The New Orleans Saints are set to travel to Bank of America Stadium to take on the Carolina Panthers. Both teams are coming into the game looking to avenge a week two loss. The Panthers were defeated by the New York Giants while the Saints were taken down by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. New Orleans enters the contest with a record of 1-1 while the Panthers are still looking for their first victory with Baker Mayfield as the team’s starting quarterback. This is set to be a competitive matchup between two divisional rivals.
New Orleans Saints Look to Bounceback After Week Two Loss Against Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The New Orleans Saints are a team that are playoff hopefuls for this season. As a result of this, they must take care of business and win all of the easy games on their schedule. Their two games against the Panthers this year are very winnable and games that they must win to pad their record.
Offensively, the Saints should be able to move the ball relatively easy through either the air or on the ground. With Alvin Kamara set to return to action this week, he will be eager to take the game over. Although quarterback Jameis Winston had some trouble with turnovers against the Buccaneers, it should be something he can get back under control against the Panthers.
On the defensive end, New Orleans will have a tall task in stopping Christian McCafferty, he is one of the toughest backs in the league to slow down and he is the focal point of the Panthers’ offense. However, Baker Mayfield is not a quarterback that keeps defensive coordinators up at night. With him as the team’s starting quarterback, the Panthers do not have much of a passing game, and it should be something that the Saints can shut down.
Carolina Panthers Hope to Secure First Win of the Season vs Divisional Rival
The Panthers come into this week three matchup still winless in the Baker Mayfield era. While fans knew heading into the season that the rebuild in Carolina was far from over, many thought that the team would be able to secure a win by now after two games against not particularly talented teams. This will be a tough game for the Panthers to win as the Saints will be the best team that they have played so far this season. As they have not been able to close out games and win against subpar teams, it is unlikely they will be able to pull off a win against the Saints.
On offense, they will have to have a big game out of Christian McCafferty. The Saints have a great pass rush and Mayfield likely will not be able to get too many deep passes off.
The only way that the Panthers will be able to win against the Saints is if they are able to force Winston into a turnover machine. The Panthers will need as many chances with the ball as they can, and if the defense can take the ball out of the Saints’ hands, it will put them in a much better place to win.
