Lions vs Panthers Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for Week 16 (Detroit Surpasses .500 Mark With Strong Road Showing)

Lions vs Panthers Week 16 Game Info

2022 NFL Regular Season Game
Detroit Lions (7-7, 3-3 Away) vs. Carolina Panthers (5-9, 4-4 Home)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Venue: Bank of America Stadium — Charlotte, NC
Coverage: FOX

Week 16 of the 2022 NFL season features a slate of Christmas Eve matchups, including an NFC battle between the Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers.

The Lions continued their impressive turnaround over the weekend with a 20-17 victory against the New York Jets. The Panthers, on the other hand, had their winning streak snapped at two thanks to a 24-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on home soil.

Can the Lions steal another win to finally crawl above .500? Or will the Panthers spoil things with another solid showing at home?

Lions vs Panthers Odds & Spread

All NFL betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
Moneyline: DET (-148) | CAR: (+126)
Spread: DET: -2.5 (-115) | CAR: +2.5 (-105)
Total: 44.5 —Over: (-105) | Under: (-115)

The Lions enter this contest as slight road favorites on the moneyline and spread on FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This Christmas Eve matchup also features an over/under of 44.5, which is the sixth-highest of the Week 16 totals. 

Lions vs Panthers Prediction & Pick

The Lions' recent success can be attributed to their becoming a well-balanced team. While their 28.0 PPG clip over the last seven games is impressive, so is the fact that they've only allowed 19.8 PPG over that span. Considering how they allowed an average of 32.1 points in their first seven games, it's easy to see how the Lions are a much better team now.

I just don't see how the Panthers can win this one. The Seattle Seahawks are the only team that they've beaten this year that currently has a .500 or better record and it's pretty safe to say that the Lions are a better team than the Seahawks at this stage of the campaign.

Poised to keep the ball rolling on their playoff push, look for the Lions to win this one.

Final Score Prediction: Lions: 26 | Panthers: 17

Lions vs Panthers Betting Trends

- Detroit is 7-0 against the spread (ATS) in its last seven games.
- Carolina is 4-10 straight up in its last 14 games against the NFC.
- The total has hit the over in 11 of Detroit's last 16 games.
- The total has hit the under in five of Carolina's last seven games against the NFC North.

Lions vs Panthers Best Bet

I'm going with the Lions as 2.5-point spread favorites as the best bet here. They've done terrifically against the spread lately, covering in each of their last seven games. Meanwhile, the Panthers are 4-10 ATS in their last 14 home outings dating back to last season and are tied for having the eighth-worst scoring margin in 2022 (minus-2.7).

Taking into account that all but one of Detroit's last six wins have been by at least one field goal, it isn't hard to like the Lions covering again.

Bet: Lions -2.5 (-115)

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.