Christian McCaffrey – Carolina Panthers RB
- First TD scorer and Carolina to win (+1400)
Firstly, check that Christian McCaffrey is definitely good to go. The Carolina Panthers officially activated the All-Pro running back from the reserve/injured list on Saturday, but according to Ian Rappaport of the NFL Network, he’ll work out pre-game before anything is confirmed.
McCaffrey isn’t expected to command his usual workload after missing the last five weeks with a hamstring problem. Matt Rhule stated earlier in the week that the former first-round pick would be on a snap count, but expect to see him featuring prominently in the red zone when the Panthers get opportunities.
Having McCaffrey in the backfield is going to make things a lot easier for whoever is under center. That might be Sam Darnold after the signal-caller cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol.
Darnold regression has been glaring without McCaffrey, so having this exceptional weapon could see the player get back to the form we saw earlier in the campaign providing there aren’t any major complications with a shoulder issue.
It’s important for the Panthers to set the tone early. If the league’s best dual-threat player at the position is good to go as expected, then this is something they can accomplish.
This might be a long shot of sorts, but betting McCaffrey to score the game’s first touchdown and Carolina to win at +1400 (bet $100 to win $1400) could end up paying off.