The stakes are high in this week’s matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. The winner will have sole possession of first place in the NFC South. With the upcoming stretch of games, winning on Sunday is paramount.
The Saints have the Bears, Bengals and Packers lined up in the next three games, and it’s a real, and likely, possibility they lose all three of those games. This game will give them a little bit of breathing room for that stretch. The Panthers, and the rest of the division, have some toss ups and tough games in the next three weeks as well.
It’s not a great division, so every win matters. This win is magnified by the divisional stakes. These bold predictions will help the Saints seize the moment versus the Panthers.
Chase Young, Carl Granderson take an even bigger step forward
Saints have 2 50+ yard rushers
With the return of Travis Etienne, the ceiling of the Saints rushing attack just elevated. The changes made during the bye week seemed to work against the Browns. And while there should be cautious optimism around the team in this area after last week’s game, the Panthers are an even worse run defense than the Browns.
A good day won’t completely quiet the noise, but a bad day will certainly invite questions. I’m leaning towards a good day by both Etienne and Audric Estime. Each runner will get over 50 yards, which will be the first time that’s happened for any pair of Saints backs this year. To make it clear just how bold it is, the Saints have had four games in which their two top running backs have failed to hit 50 yards combined.~ Darrion Gray
4 sacks by Saints top stars
Chase Young and Carl Granderson have another golden opportunity to dominate on Sunday. The Panthers’ biggest offensive weakness is their offensive tackles. 2026 first-round pick Monroe Freeling and veteran Rasheed Walker have both struggled, allowing a combined 10 sacks.
As a result, I’m predicting Young and Granderson to combine for four sacks. They’ve shown no signs of slowing down and thus far have embarrassed the competition, especially when there’s a skill gap.
After this game, a key indication of the score will be how much pressure Young and Granderson apply to Bryce Young. This bodes well for the Saints, as nobody’s been able to stop them yet.~ Drew Collings
Saints slow down Chuba Hubbard
The NFL’s 10th leading rusher, Chuba Hubbard, is set to take on the New Orleans Saints as the Carolina Panthers come to town. But despite him being on a career-best pace (he has 619 rush yards so far this year) I expect the Saints defense to prevent him from getting anything more than 75 yards on the ground.
The recipe to do so is already been made, with Hubbard being held to 33, 81, and 79 yards over the past three weeks. Teams have already begun to slow him down, so I don’t really see why the Saints can’t do the same thing, even with their struggling run defense.~ Molly Bauer
Add us as a preferred source on Google