The New Orleans Saints (3-10) are set to face the Carolina Panthers (7-6) on Sunday evening in the Crescent City.
The Saints are fresh off of an impressive road win in Tampa, where rookie quarterback Tyler Shough led the way with a couple of rushing touchdowns.
The Panthers have played themselves into first place in the NFC South with a surprising season so far. The Bucs loss to the Falcons on Thursday night puts Carolina clear into the lead, and means they would have a full game advantage in the division if they win on Sunday.
Kickoff between New Orleans and Carolina from the Caesars Superdome is set for 3:25 on Sunday, November 15th.
GLIMPSES OF THE FUTURE
The Saints have seen Shough improve week by week since taking over as the starter, and that is a very welcome sight. There is nopw a real feeling and belief that this team can start to move forward and build around him as the quarterback of the future.
Of course, the sample size is still small, and things can change quickly in the NFL. Therefore, games like this one are critically important to the perception of what he can be in the future.
REPEAT SCRIPT?
The first time the Saints and Panthers faced off this season, it was the first career victory as a starter for Shough, as New Orleans won 17-7 in Carolina.
That day was mostly about the defense, as NOLA held the Panthers to 175 yards of offense and just seven points. They forced Bryce Young into an interception and a fumble, and they sacked him twice as well.
Offensively, New Orleans got nearly 300 passing yards from Shough and a couple of touchdowns. If they get similar performances on Sunday, they’ll have a good shot to make it a clean sweep over their division foes this year.
DRAFT SLOT SCENARIOS
When a team has been eliminated from playoff contention as early as the Saints have this year, naturally a lot of the conversation switches over to what draft pick they will receive. Plenty of fans like the idea of “tanking,” or finishing as poorly as possible to get the best pick.
However, the Saints have a unique situation this season. If they are to continue winning games, it will likely mean that their rookie quarterback is continuing to impress. Therefore, your draft pick may be worse, but you could have the most difficult question in football answered: the QB position. In that way, the rest of this season is somewhat of a win-win scenario: either the team loses and gets a good draft pick, or they win and the future looks bright with the young signal-caller.
SERIES RECORD: Saints lead 33-29
Last 5 Meetings:
2025: Saints 17 – Panthers 7
2024: Panthers 23 – Saints 22
2024: Saints 47 – Panthers 10
2023: Saints 28 – Panthers 6
2023: Saints 20 – Panthers 17
STAT LEADERS:
Saints
Tyler Shough 120-184, 1,212 Yards, 5 TD, 5 INT
Alvin Kamara: 131 Carries, 471 Yards, 1 TD
Chris Olave: 76 Catches, 811 Yards, 5 TD
Cam Jordan: 6.5 Sacks
Demario Davis: 118 Tackles (57 Solo)
Kool-Aid McKinstry: 3 INT
Charlie Smyth: 2-of-3 Field Goals, Long of 56, 3-of-3 PAT
Panthers
Bryce Young: 230-363, 2,337 Yards, 18 TD, 9 INT
Rico Dowdle: 192 Carries, 929 Yards, 5 TD
Tetairoa McMillan: 57 Catches, 826 Yards, 6 TD
Derrick Brown: 4 Sacks
Christian Rozeboom: 91 Tackles (43 Solo)
Jaycee Horn: 5 INT
Ryan Fitzgerald: 19-of-23 Field Goals, Long of 57, 20-of-23 PAT
INJURY REPORT
Saints
Alvin Kamara, RB, Ankle, Out
Asim Richards, OT, Ankle, Out
Justin Reid, S, Knee, Questionable
Panthers