Texans-Panthers Week 3 odds

The third week of the 2021 NFL regular season kicks off on Thursday night with a surprising matchup between two teams both exceeding early-season expectations, and BetRivers.com is here to break down the Texans-Panthers Week 3 odds ahead of the 8:30 p.m. kickoff. The Panthers enter Thursday Night Football 2-0 having defeated the Jets in Week 1 and the Saints in Week 2. Former Jet quarterback Sam Darnold has looked solid under center, while the defense continues to make plays. On the other side of the ball is Houston, which looked impressive in a Week 1 win over the Jaguars, and even more impressive in a tough Week 2 loss to the Browns. But Houston will be starting rookie quarterback Davis Mills, with Tyrod Taylor unable to go due to injury. Mills, a third-round pick out of Stanford, is going to have to deal with a Panthers’ defense that has registered ten sacks and three interceptions in the first two games of the season.

How has the public wagered on the Texans-Panthers Week 3 NFL odds? Bettors are all over the Panthers, with 95% of the moneyline handle and 86% of the ML bets packing Carolina. The public is also backing the Panthers to cover, with 64% of the spread handle and 72% of the spread bets on Carolina.

Longtime Poker broadcaster and sports bettor David Tuchman is here to preview the Texans-Panthers Week 2 odds and drops knowledge on the best bets worth a wager.

BETTING PREVIEWS: NFC SOUTH | AFC SOUTH

Tuck’s NFL betting slip: 15-6 (+874 on the season) 

Week 3 of the NFL season starts with the Carolina Panthers traveling to Houston to take on the Tyrod Taylor-less Texans in a battle between the AFC South and NFC South. 

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: Texans-Panthers Week 3

HOUSTON TEXANS (1-1) vs. CAROLINA PANTHERS (2-0)
DATE/TIME: Thursday, Sept. 23 8:20 p.m.
CHANNEL: NFL Network
MONEYLINE: Panthers -400 ML, Texans +335 ML
SPREAD: Panthers -8.5
OVER/UNDER: 43 points

TEXANS-PANTHERS WEEK 3 PUBLIC TRENDS:
Panthers Moneyline: 94% handle, 86% bets
Panthers Spread: 64% handle, 72% bets
Over: 53% handle, 64% bets

Third-round draft pick Davis Mills was likely going to get a chance to show Houston what he could do under center at some point. That point has come a lot sooner than most expected. With Tyrod Taylor on IR (hamstring), Mills is slated to start the next three (and maybe more) weeks. Jeff Driskel is the backup. 

Mills only started 11 games over three seasons at Stanford, he didn’t impress in the preseason – completing under 50% of his passes and throwing four interceptions in 65 pass attempts. Again, this was during the preseason against vanilla defenses. 

On Sunday, against Cleveland, he completed 8 of 18 passes for 102 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception. 

To say, I’m not exactly confident in the Texans’ new signal-caller would be kind. On a short week facing a Carolina defense that has ten sacks through the first two weeks, this is not ideal. 

Rookie Quarterbacks are 1-5 ATS this season in games where they started with the only win being a rookie QB (Mac Jones) playing against another rookie QB (Zach Wilson) 

There are a few bets we’ll be making for tonight’s game.

Carolina Panthers -4.5 1st half (-109) I don’t think Davis Mills has what it takes to even keep this game competitive, but is it possible that Houston gets a couple of garbage TDs in the 2nd half after being down by 20? I suppose it’s possible. That’s why this is the bet to make. Carolina will jump all over the Texans from the get-go. 

Christian McCaffrey OVER 138.5 total Rushing & Receiving yards (-110) There are many reasons why we love this bet. Houston is terrible at stopping the run. The Texans’ offense won’t be able to sustain drives and keep McCaffrey off the field and the game script should favor McCaffrey this week. 

Davis Mills OVER .5 interception (-185) See above. Mills is an interception waiting to happen. The only way he doesn’t throw one is if he gets injured before he gets a chance.