Pro Bowler. Obviously the Browns are going to be heavy run scheming because even though they have decent wide receivers now, it's not as pathetic as, say, it was last year or the end of 2020. Like Cleveland is at least looking okay there. I assume it's going to be heavy. Nick Chubb either in the running game or the passing game based on how they scheme their offense. And I think that it's going to be one of those games where turnovers will make the difference more so than anything else. Like weird plays that lead to seven point swings or 14 point swings will be the difference because like the line says, it's going to be a low scoring game and a game where they're favored to be in one place. You might get the Browns as a point favorite and another place, the Panthers as a point favorite. So seems like it's going to be close. Seems like it's going to be low scoring, which means look for those like plays or punts or drives that swing the score 7 to 10 points on one play or two plays. [00:03:21][64.9]
Julian Martinez: [00:03:22] James, if the Browns are going to win, this is probably going to be on the backs of their defense. What do you think of that matchup against the Carolina offense? [00:03:29][6.7]
James Puopolo: [00:03:30] I don't know. We are linebacking corps is pretty terrible. We have joke and that's kind of it. Walker is nice. He's good for tackles, but he really only came through at the end of last year. I just can't see any way if Christian McCaffrey is playing at 100%, we can limit him and then I wouldn't be as worried through the hair. I really just think it comes down to limiting what Christian McCaffrey can do. I think he's just going to hurt us and he's going to hurt us bad. And then, you know, not beyond the passing threat of Christian McCaffrey, but that's more what I was focusing on. Our defensive tackles are a huge question mark. We have solid edge rushers and then they do the mid a lot, a lot of mid through the middle. So I think he's going to have a field day. Honestly, I think Christian McCaffrey is going to have one of those days that looks like classic 2000 yard season. [00:04:19][48.3]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:04:19] Christian McCaffrey I am going to predict, I don't have the helmets this week. They'll come back in week two, though, but I will predict the Carolina Panthers to win week one and start the season off one and L because all of my favorite stats in the world is that the Carolina Panthers have started the last three seasons, two and oh three and one and three. Oh, no. And then post October 15th, the Carolina Panthers have a combined win loss record of five and 31 over the last three seasons. So they start off hot and they are they are literally the worst team in the NFL post October 15. So Carolina is going to win this game and it's going to be a feel good Baker Mayfield moment, and then they will go on to win six or seven games. [00:05:05][46.3]
Julian Martinez: [00:05:07] James, what about you? [00:05:08][0.7]
James Puopolo: [00:05:08] I mean, Jacoby can hand the ball off real nice, but I think it's I think it's a I think it's a Panthers win. I'm not going to try to put a score on this either, because so many ways the Panthers win this one strong, though. [00:05:20][12.1]
Julian Martinez: [00:05:21] And it's going to be a clean sweep for me as I am picking the Panthers as well. You mentioned Christian McCaffrey is out there. It is week one. He is healthy. This is the healthiest that this Panthers squad potentially will be all season. That alone, I think, is going to be what separates them in this game. If you told me this was a game in which Christian McCaffrey was coming in a little gimpy, maybe I might swing in towards the Browns. Of course, the quarterback situation is just a question mark. Jacoby Brissett hasn't been a relevant starter for, what, four or five years since Andrew Luck retired or however long it's been. I just can't put any faith in him to carry the Browns through to victory in this game, especially since it's on the road. So that's my thoughts. Panthers across the board. All right, guys, you probably noticed the segment's a little different. Not just Kyle and I, but we also joined by guest James James from Bota. James, we need you to drop all the obligatory plugs. That way, people know where to find you. [00:06:18][56.8]
James Puopolo: [00:06:18] Hey. Well, thank you for having me. You can find us everywhere at bota sports bota, a Instagram tik tok is the biggest ones. There's also a Twitter, but it's really not worth them to be 500% honest about it. Yeah, you can find all of our stuff everywhere just by searching boat sports. [00:06:33][15.3]
Julian Martinez: [00:06:34] Okay, guys, find that below in the bio we've a like on this video subscribe to the channel from juju talk sports and Kyle Ledbetter. Stay safe, happy and healthy. We'll see you on the next one. [00:06:34][0.0]
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