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NFL schedule Week 11: Who plays on Thursday night?

By Brad Weiss

Oct 16, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) talk after their game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints won 41-38. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 16, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) talk after their game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints won 41-38. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports /
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Week 12 of the 2016 NFL season will kick off with a Thursday Night Football matchup featuring two of the best quarterbacks the league has to offer.

The New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers put on a show during Week 6 of the 2016 NFL season, as the Saints defeated the Panthers in the Superdome, 41-38. The Panthers staged an incredible comeback, erasing a 21-0 deficit to tie the game at 38 with three minutes left in the game. However, the Saints were able to drive the length of the field on the next possession, and Wil Lutz hit the game-winner with 0:16 seconds left in the game.

Hopefully for football fans, those two teams will put on another show Thursday night, as the Saints will head to Carolina to take on the Panthers in a Thursday Night Football matchup. Both teams are looking up at Atlanta in the NFC South, and will need a victory if they wish to stay in the playoff hunt. The game will feature two of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, and there are sure to be fireworks throughout.

For the season, Drew Brees has been as dominant as ever for the Saints,  throwing for nearly 3,000 yards already. A future Hall of Famer, Brees has found a new favorite target in Mike Thomas, who was the sixth wide receiver taken in the 2016 NFL Draft. Thomas is having an incredible rookie season, and is on pace to find himself in rarefied air.

At his current pace, Thomas would be only the second player to catch 90 balls, rack up 1,000 yards, and score ten touchdowns in his rookie season. The only other player to do it in the history of the NFL is the New York Giants Odell Beckham Jr. While Thomas is not as well-known as OBJ, he certainly is doing some special things down in the Bayou.

Carolina is just hoping to “keep pounding” as they say, as they have been dealing with a Super Bowl hangover all season long. After putting together an incredible 15-1 regular season in 2015, the Panthers find themselves in last place in the NFC South, winning just three of their first nine games. They had started the year off at 1-5, before winning two in a row, but they suffered a devastating loss against the Kansas City Chiefs last week.

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Anytime these two teams get together it is sure to be a good one, and after the dud of a game this past Thursday, the fans deserve to be treated to a classic NFC South shootout. Cam and the Panthers are hungry for a victory, and the atmosphere inside Bank of America Stadium is certain to be electric on Thursday night. Drew Brees threw for over 460 yards against the Panthers back in Week 6, so hopefully for Panthers fans, the defense will try to stop a few passes this time around.

Kickoff is scheduled for 8:25 pm ET on Thursday night, and can be streamed live online through Twitter. The game will also be televised nationally on NBC and the NFL Network.

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