James Alberino 

 

Cam comes into this season healthier than last year and Carolina upgraded their defense in a big way – Gerald McCoy will play in the front 7 next to Dontari Poe, Mario Addison, Kawann Short, and Luke Kiechly. The Rams are starting 2 new offensive lineman on the interior, including a Center making his first career NFL start. Carolina should be able to pressure Goff throughout the day and force him to stay in the pocket more often than he’d like and avoid him rolling out to give more time to his receivers. Carolina’s corners Donte Jackson and James Bradberry had good seasons last year and can compete with Los Angeles’ speed. The Rams scored 10.4 ppg less on the road last year than they did at home. When Carolina has the ball, Cam is going to have to get the ball out quick to avoid Aaron Donald, but Norv Turner’s system for Carolina is setup so that Cam can lean heavily on McCaffrey both in the run and short pass game and then spread it out on short routes to Samuel, Moore, and Olsen. Rams LB Cory Littleton will be matched up with McCaffrey often in pass coverage and that’s a McCaffrey advantage. Cam will probably target Marcus Peters who gambles a lot and didn’t have a good year last year. Carolina will try to win this game with ball control and defense and I think they have a good shot in their home opener. Super Bowl losers in Week 1 the following season are 2-12-2 ATS the last 16 years. Panthers moneyline.