The New Orleans Saints take on the Carolina Panthers for the second time this season on Sunday. The Saints dominated in their previous matchup, especially on defense. The key to victory is replicating this success and making Bryce Young beat them.
Young has historically struggled against the Saints. He’s thrown two touchdowns and four interceptions in his five career matchups against New Orleans. Last outing, the Saints held him to 124 yards and an interception as the Saints pulled off the upset win.
The Saints strategy has been simple against the Panthers: force Young to win Carolina the game. Thus far in his career, he hasn’t shown the ability to do that. There’s no reason for the Saints to alter that gameplan until he shows differently.
The key to stopping Bryce Young is to shut down the running game
It’s pivotal the Saints mitigate the Panthers rushing attack. Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard have a combined 1,362 rushing yards this season. Young struggling is meaningless if the Panthers run for 200 yards.
This was the clear key the first two time these teams played, and there's no reason to believe that has changed. New Orleans held Carolina to 73 yards on the ground in their last game. Dowdle had 18 carries for 53 yards, Hubbard had three rushes for 14 yards and Young had two rushes for three. This put all the pressure on Young as the Panthers' offense became one dimensional.
The Saints run defense has been questionable this season. Lately, they’ve been playing great but have struggled significantly earlier this year. They currently rank 24th in the NFL allowing 130.9 rushing yards per game.
These inconsistencies have been prevalent over the past three weeks. They held both Bijan Robinson and Bucky Irving under 75 yards while Devon Achane torched them for 134.
The Saints must replicate their success defensively of their previous matchup against the Panthers. If the Saints lose this game, then make sure it's on the back of Bryce Young instead of those two running backs.