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This year I’ve decided to participate in two NFL pick ‘em leagues where I have to guess the winner of each game in each week. In both of them the average percentage that Chicago is picked over Carolina is around 87%. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see exactly why there is such a big difference between these two despite a Panthers team with surprisingly better stats in most categories.

Panthers Offense:

Passing- 321.7 yards per game (ranked 4th), 4 TD’s, 4 INT ‘s, 45 first downs, 8 sacks for 47 yards

Rushing- 84 yards per game (ranked 24th), 2 TD’s, 18 first downs, 0 fumbles

Average Points Per Game- 20 points

Total Turnovers- 4 INT’s, 1 Fumble

Bears Offense:

Passing- 251 yards per game (ranked 17th), 5 TD’s, 3 INT’s, 36 first downs, 14 sacks for 105 yards

Rushing- 53.7 yards per game (ranked 31st), 0 TD’s, 7 first downs, 1 fumble

Average Points Per Game- 20

Total Turnovers- 3 INT’s, 1 fumble

Panthers Defense:

Passing- 239.7 yards per game (ranked 14th), 5 TD’s (84 yard long), 1 INT, 23 first downs, 5 sacks

Rushing- 117 yards per game (ranked 25th), 2 TD’s (40 yard long), 5 fumbles, 16 first downs

Average Points Allowed Per Game- 22.7

Total Turnovers (Takeaways)- 1 INT, 2 fumbles,

Bears Defense:

Passing- 277.3 yards per game (ranked 26th), 6 TD’s (79 yard long), 2 INT’s, 42 first downs, 8 sacks

Rushing- 109.3 yards per game, (ranked 18th), 0 TD’s (53 yard long), 14 first downs, 3 fumbles

Average Points Allowed Per Game- 23

Total Turnovers (Takeaways)- 2 INT’s, 4 fumbles

If you ask me, it looks like the Panthers’s odds of keeping this one close and possibly winning are a lot better than the 87% Chicago favor to the 13% Panthers. This is just food for thought before anyone automatically counts out the Panthers in this one. I will better explain what these numbers mean in the preview for what we can expect to see in week 4 from the Panthers.