For the second year in a row, the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers are scheduled to close out the NFL regular season in a maybe-meaningful Week 17 game. Sure, circumstances aren’t the same as last season — the Saints won’t be resting their starters and putting Teddy Bridgewater under center, and the Panthers won’t have longtime head coach Ron Rivera at the wheel — but the fact remains that this game means more for one team than the other.
But with the Saints in position to claim a top-two seed in the NFC playoff standings (with some help) and the Panthers looking to play spoiler, both squads are going to give their best effort. Per the opening odds from BetMGM, that’s going to be futile for Carolina. The Saints are favored by 12.5 points on the road this week, with an over/under set at 47.5. That implies a finish in the neighborhood of Saints 30, Panthers 18.
With rookie quarterback Will Grier expected to start again, the Saints defense will have opportunities to go into the playoffs on a high note. That’s despite a pair of recent losses in the secondary, after free safety Marcus Williams and cornerback Eli Apple exited Sunday’s game with the Tennessee Titans with injuries. We’ll learn the extent of those issues when the Saints release their first injury report on Wednesday.
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