First Look: Saints vs. Panthers

The Saints close out their 2020 season traveling to take on the Panthers, as they look to become the first member to sweep the NFC South.

Sunday marks the regular season finale across the NFL, as the Saints (11-3) find themselves playing in a late kickoff on Sunday that has tons of implications in the NFC Playoff race. New Orleans has a shot at the top spot in the conference, but must beat the Panthers (5-10) and have the Packers lose the Bears and Seahawks beat the 49ers. All are playing at the same time.

What to Watch For

Alex Anzalone. No Kwon Alexander in the picture for the rest of the season means that the former third-rounder reassumes his starting role alongside Demario Davis. Perhaps the time not being a regular starter has helped Anzalone, who is one of the many great 2017 draftees that are looking to cash in on a contract this offseason. Anzalone doesn't have to be perfect, but there's a certain energy and element Alexander brought to his game that won't be easily replaced. This would be a good game for Anzalone to build his confidence.

Getting Things Done Early. The Saints faced off against the Panthers last year on the road for their season finale, and dominated them in virtually every phase of the game. They got up on Carolina 35-3 before halftime, and had their starters playing into the third quarter. There's some scoreboard watching to be done with the other teams playing. Teddy Bridgewater is not Will Grier or Kyle Allen, so this figures to be a more competitive game for New Orleans. Still, if they can get a comfortable lead in this one, then perhaps some starters can get some rest at some point.

Health Monitor. Trey Hendrickson (neck/stinger), Andrus Peat (ankle), Malcolm Brown (calf), Marcus Williams (ankle), and Nick Easton (concussion) are among those Saints who didn't play last week. Brown and Easton have been out for some time, so those are the ones to pay attention to for Sunday. One other player to monitor is Josh Hill. He didn't play a lot against the Chiefs, and then only played a single snap against the Vikings before exiting the field with a hand/finger injury. As always, the first injury report drops on Wednesday, and we'll see who is and isn't available for practice.

Drew Brees Rhythm. Brees had some really good moments against the Vikings, but also had some worrisome ones. Of the two picks he threw, one was clearly on him. He avoided two others, which seemed to be the same case. Credit Marquez Callaway for breaking up one of those would-be interceptions. You want to be playing your best ball this month, and we've yet to consistently see Brees' best since coming back from injury. Perhaps this will be a good tuneup game for him, but naturally we'll take elite Brees in the playoffs when it matters most. It also helps when your offensive line dominates the line of scrimmage and the ground game goes off. Hat tip to Alvin Kamara for being the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his four-year career.

As always, there's plenty of things worth paying attention to in this game. Another subtle one would be if Jake Kumerow sees any action. He's an intriguing wide receiver the Saints put a waiver claim in for and was awarded on Sunday. New Orleans has been injury-depleted at the position, and some of their guys that called up looked much better against the Vikings.