First Look: Panthers vs. Saints

Back in Week 2, the Panthers ended up becoming a huge early season favorite after knocking off the Saints. A lot has changed since that crazy Sunday.

John Hendrix | Dec 30, 2021

It feels like forever ago when the Saints were dealing with a coaching outbreak of COVID and didn't have several assistants unavailable for their Week 2 meeting against the Panthers. That game ended up being Carolina's Super Bowl, as Joe Brady and Sam Darnold beat down New Orleans and many jumped on the Panthers bandwagon. My, how things have changed.

Carolina is on their fourth straight losing season, while New Orleans is fighting to get into the Wild Card Round. The Panthers would love to play spoilers and essentially end any hopes for the Saints, while New Orleans is in a must-win mode to close out the season.

What to Watch For

COVID Concerns. It's quickly become the main highlight of football games, as COVID-19 held 21 Saints players out of action on Monday Night Football. For now, Marcus Williams is the only player to go on the list for the week, and the team has activated 13 players off it as of Wednesday. The hope is to get some more back and possibly get important pieces like Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk back.

Playoff Push. The Saints are still in the postseason mix, but things are going to have to start with them winning both of their final games. There are plenty of scenarios where they can get into the 6th or 7th seed, but that's a moot point if they can't take care of the Panthers and Falcons at the end of the season. No matter what, the Saints have to win, and that's what matters most going into Week 17.

Going into the afternoon game, we will get to see what happens with the Eagles and Falcons, as losses from both of them certainly help. The 49ers play the Texans while the Panthers and Saints play, and Sunday Night sees the Vikings at Packers. These games all matter, and depending on how things play out, Week 18 has the potential to be nuts.

Offensive Answers Needed. It's weird saying this, but we've seen two games in a row now where the Saints haven't scored a touchdown. Against the Bucs, it was somewhat understandable. The defense has done its job for New Orleans, and it's time for the offense to pick it up regardless of who plays quarterback (which seems like Taysom Hill) and lines up on the offensive line. This is an area that has to make progress quickly, or Sean Payton's squad is going to be sitting at home in a few weeks wondering what could have been.

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Published Dec 30, 2021

JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net