Currently sitting at 3-5, the New Orleans Saints have had a few good moments in 2026, but for the majority of the season, they have been highly disappointing when compared to expectations entering the year. One of the more notable units, surprisingly, has actually been special teams, with changes coming at all three major positions from the beginning of the offseason to now, which has made for some positive plays and also some setbacks.
With the Carolina Panthers next up on the schedule, there will be some key points of emphasis on special teams and how to play specific units against the division rivals. Here are three points to keep an eye out for in Week 10.
Get Charlie Smyth some clear looks inside 40 to 50 yards
Charlie Smyth is back in the starting lineup for the Saints, as they have selected to
move on from Daniel Carlson after he had the second-worst field-goal rate in the first half of the season. Smyth is a very young kicker who is still getting his footing a bit, but where he succeeds the most is inside the 40, or at least inside the 50.
In his career, he is 15 for 15 on PATs, 2 for 2 from 20 to 29 yards out, 5 for 5 from 30 to 39 yards out, but a combined 8 for 13 from 40+. While he has had some great moments at distance, including a 57-yarder last year, giving him knockdown shots where the team can get free points is positive. We saw it pretty often last week; continue to build off of that, and the offense may find momentum from his success as well.
Make sure to get clean tackles against the Panthers' returns
A somewhat under-the-radar component of the Panthers' special teams units has been their ability to make efficient returns on one side, but not the other. They are averaging the eighth-most yards per punt return at 11.5, but, weirdly enough, they are sitting second-to-last on kickoff return yards, at only 23.6.
So, with that in mind, Smyth should focus heavily on avoiding touchbacks at all costs and forcing Carolina into returns, which should benefit the Saints defense long-term in this one. As for Ryan Wright, he has not given up a touchback all season, but focusing on punting out of bounds is certainly going to play a role in this matchup.
This will be a game where the offense needs to carry its own weight, too
While snagging some field goals for Smyth is a good start, Carolina is not a team to play with in a field goal battle, as they're sitting at a 92.9% success rate on field goals this season, including going 3-for-3 from 50-plus yards out, so they will have the range to beat out New Orleans. Getting the offense good field position on returns will be critical, especially deep into this game as things (presumably) get tight on the scoreboard.
Beating Carolina out on field position, even once or twice more than 50/50, could be enough to swing this game in favor of the Saints. They just need one or two really good offensive positions and some great defense/special teams to take this one off; we will see if any of that can show up in practice, though.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 3 keys for the Saints special teams in Week 10 matchup vs. Panthers
