The (1-3) New Orleans Saints will host the (1-4) Carolina Panthers at the Mercedes Superdome in Week Six. This will be the second divisional match up for the Saints who lost to the Atlanta Falcons in Week Three. The Panthers have already played two divisional games, losing 48-33 to the Falcons and 17-13 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week. Their loss to the Bucs put them three games behind the Falcons in the NFC South. With Atlanta’s Week Four win, the tie-breaker actually makes it a four-game difference. The Panthers now find themselves in a must-win situation and the outlook does not look good.
New Orleans Saints Week Six Keys to Victory
Both teams are limping into this week’s game, laden with injuries on both sides of the ball. The difference is that Carolina is coming off a short week, having just played Monday night and New Orleans is heading into Sunday’s game fresh off their bye week. The Saints have an added confidence boost from their defeat over the San Diego Chargers on the road in Week Four.
In Carolina’s loss to Tampa Bay on Monday night, five of their starters were missing. Even without their injuries, the team still has the issue of turnovers. They lead the NFL with 14 and have thrown nine interceptions which is one less than they had all last year. Carolina’s secondary is also suffering. While the Saints record isn’t much better, they at least appear to be improving each week. In Carolina, the entire team is underperforming – not just one unit. If the Saints can take advantage of these glaring weaknesses, they should come out on top. The New Orleans Saints Week Six keys to victory are as follows.
Pressure Newton
Reports suggest that Cam Newton has been cleared from concussion protocol and is recovering well. While it isn’t 100% that Cam will play on Sunday, New Orleans is preparing for him either way.
The Saints are going to want to ensure they get pressure on Newton early on, and they should have plenty of opportunity to do so. Carolina has a poor offensive line this year. To make matters worse, their starting left tackle, Michael Oher, has missed the last two games with concussion and is not guaranteed to play in this Sunday’s game. If he doesn’t return, the Panthers will be forced to move Mike Remmers from the right side again. This should make for an easy day in New Orleans. The Saints only have seven sacks this season, but they haven’t played an offensive line as terrible as Carolina’s yet.
The Saints have a couple of weapons to help them out. Defensive end Cameron Jordan is the most consistent player in New Orleans front seven. Since 2012, he is in the league’s top ten in sacks (40.5) and batted passes (15). He also has more sacks against the Panthers since 2011 than anyone else, recording seven of them. Defensive tackle Nick Fairley has also stepped up his game over the past couple of weeks. Since the Saints lowered his snap count two weeks ago to around 40 per game, he has recorded three sacks and eight quarterback hits.
If the Saints are successful in getting pressure on Newton, it should prevent him from getting to tight end Greg Olsen. Olsen is a two-time Pro Bowl selection and a threat to New Orleans. Last season, he had nine catches for 129 yards in the Superdome. Not much has changed this year. He had nine catches for 181 yards in last week’s loss to Tampa Bay and currently ranks fourth in the NFL among receivers, with his 513 receiving yards and 33 catches.
Stop the Run
With quarterback Cam Newton and running back Jonathan Stewart expected to return this week, the Saints will have their hands full against the Panthers run game. A run-heavy game is exactly what keeps Drew Brees off the field and needs to be avoided at all costs.
Prior to Carolina’s 48-33 loss to the Falcons, Newton and Stewart had a 30-consecutive-game streak with at least 100 yards rushing. However, both players were sidelined due to injury. Newton missed the last two games because of concussion and Stewart hasn’t played since week two because of a hamstring injury.
Stewart was seventh among running backs with 300-plus yards over the last three seasons. He averaged 2.05 yards per rush over that period. To put this into context, the league average was only 1.67. Last season, he comprised over 40 percent of the running game.
Cam Newton made up 70 per cent of the running attack and 84 per cent of the team’s touchdowns last season. Prior to his injury this year, he comprised 30 per cent of the running game and 100 per cent of the touchdowns. Newton is technically still listed as ‘questionable’ but the Saints need to prepare for his appearance regardless. If Derek Anderson plays in place of Cam, the Saints will not need to fear a run-heavy game plan. The only time Anderson runs is for his life.
Carolina’s current record has a lot to do with losing these two key players for the last couple of games. If both players play in week six, a run-heavy game is a guarantee. The Saints will need to be ready to deal with this
Exploit a Weak Pass Rush
The Panthers pass rush is mainly rookies and young players. They have been struggling to rush the passer all season and the Saints should easily be able to take advantage of this.
Since last year’s 15-1 season, Carolina’s pass rush has changed completely and their defense has been revamped. Although their front seven is pretty much the same, the secondary has a different look this year. They let Josh Norman go, along with Charles Tillman and Roman Harper (now back with the Saints), and replaced them with a very young group of guys. In 2015, they drafted three rookie cornerbacks and their number one rookie, James Bradberry, is currently out with an injured toe. Linebacker Thomas Davis can cover, but he is limited due to a hamstring injury. All of this has led to the Panthers being ranked 22nd in points allowed.
In their Week Four loss to the Falcons, the Panthers gave up 503 passing yards to Matt Ryan and 300 receiving yards to Julio Jones. The Saints rank second in the NFL in passing yards per game (304.3) and touchdowns per game (2.5). Their passing attack will be Carolina’s most difficult yet. The Saints are even better at home, with 700 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception in just two games.
All of the receivers in New Orleans are under 23 years old. The menacing trio comprising of Brandin Cooks, Willie Snead and Michael Thomas have combined for 54 catches, 733 yards and six touchdowns this year. Thomas is the Saints number three receiver and leads the team with 21 catches for 229 yards and two touchdowns. He also leads the team with six red zone targets.
If Bradberry doesn’t start this Sunday, the Panthers will be forced to play a rookie making his second start against Cooks. Even if Bradberry does play, neither player can match Cooks’ speed. With Norman gone, the Saints should have no problem battling a stressed Panthers secondary.
Conclusion
Carolina is a challenge for New Orleans. The Saints have lost their last three in a row to the Panthers and are 2-8 since 2012. Last season, Carolina swept the Saints and only lost once in 18 games, making it to Super Bowl 50. This season, the Saints will be playing an entirely different team. The Panthers are an injured 1-4 team with a struggling secondary.
The implications for Sunday’s game are high. If Carolina loses, they will drop to 1-5 diminishing their hopes of winning a fourth straight NFC South title. If New Orleans loses, they will drop to fourth in their division and also have little chance of seeing the playoffs in 2017. The winner will be one game closer to catching the 4-1 Falcons, a team that went 5-0 last season before losing eight of their next eleven games. Carolina and New Orleans are both hungry and everything is on the line for the NFC South.
