Panthers vs Packers Prediction & Picks: NFL Week 8

Kickoff is Thursday, October 29 at 8:15 PM ET in Green Bay, WI, a short-week Thursday slot that the guys said rarely hands them a close your eyes special. The Packers were 3.5-point favorites with a total of 47 when the guys taped on October 28, and both of them took the Panthers plus the points on the NFL Picks Week 8 episode.

Panthers vs Packers Odds

The Packers were 3.5-point favorites with a total of 47 when the guys taped on October 28. Carolina was +170 on the money line, per the show.

Our Picks

Ryan Kramer (@KramerCentric): Panthers +3.5
Sean Green (@SeanTGreen): Panthers +3.5

Carolina had just lost to Tampa Bay by a wide margin, and Ryan pointed out the Panthers had underperformed the spread by more than 21 points. That is the profile the guys call a close your eyes special. Ryan admitted a Thursday version of it made him a little nervous, since those spots do not come up often, but he still went to church with it.

Sean leaned on the bounce-back angle. He said the Panthers were on a 13-0 run against the spread after a loss, and that he would keep backing them in that spot until they cool off. He walked through the freaky parts of that game: a scoop and score, a blocked punt, a blocked field goal and a blocked extra point that went the other way for two points. In his view the game got away early, and Carolina would be up for this one.

On the other side, the guys were not buying the Packers. Sean thought Green Bay could run the ball some, but he expected a field goal game and said he would be surprised if Carolina lost by a margin. He flagged the Packers as down to a third-string center and said their receivers have been unreliable for the quarterback. Ryan said he and the analytics would “agree to disagree” on the Green Bay defense. He also noted both teams like to pass and are better at it than running, which is why he thought this game might see a little more scoring.

Hear the full breakdown on the NFL Picks Week 8 episode, or listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Watch every game on YouTube, and download the SGPN app at sg.pn/links. See all our NFL Picks.