Previewing the New Orleans Saints Week 17 matchup vs. the Panthers

Overview

The Saints need to win this game for playoff seeding purposes, so I expect them to what it takes.

At the same time, they should be able to win this game on pure talent alone, which means that they may not dive deep into their bag of tracks. Usually, that may be a problem, but the Panthers’ current injury report is as long as I’ve seen, so they may have too many weak-links to keep this close.

For this reason, I believe New Orleans will not only win, but cover as a 6.5-point favorite. With the Packers playing at the same time as them, they won’t be able to know whether this game matters or not, and they are too many holes on Carolina’s roster for them to exploit.

For those with Alvin Kamara on their fantasy rosters and their leagues still going, he could once again have a dominant performance here. Looking down further, don’t be surprised if Adam Trautman plays a key role.

Points will be scored by both teams in this matchup. The answer is, who can make plays for their conservative quarterback after the catch and be efficient on early downs? New Orleans winning that battle should be enough for them to win this game.

It’s always nice to sweep your division, so even if they ultimately don’t get the top seed, I’m not sure Saints fans would love to win this game. Plus, it’s Bridgewater versus Brees again! There are a lot of fascinating aspects to this game, and it will exciting to see how it all unfolds!