As the Atlanta Falcons took down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a classic edition of Thursday Night football, the Carolina Panthers sit at the top of the NFC South. This weekend, the New Orleans Saints have the chance to knock them off of the top of the totem pole.
For the Panthers, it's the first time that they've led the division since 2015, and to make that position even more precious, it might be the only path for Carolina reach the playoffs. Currently, they sit with seven wins and six losses on the season, and if they defeat the Saints on Sunday would put the Panthers firmly in the driver's seat. They have two games versus the Buccaneers left.
Bryce Young said that playing a divisional opponent like the Saints is a chess match. "Everyone is familiar with one another. You get to play the adjustment game, and that's the beauty of division football," he said to the media. "We have a ton of respect for them, so it's on us to accept that challenge and work to be at our best."
The Saints can't relax this week just because they've already beaten the Panthers this season
The 2025 season started out slow, to say the least, for the New Orleans Saints; that is, until they visited Carolina and took down the Panthers. Starting out 1-8, the Saints have been 2-2 since the victory in Charlotte. Despite the positive record and the fact that the team has been improving week after week, Kellen Moore says that things could still play out differently.
After practice on Thursday, the first-year head coach said that's just how the division games are. "We played two games with Tampa, and both games played out very differently. These are two games against Carolina; they're not going to play the exact same style, they're going to play a little different, and we're going to play a little different," Moore said to the media. "...You create so much familiarity that things will inevitably play out a little bit differently each time."
Continuing, he said that the team wants to play meaningful football in December. "Our focus can go many different kinds of ways this time of year, and so I appreciate the way our guys have handled this. Ultimately, it's a collective focus of what we're trying to accomplish week in and week out," Moore told the media. "We have to create those habits this year moving forward."