Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints host the Carolina Panthers on Sunday in a key NFC South battle. The Saints come into the game in second place in the division, just a half-game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for first place in the division, while the Panthers are in third place, one game out of first place. New Orleans and Carolina are also eighth and ninth in the NFC playoff chase (the top seven teams make the playoffs this season), respectively, so this is a big game for both teams.
The Saints are coming off their bye week, but they defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 30-27 in overtime in their last game. The Panthers, on the other hand, are coming off a 23-16 loss to the Chicago Bears. New Orleans is 2-3 against the spread this season, while the total has gone over in all five games. They were a seven-point favorite in their overtime win over the Chargers. The Panthers are 3-3 against the spread this season, after losing by seven points to the Bears as a two-point favorite. The over-under is 2-3-1 in Carolina’s six games.
(Late Updates on Injuries and Line Movements posted Saturday afternoon.)
Line Movements:
There has been a little movement toward the visitors in regards to the line in this contest. This game opened as the Saints as a 7.5-point favorite but as of Saturday afternoon, New Orleans stands as a seven-point favorite in the contest. The bets on this contest ATS have the Panthers getting 52% of the bets with the points.
The over/under has edged down slightly in this contest as well. After opening at 51, the total has trended down to 49.5 or 50 points at the majority of sportsbooks for this one. 64 percent of the wagers on the total in this contest are of the mindset that this one ends up over the total.
Game-time Weather: The Mercedes-Benz Superdome is a domed stadium.
Panthers lose for the first time in a month
After losing their first two games of the season, the Carolina Panthers reeled off three straight wins to get above .500 for the first time this season before being brought back to earth with their upset loss against the Chicago Bears last week. Carolina will be without their placekicker,Joey Slye, this week due to a positive COVID-19 test. Sly has made 16 of his 18 field goal attempts this season, but he has also missed two extra points. His probable replacement will be Casey Bednarski, who set a conference and school record with a 63-yard field goal in September 2017 while playing for Minnesota State-Mankato. Bednarski is in the midst of his six-day testing process, which is necessary to play. It will be completed by Sunday, so barring a positive test, he will suit up for the Panthers on Sunday.
The Panthers had more first downs, rushing yards, total yards, and time of possession in their game versus the Bears, but they also led in turnovers (3-1). Their first turnover was turned into the Bears' first touchdown, while the last one ended their final drive as they were trying to drive for a game-tying touchdown.Teddy Bridgewaterwas 16-29 for 216 yards and two interceptions in the game, whileMike Davishad 52 yards rushing and a touchdown, but just a 2.9 yards per carry average.DJ Moorehad five catches for 93 yards to lead Carolina in both categories.
“I think DJ is doing a great job of just grasping all the information that we're throwing at him. All of this is still new to a lot of people, so for a lot of us, they're not making excuses or anything," Bridgewater said onpanthers.com. "We want to keep finding ways to get these guys involved, all of our guys, and allow them to be in the best position to make plays to help us win."
Bridgewater is having a solid season, completing 70.9% of his passes for 1,676 yards, six touchdowns, and five interceptions. Davis has rushed for 272 yards this season and two touchdowns to lead the Panthers running game, whileRobby Andersonleads the Carolina receiving corps with 40 catches for 566 yards and a touchdown.
The Panthers are averaging 23 points per game this season, while their opponents are averaging 23.5 points per game. They are outgaining their opponents by an average of 396.2-345.5. Carolina is limiting opposing quarterbacks to just 218.8 yards per game this season. In the running game, Carolina is averaging 116.8 yards per game, while they are allowing 121.7 yards per game.
Injury Report:
OUT: WR Omar Bayless, S Juston Burris, G Dennis Daley, CB Rasul Douglas, DE Yetur Gross-Matos, C Tyler Larsen, LB Jordan Mack, RB Christian McCaffrey, LB Christian Miller, P Michael Palardy, G Michael Schofield, DT Kawann Short
Questionable: CB Donte Jackson, G John Miller, WR Curtis Samuel
Saints looking for third straight win
After beginning the season with a 1-2 record, the New Orleans Saints have gone three weeks without a loss, including their bye week, to improve their record to 3-2. In their last game, the Saints were trailing by 17 points late in the second quarter when Brees began their comeback with a one-yard touchdown run with 14 seconds to go in the first half to cut their deficit to 20-10 at halftime. After tying it up early in the fourth quarter, New Orleans was trailing again late in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Taysom Hill entered the game and scored on a nine-yard touchdown run to send the game into overtime. Kicker Wil Lutz made his third field goal of the game in overtime to send the Saints marching into the locker room with the victory.
Brees has completed 71.0% of his passes this season for 1,331 yards, nine touchdowns, and three interceptions. Alvin Kamara leads the rushing attack for New Orleans, gaining 281 yards and scoring four touchdowns this season. Kamara is also the team’s leading receiver, with 38 receptions for 395 yards and three touchdown catches. However, the Saints will be playing without wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders (illness) and Michael Thomas (hamstring).
The Saints are outscoring their opponents by an average of 30.6-25.0 this season. They are averaging 388.8 yards per game this season, while their opponents are averaging 355.4 yards per game. New Orleans limits their opponents to just 100 yards per game on the ground and 3.6 yards per carry. The Saints have been heavily penalized this season, committing 33 penalties to just 20 for their opponents.
Injury Report:
OUT: CB Johnson Bademosi, CB Ken Crawley, DT Jalen Dalton, C Nick Easton, WR Bennie Fowler, P Blake Gillikin, LB Chase Hansen, RB Ty Montgomery, WR Emmanuel Sanders, DE Noah Spence, WR Michael Thomas, TE Jason Vander Laan, TE Cole Wick
Questionable: LB Kiko Alonso, T Terron Armstead, DB J.T. Gray, DB Justin Hardee
Notable Trends
Trends found on oddsshark.com:
- The Saints are 2-4 ATS in their last six games overall
- The Saints are 2-6 ATS in their last eight home games
- The Panthers are 4-1 ATS in their last five games versus New Orleans
- The Panthers are 6-2 ATS in their last eight games played in October
