Panthers vs Saints: Offensive preview

Bryce Young finally gets a match-up against a struggling defense. Will it matter?

The Carolina Panthers are electing to trot Bryce Young out as their starting quarterback again this weekend even though Andy Dalton is presumably healthy enough to play at this point. The former started last week against the Broncos and put on a performance that many are calling “not the worst game he’s ever had.” He threw for 224 yards and two touchdowns against one of the best defenses in the NFL, though a significant amount of garbage time helped those numbers. It was still the second most passing yards the Broncos have allowed this season.

This weekend’s test should be easier. The Saints looked looked juggernauts in the first two weeks of the season, but they haven’t won a game since. The offense has understandably tanked with backup quarterbacks Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener taking snaps for a very injured offense, but the defense has more surprisingly cratered as well. They now rank 22nd in the NFL in defensive DVOA and have given up at least 26 points in five straight games, including a fifty burger to the Buccaneers. They could be suffering even more with star cornerback Marshon Lattimore not practicing with a hamstring injury.

The Panthers aren’t good enough for any matchup to be an easy matchup, but on paper, this one is less hard than other ones they’ve faced with Bryce Young at quarterback this season. Here’s how they can make it a matchup that they win.

• Take care of the football. If there was one thing Young did halfway decent as a rookie, it was take care of the football. He threw 10 picks on 527 pass attempts. It’s been a different story in year two. He’s thrown five interceptions in essentially three games. This isn’t scientific or even real, but it seems like about one in every three passes Young has thrown down the field this season has found a defender’s arms. Most of his pass attempts are short and conservative, but when he does choose to push the ball down the field, he’s had an uncanny knack for finding defenders. This offense isn’t good enough to give away possessions, and the defense definitely isn’t good enough to cover for turnovers. Bryce needs to only throw the ball to his teammates on Sunday.
• Pound the rock. The Saints have had a couple of decent games stopping the run during their losing streak, but when they’ve broken, they’ve really broken. They allowed both the Buccaneers and the Broncos to average over six yards per carry. The Bucs averaged nearly eight yards per carry. The Panthers have largely been good on the ground this season. If they lean on the Saints, they should be able to open some nice holes for Chuba Hubbard. We may also get our first look at Jonathon Brooks, and if he’s anything like the player he was in college, he could have space to exploit.
• **Turn...