Panthers vs Saints: Offensive Preview

The Carolina Panthers are riding high right now. They’ve won four of their last five games in total and are a on a four game winning streak when Bryce Young is the starting quarterback (we’ll ignore that the game he missed would’ve still be very losable had Young started). The last win of the streak was the most impressive with the Panthers defeating the Packers in Lambeau Field despite entering the game as two touchdown underdogs.

That string of positive results does not mean everything is hunky dory in Panthers land. After some scintillating performances against the groups of tackling dummies the Dolphins and Cowboys call defenses, the Panthers offense has slowed to a crawl. In the last three weeks, the Panthers have averaged 4.4 yards per offensive play, better than only the Jets and Browns over each team’s last three games. Granted, the worst of those three weeks was with Andy Dalton at the helm, but the offense wasn’t exactly inspiring against the Jets or Packers either. The Panthers have topped out at 16 points and not scored multiple touchdowns in any of those games.

Fortunately, none of the teams the Panthers played during that offensive slog are the New Orleans Saints. The Panthers do play the Saints this week, and, maybe even more importantly, they get to play the Saints at home. The Saints are having a brutal season, like we all expected, and it’s trending in the wrong direction. They had some plucky moments in the first month or so of the season but have fallen off and are currently riding a three game multiple-score losing streak. The defense hasn’t been great, but it’s been made to look even worse by an offense that can’t carry its weight. It’s a match-up the Panthers can take advantage of, so let’s look at how they can do that.

• Let it rip. While Bryce Young hasn’t been all that great on the whole, he’s been dramatically better at home than on the road. I don’t think another quarterback with such drastic home/road splits exists. He’s in the friendly confines of Bank of America Stadium is playing a defense that ranks 26th in passing DVOA. He should at least be able to put up performances like he did against the Dolphins and Cowboys, but I want to see more. The passing offense has been toothless all season, and it’s going to have to be better if the Panthers are going to compete through the more difficult back half of their schedule. They could stand to build some confidence and momentum in that part of the game, and this weekend is about as good an opportunity as they’re going to have to do that. The Saints are also weaker defending the pass than they are the run, so it makes even more sense to attack their defense through the air.
• Keep the pedal down. This is kind of similar to the first key, but it’s a more general offensive principle....