The New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers are playing live on the NFL Thursday night football schedule and the game is live from Bank of America Stadium as Drew Brees and Cam Newton face off and the matchup is on NFL Network and not CBS starting up past 8:25 pm ET as the NFC South divisional rivals battle in NC.
The Panthers come into the game after a tough loss against the Seahawks at home and now they have the Saints ahead of a matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night football. The team is in first place in the NFC South right now and they would like to stay there and they are playing against a Saints team coming off of a great offensive performance. The Panthers D has not been as good as last season, but they held the Seahawks in check despite the loss and now they have the Saints.
The Saints come in after a very important win against the Packers and now they have the chance to get a division win against the Panthers. The team has a tough schedule coming up and they play against the San Francisco 49ers next and that makes this a very tough stretch, but they did win against Green Bay. The team has lost seven straight on the road and now they have another game away with the Panthers and this is the first matchup of the two teams this season.
The Panthers are coming into the game with some tough matchups on the schedule, as they have the Eagles and then the Falcons before a bye week. The team has won against the Lions, Buccaneers and Panthers this season, but they have not won since Week 5 and now have lost two straight games. The team has a tie with the Bengals and that may come into play later in the season when the division standings come up.
The Panthers are not doing anything all that great this season and they are ranked 28th in the league in rushing yards allowed. Mark Ingram comes into the game after rushing for a career high 172 yards last week and he will be looking to keep that up. The Falcons game comes ahead of the bye for the Panthers and then the team ends the season with three of five games on the road and some can be tough. The team has the Falcons to end the season and before that is the Vikings and Saints on the road and then the Bucs and Browns before ending the year in Atlanta.
The Saints come into the game at second this season in passing yards per game and they just had a great performance against a very good team in the Packers. The team is ranked second to last in the league in passing yards per game and they need to shore up that defense. The rushing game has been better than in past years and they are ranked seventh in the league. The team has a tough stretch and the next three are at home before alternating home and away the rest of the year.
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