NFL preview: New Orleans Saints face Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium
Friday 31 October 2014 07:31, UK
New Orleans Saints can take charge of the NFC South if they can build on last week’s thumping win and beat the Carolina Panthers in Thursday night’s live NFL action on Sky Sports.
The Saints smashed the Green Bay Packers in primetime last week, but that win only moved them to 3-4 in what has been a tough first half of the season for all of the NFC South, which with nine wins between the four teams can be called the worst division in the NFL right now.
At 3-4-1 the Panthers lead the way, but they can lose that slot if the Saints can finally end their seven-game losing streak in regular season games on the road – although they have managed a road win in the playoffs against Philly during that stretch.
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Carolina have dropped two straight but ran the champion Seattle Seahawks close on Sunday in a tight 13-9 defeat that was only decided with a late Russell Wilson TD throw in the final minute, so they will hope to go just the one step better on Thursday.
With just three days off since Sunday though it’s a quick turnaround, and whether the Panthers can come out of a tough loss against the Seahawks when the Saints are coming off a high-flying win over the Packers will be a big factor.
Road to nowhere?
It’s been ‘dome sweet dome’ for the Saints so far this season but they’ve been a Jekyll and Hyde outfit over the last couple of years in truth as away from home comforts they’ve been a different team, losing seven regular road trips on the spin. They’re 29th in the NFL with 31.3 points allowed in their four losses this season, but they’ve been competitive in three of those.
Apart from a blowout in Dallas the Saints have lost their other three, including one in overtime, by just six points combined to show they’re competing well. More of a concern may be the fact they’ve held the lead inside the last two minutes and still lost those three contests so if this one is close again they’ll need to pull through to truly show they’ve turned a corner on the road.
Running wild
Mark Ingram ran all over the Packers with a career-best 172-yard outing, and he can have another big game given that Pierre Thomas and Khiry Robinson are both struggling with injuries and also given that the Panthers rank 28th against the run this season.
Ingram finally showed he can be the workhorse the Saints require to open up the passing game for Drew Brees. They’re currently seventh in the NFL but crucially second in yards per carry with 5.1. Ingram boasted a gaudy 7.2 yards per run against Green Bay when given a feature role, and coach Sean Payton should lean on the former Heisman Trophy winner against Carolina’s lacklustre defensive unit.
The Panthers will also have a boost at running back with DeAngelo Williams scheduled to return to action from injury after six games out to join a fit-again Jonathan Stewart, who had his best game of the season against Seattle. The run game has been a mess with both men out injured so some improvement will surely come with the duo both suiting up.
Rookie receivers
We could be seeing the two best receivers in the rookie class on Thursday night with the Saints’ Brandin Cooks and Carolina’s Kelvin Benjamin both enjoying fine first NFL seasons. Benjamin leads the rookie class with five TDs this season and is second in receiving yards (573). He’s had dropping issues but took at least one great grab against Richard Sherman in a 94-yard game against Seattle.
Cooks has added a dynamic dimension to the Saints’ offence, as showcased against the Packers with a 50-yard TD reception and a four-yard TD run on a Jet sweep, and an imaginative play-caller such as Payton will love being able to work with such an explosive talent in a variety of ways. Big plays down the field will remain his bread and butter though, and with a league-best 82 percent completion rate he’s also a safe pair of hands for Brees to look for.
QB protection
The Saints defence also had a breakout game against the Packers as they limited Aaron Rodgers and his gang, whot had averaged 36.3 points in their previous four games, to 23 while also forcing three turnovers. The Panthers average just 20 points per contest and you’d have to think they’ll need to take some chances to keep up with the Saints.
Problems on the offensive line won’t help, they’ll have undrafted rookie David Foucault at left tackle and are also without starting guards Amini Silatolu and Trai Turner against the New Orleans pass rush, who will no doubt fancy their chances of hunting down Cam Newton.
Tight ends
Jimmy Graham has been easing his way back in after suffering a shoulder injury in Week 5, but has 59 yards and a touchdown last week and took some high catches that indicated his shoulder is on the mend – he remains a match-up nightmare for any defence.
The Panthers have their own dangerous tight end though in Greg Olsen, who despite just one catch against Seattle has more yards (509) and TDs (five) than Graham this season. Carolina’s red zone conversion has been a woeful 46.2 percent so far, so for Olsen needs to get plenty of looks inside the 20.
Watch the New Orleans Saints @ Carolina Panthers live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 12.25am Friday morning.
