Cat Scratch Reader
The Panthers defense continues to gain some support back as they face a reeling Saints offense.
The Panthers will get their rubber match against the New Orleans Saints this week, albeit the circumstances differ significantly from their week 1 tilt. The Panthers have managed one win since then, while the Saints ran over both the Panthers and Cowboys to score 44+ points in each game. Things have certainly crashed back down to Earth for the Saints, as they’ve lost every game since, and have only topped 20 points twice in that span. Let’s dive in!
The Panthers got beat pretty soundly by the Denver Broncos last week, however the game score doesn’t show it as it read 28-14 Broncos on the final whistle. One of the reason’s behind this? Two timely turnovers for the Panthers, one of which resulted in their first score and taking the lead for the first time in ages. The Saints will have a returning Derek Carr this week, a beat up Alvin Kamara, and an offensive line missing center Eric McCoy since their last matchup. The Saints have not looked overly sharp in recent weeks and if the Panthers can continue to force some turnovers, they can keep the game within reach. Theoretically, anyway.
The last time these teams faced off, WR Rashid Shaheed was a major beneficiary as he torched the Panthers defense (and Jaycee Horn) early on for a deep TD. This quickly caused the bleeding to start and never stop, as the Panthers threw a Bryce Young interception on the following drive which allowed the Saints to jump up 10-0 on this new look Panthers offense. The Saints will be without their big speed threat in Shaheed for this game or the remainder of the season, and last time Chris Olave only caught 2 passes for 11 yards against this defense as he drew Jaycee Horn on several occasions. Horn will need to step up again, both against Olave and whoever else he may see coverage against, as the Panthers continue to play a zone heavy scheme with Horn instead of having him shadow the number one WR.
One of the nice takeaways from last week’s defensive performance was simply limiting the Broncos rushing attack. The Panthers have gotten torn apart all season against opposing rushing attacks, as they lead the league with 154.6 yards per game allowed on the ground per TeamRankings.com. Last week, they allowed 102 yards total to the Broncos, with 3.2 yards per carry and the only TD coming on a Bo Nix rush at QB. This was good news against a Broncos team that has done a relatively good job of running the football, and LBs Josey Jewell and rookie Trevin Wallace showed up in that respect. The Saints will likely stick to week 1’s formula of pounding Kamara/Jamaal Williams/Taysom Hill/whatever RB they have down the Panthers throats. It's...
