Saints at Panthers
Monday Night Football’s contest between the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers will have a direct impact on both the No. 1 NFL seed and the No. 6 seed. Both teams need to win this game in order to maximize their positioning, but the Panthers are in a do-or-die situation at 6-7.
Carolina’s measly nine-percent playoff odds would take a sizable jump to 25 percent with a win, and down to two percent with a loss. After shockingly losing five straight games after a great 6-2 start, it’s impossible to be confident in this team stepping up to the task in front of them. But desperation may help them pull the upset.
What may help is knowing the results of all Sunday’s games. If both Minnesota and Philadelphia lose, the Panthers catapult into the favorite position with two games remaining. Their outlook can change quickly before they even kickoff.
There’s no question that Cam Newton’s shoulder injury is significant after seeing him load up to throw 15-yard passes against Cleveland.
Their issues go beyond that, though, as their defensive backfield has hemorrhaged yards and scores to opposing quarterbacks. The defense hasn’t logged an interception since their last victory in Week 9 when Ryan Fitzpatrick tossed two.
New Orleans’ offense has hit a lull after peaking midway through the year, but they have plenty of firepower to push the Panthers. And as divisional rivals, there’s not much the Panthers will do differently than normal schematically. This comes down to execution.
Carolina has the speed on offense to compete better than most expect, with D.J. Moore emerging and Curtis Samuel providing chunk plays in limited opportunities as well. Though the Saints’ secondary has solidified with Eli Apple’s addition, Newton and Christian McCaffrey can do enough to hang around all game long if the Saints manage to score only 11 points through three quarters like last week.
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What has happened to the Panthers this year has been surprising. They lost the spark and ability to close games suddenly despite being in each of their last four losses. I could argue they deserved to win in all of them.
These two teams face-off twice in the final three weeks but this is the one that likely matters most as it’ll greatly affect their fate. I have more faith in the Saints to continue rolling along towards clinching home-field advantage.
Prediction: Saints 33-27