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Welcome to the 2002 Preseason Week 2 Wunderdog NFL Newsletter
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Carolina +3 vs. Dallas

Two bad teams from last season square off in Charlotte. These two teams were equally pitiful in 2001, ranked near the bottom of the league in both offensive and defensive production:

2001 Points For: Carolina ranked 29, Dallas ranked 30

2001 Points Against: Carolina ranked 28, Dallas ranked 21

Based on the statistical picture of two roughly equal teams, you might expect the home team to get the nod as a 3 point favorite. Why? Spreads in the preseason tend to hover around -3 for the home team because odds makers rightfully don't rely so much on teams capabilities or records in the preseason. They often default to a 3-point home field advantage in effect saying "we don't know what is going to happen." For example, this week over two thirds of the games (11 out of 16) feature a home favorite of 2 to 4 points. In this game, however, Carolina is getting 3 points at home. I smell opportunity!

Dallas, under head coach Dave Campo typically plays poorly in the preseason losing 8 out of every 10 contests. The Cowboys are coming off a rare preseason win but don't expect two rarities in a row.

Carolina, losing its last game, sees an opportunity to win one in front of the home crowd (yes, the players-motivated by pride-do care about wins even in the preseason). Teams playing their second consecutive preseason home game after losing the first tend to fare well in the preseason, as they work hard to avoid losing two straight in front of their home fans. Carolina will also be well rested from lack of travel.

Finally, new coaches (Fox) tend to do well in a preseason underdog role, while historically bad preseason coaches (Campo) do poorly as favorites.

Everything lines up here for a straight-up win by the Panthers. The Wunderdog says take them with the spread and straight -up!

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