In Week 10 of the NFL regular season, the New Orleans Saints will have an opportunity to come out on top in a winnable game. However, they will need to rely on and get a strong performance out of their,
to this point, subpar defense to claim the victory.
The Carolina Panthers are a divisional opponent of the Saints, so there is plenty of familiarity between the two teams and their coaching staffs. Although being on the road will put the black and gold at a bit of a disadvantage, New Orleans has managed to stymie quarterback Bruce Young in years past and will need to do so again to get the Panthers’ offense off the field.
Luckily for Brandon Staley’s defense, Carolina is one of the poorer scoring offenses across the league. The Panthers average south of 19 points per game, ranking them 27th in that category. A big contributing factor to this situation is Carolina’s inability to protect the football. The Panthers have 13 giveaways this season, tied for the third-most in the NFL.
Bryce Young has thrown six interceptions to this point while only tossing 11 touchdowns. The less than 2-1 TD to INT ratio has made his performance shaky this year. Young has also been sacked 12 times, losing nearly 100 yards by that measure alone.
This season’s eighth overall pick, Tetairoa McMillan, has been an immediate impact player at wide receiver. His 41 receptions are more than double what any other member of the Panthers has. He’s accounted for a little less than half of Young’s passing yardage and averages 13.6 yards per catch.
Rico Dowdle is in his first season with Carolina and is making the most of it. The former Cowboy has seemingly earned the majority of the workload in the Panthers’ backfield over Chuba Hubbard, rushing for 735 yards thus far, good for third in the NFL.
New Orleans is in a three-way tie for the 26th-worst scoring defense in the league with the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens. Each defense gives up 27 points per game to opposing offenses. The Saints allowed 23 scored against them in the last game against an NFC South foe.
One player who could be due for a breakout game in 2025 is defensive end Cameron Jordan. The veteran edge rusher has just two and a half sacks on the season, but has not earned one since week four’s matchup with the Buffalo Bills. Jordan has yet to get a sack on the mobile QB from Alabama through his first two years in the league; I’m sure Cam is eager to get after him on Sunday.
Saints’ opponents are averaging a time of possession of over 33 minutes. The struggles of New Orleans’ offense have led to increased snaps for the defensive units. It’s hard to play winning football when your defense is constantly on the field and cannot get any extended breaks. Allowing the football to be in the hands of your opponents for more than half of the game is not going to cut it.
Obviously, the Panthers have the better team currently, but this is one of those “gotta have it” games, even if just for a morale boost. New Orleans has just this game remaining before the bye week. We’ll see if they can get a little momentum swing back in their favor before heading into the off-period.
