The Panthers return from their bye week following a huge upset win over the Rams, in a game where their defense was the star and forced 3 big time turnovers. Following that game and recent developments in the NFC South, every Panthers game left in the season has major playoff implications. The first roadblock in the path to their first playoff berth since 2017 comes in the form of their division rival Saints, who upset the Panthers in Charlotte a few weeks ago. While the offense was the majority of the problem, Tyler Shough and the Saints offense managed to put up several big scoring plays that turned the tides in a 17-7 loss for the Panthers. Now, the Panthers defense and Ejiro Evero will have a little bit more game tape to work with on the Saints rookie quarterback. Let’s dive in to the keys for this game.
- Limit big plays on 3rd down. Both of the Saints touchdown scoring plays in week 10 came on 3rd down and 8 and 3rd down and 12. This Panthers defense has thrived on limiting offenses from converting on 3rd and long situations, but the Saints had an answer many times when it mattered. On their first offensive drive of the same game, Tyler Shough hit Juwan Johnson for 52 yards on 3rd and 12, a drive that ended in a field goal. The Panthers cannot have these back breaking plays on 3rd downs, their defense relies on limiting yardage and on 3rd down and long you really have to lock down the sticks. The Panthers can very easily flip the script in this game, but they can’t lose that badly on those situations.
- Limiting the rushing attacks with Alvin Kamara banged up. While the Panthers only allowed 3.3 yards per carry in the last meeting, the Saints were very devoted to running the football as they attempted 33 total rushes between Kamara, Devin Neal, and Taysom Hill. This strategy allowed the Saints to limit mistakes on offense, as they only takes Tyler Shough with throwing the ball 27 times. The Saints will likely stick to a balanced approach, as they ran the ball 32 times compared to 20 pass attempts last week in their upset victory against the Buccaneers. The Saints may be without Alvin Kamara this week, meaning they’ll likely lean on Devin Neal, Taysom Hill, and some combination of backups. They’ll also likely let Tyler Shough use his legs a few times. The Panthers rushing defense is very improved, but if the offense once again struggles against the scheme of the Saints defense, the trench battle will be very important to limit the Saints scoring drives.
- Defense getting healthy. The Panthers bye week could not have come at a better time, as they’ll likely have LB Christian Rozeboom and LB Trevin Wallace back on the field together for the first time in weeks. They’ll also get S Tre’Von Moehrig back from his one week suspension, and...
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