The Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers will wrap up their preseason with a matchup at Bank of America Stadium on Friday night. Here are our Lions vs. Panthers predictions based on the best NFL odds.
The Carolina Panthers will get one last look at rookie quarterback Bryce Young before the regular season begins when they face off with the Detroit Lions in their final preseason tune up.
Young and the first-team offense have failed to impress over the Panthers' first two appearances. The No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft has gone 7-for-12 for 56 yards through two preseason games and has only led one scoring drive that ended in a field goal. He's also been sacked twice and hit a number of other times.
Panthers head coach Frank Reich has already announced that the offensive starters will play in the preseason finale.
“Sometimes a lot of teams won't play their starters in the last preseason game. We're going to play Bryce and play our offensive starters,” Reich said to Augusta Stone of Panthers.com. “(We) still want to get more reps; I think we had about 20 last week or something like that. It's kind of TBD again. It could be about the same, could be a little less, could be a little bit more. (We would) like to get a little rhythm going, accomplish certain things. So, we'll play it by ear.”
So, while the Panthers enter Friday's game with the established goal of finding an offensive rhythm, the Lions appear to have punted on the remainder of the preseason.
“I think it's going to look very much like the first two games,” Detroit head coach Dan Campbell said when asked about his approach for the preseason finale, according to Jeff Risdon of USA Today. The Lions have sat their starters in each contest.
Taking this information into account, here is our best Lions vs. Panthers prediction (odds via our best NFL betting sites; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
Lions vs. Panthers prediction
Not intended for use in MA
Affiliate Disclosure: Sportsbook Review may receive advertising commissions for visits to a sportsbook
Visit our Google News page and click “Follow” (?) for the latest odds, picks and news!
Motivation carries a lot of weight when it comes to wagering on the NFL preseason.
We'll see Young and the Panthers' offensive starters for at least a series or two. And while that does not guarantee points will be scored (the Panthers were shutout 27-0 in their first preseason game), that gives us some deg ree of confidence that Carolina will attempt to find the end zone before turning to backups.
The Lions also have good reason to sit their starters in a meaningless preseason game. While most NFL teams will have at least two weeks off before the regular season begins, Detroit will be playing in the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sept. 7. So rather than risk Jared Goff et al. to injury, the Lions will be sending quarterbacks Nate Sudfeld, Teddy Bridgewater, and Adrian Martinez back out there to close out the preseason.
Sudfeld has seen the majority of the work for the Lions and has thrown three interceptions in two games. Bridgewater was signed on Aug. 7 and completed five of 11 passes for 34 yards in his limited amount of action. Martinez only played in the first game and went 4-for-7 for 37 yards. He could get the bulk of the work on Friday.
Though Panthers backup quarter backs Matt Corral and Jake Luton have also struggled at times this preseason, they've shown enough flashes to be entrusted with getting the Panthers a victory with a winning margin of one to 13 points.
Lions vs. Panthers best odds
FanDuel is the only one of our best sports betting apps to offer this winning margin prop as of Thursday afternoon. Most books are only offering a spread, total, and moneyline.
The Panthers are 0-2 this preseason, so we're not comfortable backing them to win by 14-plus points at +230 odds.
Lions vs. Panthers odds
Lions vs. Panthers odds analysis
The spread opened at Panthers -3 and has since moved to -4.5 at most books. The moneyline opened at -160 and could be found currently anywhere from -190 to -225.
There ha s been minimal movement on the total, which opened at 37. A rogue 36.5 and 37.5 can be found by price shopping.
Lions vs. Panthers game info
- Date: Friday, Aug. 25, 8 p.m. ET
- TV: CBS
- Location: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
- Weather: 87 degrees, mostly sunny, 0% chance of precipitation
NFL betting odds pages
| Super Bowl Odds | NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Odds | NFL Sacks Leader Odds |
| NFL MVP Odds | NFL Comeback Player of the Year Odds | NFL Best Record Odds |
| NFL Offensive Player of the Year Odds | NFL Most Regular Season Passing Yards Odds | NFL Worst Record Odds |
| NFL Defensive Player of the Year Odds | NFL Most Regular Season Rushing Yards Odds | NFL Win Totals Odds |
| NFL Coach of the Year Odds | NFL Most Regular Season Receiving Yards Odds | NFL Draft Odds |
| NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Odds |
Check out our best NFL betting sites:
- Caesars Promo Code: SBRBONUSGET | Read our Caesars Review
- BetMGM Bonus Code: SBRBONUS | Read our BetMGM Review
- bet365 Bonus Code: SBRBONUS | Read our bet365 Review
- BetRivers Promo Code: SBRBONUS | Read our BetRivers Review
- FanDuel Promo Code | Read our FanDuel Review
- DraftKings Promo Code | Read our DraftKings Review
(21+. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER)
* Bonuses not applicable in Ontario.
Related pages
- Best Sports Betting Sites | Best Sportsbook Promos (U.S. only)