The New Orleans Saints will head to Charlotte to face the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Week 10 of the 2025 NFL season. To break it down, Walker Clement of Cat Scratch Reader joins us
to preview Sunday afternoon’s matchup.
NJ: How has Dave Canales adjusted during his second season as Carolina’s head coach—what’s the biggest difference you’ve noticed in his approach this year?
WC: Canales has definitely taken his lumps as he has grown into the head coaching role, but Panthers fans are fairly enthused by his potential. Look no further than the last two weeks to see how quickly (and belatedly) he can learn his lessons about game and roster management. Rico Dowdle is the leading rusher in the NFC despite only having been the Panthers lead back for four games. Chuba Hubbard has not been living up to the reputation he established last season, but Canales repeatedly deferred to him as the veteran player over free agent Dowdle despite it being obvious who had the hot hand. That inability to read the room put the Panthers and back up quarterback Andy Dalton on the wrong footing against the Bills and snowballed into a disastrous loss. One week later, against the Green Bay Packers, Canales recommitted to the run behind Dowdle and pulled off an amazing upset.
Canales is in his second year as a head coach and his third as a play caller. He is still young and relatively inexperienced. The fact that he is willing to publicly learn his lessons and then apply them the very next week puts him head and shoulders above many past Panthers coaches, Ron Rivera included, in terms of accountability. I think the future for him as a coach could be quite bright.
NJ: What has been third-year QB Bryce Young’s biggest improvement this season, and does it look like he can be the guy of the future for Carolina after a rocky first two years?
WC: Young has not improved this year. Down-the-stretch-2024 Bryce Young was a real quarterback in the making. 2023 Young was an abject disaster. 2025 Young seems to be an average between the two and that has not been good enough. He has exceeded 200 yards passing once this season during a comeback attempt against the Arizona Cardinals that fell predictably short. Otherwise, he has made mistakes that have cost the Panthers games, but he has yet to be a part of them winning games. His ceiling appears to be a game manager that our own coaches have to plan around while his floor, which he hits far too often, is below Nathan Peterman.
He has the rest of this season, and possibly all of next on his rookie deal, to show us something more. Nothing would make me happier as a Panthers fan to see the lights turn on and then watch Young ball out. I just haven’t seen anything this season that made me think that was likely.
NJ: Through nine games, what would you say is the Rams’ biggest weakness—and what should New Orleans look to exploit?
WC: The quarterback is their biggest weakness, followed by their linebackers in run and intermediate pass defense. Sell out against the run, put pressure on Young, and capitalize on his mistakes. That was what won the game for the Jaguars and the Cardinals, the two closest analogs to the Saints among the Panthers losses. Meanwhile, keep knocking on the door and eventually one of your running backs or tight ends will make a huge play.
NJ: Who’s one under-the-radar Panthers player that’s stood out this season and could be a difference-maker against the Saints?
WC: Jalen Coker has been working his way back from a hamstring injury. He was one of Young’s favorite targets last season and is probably his most reliable receiver right now, behind the much ballyhooed Tetairoa McMillan. Otherwise, the Panthers have been a true team effort on defense and the 100% Rico Dowdle show on offense.
NJ: According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Panthers (-250) are currently 5.5-point favorites over the Saints (+205) in Sunday’s matchup; what is your final score prediction?
WC: Anywhere between a 40-0 Panthers win and a 35-17 Saints surprise, realistically. Both of these teams are far too silly to predict with confidence. That said, after the Saints moves at the trade deadline and the Panthers veneer of confidence they’re showing these days, my money would be on the Panthers winning in the neighborhood of 16-6. If the Panthers can get out to an early lead then I trust Ejiro Evero’s defense to suffocate the Saints attempts to catch up, but I don’t trust the Panthers’ ability to run up the score.
Thank you again to Walter Clement for joining us to preview this week’s matchup! You can check out the rest of his work here.
