Panthers At Raiders: Point Spread, Storylines, Prediction And More

Antonio Pierce and the Las Vegas Raiders head into Sunday’s home opener against the lowly Carolina Panthers riding high.

After a season-opening loss to the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers, these Raiders went in and defeated the Ravens in Baltimore. Vegas overcame a double-digit fourth quarter deficit, winning by the score of 26-23.

Davante Adams went off. Gardner Minshew put up a solid performance under center. The Raiders’ defense contained reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson. It represented the Raiders’ biggest win in years.

On the other side, Carolina heads to Sin City at 0-2 on the season and as the worst team in the NFL. It has been outscored by a combined margin of 73-13. The Panthers rank dead last in scoring and points allowed through two weeks.

New head coach Dave Canales made the decision to bench former No. 1 pick Bryce Young after just 18 career starts. Veteran quarterback Andy Dalton — for some reason — will get the start in his stead.

Here, we preview this Week 3 matchup between the Panthers and Buccaneers. It will include a look at the point spread, some top storylines and a final prediction.

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Panthers-Raiders Preview: Point Spread, TV Information And More

• Date: Sunday, September 22
• Time: 4:05 PM ET
• TV: CBS
• Point Spread: Raiders (-5.0)

Top Storylines For Carolina Panthers, Las Vegas Raiders Matchup

Obviously, the biggest story heading into this one is Carolina’s decision to bench Young. It will continue to be a major talking point for the downtrodden organization.

As the Raiders prepare for their regular-season home opener, the onus is on Pierce to make sure there is not a let down here. It’s been an all-too common theme for the Silver and Black in recent years. These are among the top storylines heading into Sunday afternoon’s game.

Carolina Panthers Benching Of Bryce Young

Canales’ decision to bench Young after just two games caught the football world by surprise. Sure, Young has been a disaster in his short time as a starting quarterback in the NFL (2-16 record, 10 TD, 12 INT). But to throw him under the bus within the confines of a talent-stricken roster did not make sense.

Canales attempted to explain it away following Sunday’s loss to the aforementioned Chargers.

"Certainly a lot of parties involved there, and ultimately this comes on me,'' Canales said, via the Panthers’ official website. "My No. 1 responsibility is to help the Panthers win, and so this move puts us in the best chance to do that."

This was in response to a question about whether embattled owner David Tepper played a role in benching Young. He’s seen as a hands-on owner around the league, something that has created reported drama behind the scenes. Obviously, Canales was not going to admit that Tepper played a role in this surprising decision.

What we do know is that the Panthers are currently rudderless. Moving on from a young quarterback with upside to a 14-year veteran doesn’t seem to make too much sense for the rebuilding team. We’ll find out soon enough whether it pays off. Don’t hold your breath, Panthers fans.

Davante Adams’ Increased Presence For The Las Vegas Raiders

Last week saw this All-Pro receiver catch 9-of-12 targets for 110 yards and a touchdown. He was dominating in the fourth quarter as the Raiders overcame a deficit on the road. This came after a season-opening loss to the Chargers that saw Adams targeted just six times by Minshew. It was a major talking point after said loss.

“I didn’t come into today expecting our offense to have its best game. We just have to find what we can fix and go from there,” Adams said after Week 1. “I saw some good things from Gardner [Minshew], and we have to work together to help him as much as possible.”

Adams now gets to go up against a Panthers defense that has yielded a 71 percent completion to receivers on the season. It’s going to be interesting to see if the Minshew to Adams connection continues to hum after what happened late last week against Baltimore.

Raiders Looking To Avoid A Let Down

As I noted above, it was a continual theme under both Jon Gruden and Josh McDaniels. That is to say, the Raiders putting up a dud immediately after an impressive win.

Las Vegas simply can’t afford this in front of the team’s home fans come Sunday. A win would move this squad to 2-1 on the season with games looming against the Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos. Both are obviously winnable.

For his part, Pierce is still questioning his team after last week’s win over Baltimore.

"We've got a lot of things that we need to correct," he said Monday, via The Associated Press. "It was a win yesterday, but there were a lot of things in that first quarter that were ugly, in that first half that were ugly and in that third quarter that were ugly. We're not worried about the Panthers. We've got to fix the Raiders."

He’s going to have the Raiders ready to play regardless of the level of competition. It’s pretty much something we’ve seen on a weekly basis since he took over for McDaniels on an interim basis last season.

Raiders Looking To Continue Early-Season Success On Defense

Week 1 saw the Raiders yield a mere 144 passing yards to Chargers star quarterback Justin Herbert. This past Sunday, Lamar Jackson did put up nearly 300 total yards. However, he was held to 45 yards on the ground after the reigning NFL MVP tallied 122 rushing yards against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The key against a veteran in Dalton will be to get more of a pass rush outside of Maxx Crosby. After all, he’s recorded all three sacks for Las Vegas through two games. Big-time free agent signing Christian Wilkins needs to make an impact in this regard. The defensive tackle has not put up as much as a quarterback hit in two games. That’s just not going to cut it.

Final Prediction For Panthers At Raiders

The Raiders should win this game going away. Carolina has lost 17 of 19 dating back to the start of last season. It is winless on the road during this span, being outscored by a combined 161 points in 10 games. Yes, that’s an average of 16.1 points per outing.

Andy Dalton might provide a veteran presence in this one. He’s also 3-0 in his career against the Raiders. None of that matters. Carolina boasts the least-talented roster in the NFL.

Pierce has his Raiders riding high heading into this one. Look for another stellar outing for the Silver and Black in their regular-season home opener.

• Raiders: 28
• Panthers: 16