The Saints travel to Carolina in a divisional game that should be a good one, but a game that the Saints shouldn’t have a hard time winning. These division games however are always difficult to judge and never appear to be what we thought they would be. That being said, here are three keys for the Saints to win Sunday against the Panthers.
- Control the clock, the Saints need to run the ball down the throats of the Panthers and continuously put up points. Controlling the clock allows the Saints to control the game, put points up and force Sam Darnold to rush his drives/the Panthers to be in a hurry to score which could cause a turnover or a mistake. Last week the Saints had 140 rushing yards in the first half, if they can get Kamara and Jones both going it will set up the deep ball later in the game.
- Win the turnover battle, Sam Darnold is known for his turnovers. If the Saints offense can set the defense up with a situation where Darnold is rushing his throws from the situation and the pressure this will cause mistakes. If the Saints capitalize on these mistakes then the Panthers will continue to sink into quicksand. If the Saints don’t turn the ball over but create turnovers then the Saints will set themselves up for success.
- Keep Christian McCaffrey contained. This is the big one and the most important one. The front seven is missing Kwon Alexander, Davenport, and Werner. This hurts as Kwon would be good with his speed and pursuit, but Zack Baun has looked athletic and seems capable of helping prevent any big plays from McCaffrey in both the run and pass game.
Written By Kadin Janisch
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