Carolina Panthers: Keys to defeating the New Orleans Saints

The Carolina Panthers are playing a “must win” game as they head to Louisiana to face the New Orleans Saints.

The Carolina Panthers play a vital game on Sunday as they travel to New Orleans to play the NFC South leading Saints. Both teams sit 8-3 but the Saints’ early season win over the Panthers give them a leg up in leading the division. This is a must-win game for the Panthers and an extremely difficult one on paper at the same time.

According to the ESPN Matchup Predictor, the Panthers have only a 29.1 percent chance to win on Sunday. The Panthers boast a 5-1 road record this season. Four of those five teams have a winning record, but none are playing with the offensive output that the Saints produce week in and week out. The Saints are scoring 29.3 points a game (No. 4 in the league) and average 409.4 yards per game (No. 2 in the league). Those are important stats to consider heading into Sunday’s game.

However, the Panthers should not be counted out in this game in any sense. The team has shown that they can hang with organization’s that can produce on the field; the biggest example of such was the week four victory over the New England Patriots on the road.

Two big points stand out from that game. First, the Panthers were able to get off to a fast start; scoring often and consistently. They cannot afford to try to play from behind against the Saints, which would severely limit their play style. Carolina lives on running the ball and controlling the clock which is more applicable in close games.

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The Panthers are passing the ball very well but we’ve seen mistakes quickly escalate when they lean on that aspect of the offense. Carolina must keep this game close, whether that’s of the high or low scoring affair, which allows them to keep the play calling mixed up and unpredictable.

Secondly, this is an important test for the Panthers defensive unit. Carolina’s defense is second in the league in yards per game, sixth in passing yards, third in rushing yards and eighth in points per game. This unit has continued to play well, even in the moments in which they’ve been stretched close to breaking.

With much of the defense healthy and coming off of a strong performance in New York, it will be interesting to see if the momentum can continue to swing in their direction. The biggest issue is that Panthers have struggled to get takeaways which are an element to watch against a powerful offense like the Saints.   This is a big game in which the eyes are really on the defense to perform.

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Carolina is poised to make a run into the post season after a very mediocre 2016. This game against the Saints sets the tone for the rest of the regular season and where the team sits to start the playoffs. To win the Panthers need to find variety in their offense and the defense needs to lock down the Saints often and early. Those are big tasks for any organization but the Panthers have shown they can do so in 2017.