3 bold predictions for Week 11 vs Carolina

1. Antonio Gibson notches 130 rushing yards

Anyone else feel like an Antonio Gibson breakout game is coming? By no means was he efficient in the win over Tampa Bay — 24 carries for 64 yards looks egregious on paper — but he earned every inch of those yards. In fact, 48 of them came after first contact, according to Pro Football Focus.

In other words, the only thing holding Gibson back was the Bucs’ vaunted front seven, which might be the best in the NFL. It looked like the bye week helped his shin heal up a little, even though he isn’t fully healthy yet, because he was bouncing off would-be tacklers and tallied his biggest workload of the year.

If this doesn’t add up to Gibby enjoying his best game of the season in Week 11, we’re not sure when it’ll happen. Either way, we’re predicting the second-year running back to rack up 130 yards on the ground.

What’s bold about this? For starters, Gibson has yet to log a 100-yard rushing game this season. He came close in Week 1 when he managed 90 yards vs the Chargers, but close only counts in horseshoes and grenades.

If you remember, Gibson only notched two such games as a rookie (128 in Week 7 and 115 in Week 11), so big yardage games have been few and far between over his first two years.

The Panthers are no slouches against the run, either, ranking 12th in yards allowed per game at 107, so Gibson will have his work cut out for him.

Bottom line? The stats on both sides don’t back AG in this matchup, but Week 10 told us he’s on the verge of breaking out in a big way.