The Carolina Panthers aren’t supposed to beat these New Orleans Saints. Even with all of their running backs ruled out, the NFC South champs are still favored by six points heading into today’s game. Call it overconfidence, but we’re feeling an upset brewing.
Here are four keys to the game that can help Carolina get there.
Offense: Embrace Curtis Samuel, Stop Trey Hendrickson
At this time of year every team is banged up and these Panthers are no exception. With Christian McCaffrey and Mike Davis both out, they need other playmakers to step up. Last week, wide receiver Curtis Samuel answered the call and led this team both as a rusher and a receiver. Every game is different, so it’s unlikely that will happen again, here. That said, offensive coordinator Joe Brady should continue putting Samuel to work in different ways because No. 10 is on fire and has only had one quiet game in the second half of the season.
As for their opponents, New Orleans has a lot of disruptive athletes in their front seven. In 2020, the worst of them has been defensive end Trey Hendrickson. He leads his team with 12.5 sacks this season and also has 24 quarterback hits. Meanwhile, the Panthers will be down to playing their sixth left tackle if we see Matt Kaskey replace Michael Schofield. Not great. Whoever is on the blindside, they’ll need some extra blocks to help out otherwise Hendrickson could wreck the whole game-plan.
Defense: Contain Taysom Hill, keep Drew Brees off-balance
The Saints are equally short-handed on offense. Alvin Kamara is on their COVID-19 list and every other RB is a close contact, so they’re all sidelined. Michael Thomas is also still on IR, leaving the cupboard pretty bare. That means we’ll probably see an expanded role for Sean Payton’s favorite gadget weapon, QB/TE Taysom Hill. While he’s not a great passer Hill has proven to be a capable rusher this season, averaging 5.2 yards per carry and scoring seven touchdowns. Carolina’s tackling needs to be on-point or else Hill will run wild on them.
Finally, the most important factor in deciding this game will likely be how well defensive coordinator Phil Snow can throw Drew Brees off. He did an excellent job of flustering Aaron Rodgers marrying multiple fronts with aggressive coverage. The pass defense was also stifling in last week’s win over Washington. It will be more difficult without Brian Burns, but if Snow can keep the trend going and knock Brees off-balance it might just be enough to finish the season with a victory.
