New Orleans Saints @ Carolina Panthers

8:25 PM EST, NBC – Line: Panthers -3,  Over/Under: 52

Even at 37 years of age, Brees remains as prolific as ever, leading the top-ranked Offense in the NFL with 24 TD passes.

Desperate division rivals meet tonight in Charlotte, as the struggling Carolina Panthers host the flailing New Orleans Saints on Thursday Night Football.  Needless to say, BOTH teams experienced very unfortunate losses last weekend, meeting defeat under outstanding, and in some cases even controversial circumstances.  In the case of New Orleans (4-5, 2nd in NFC South), Sean Payton and Co. probably have a legitimate beef with the NFL’s Officiating Department after the outcome of Sunday’s disappointing 25-23 loss to Denver at the Superdome, as the Referees missed a HUGE call late that drastically altered the course of the game’s waning moments.  Trailing by six points inside of the Two Minute Warning, Drew Brees masterfully led the hosts down the field, finding Brandin Cooks (3 catches, 98 yards, 1 TD) for a 32-yard touchdown strike to square away the score at twenty-three points apiece.  However, as we’ve seen all year long, the Extra Point was far from a given, as Broncos’ Defensive Back Justin Simmons leapt over the Line of Scrimmage and blocked Will Lutz’s attempt to take the lead.  It didn’t end there, folks, as his teammate Will Parks promptly scooped up the ball and streaked down the sideline eighty-five yards for a miraculous Two-Point Conversion.  With the play under Review, replay made it rather apparent that Parks stepped out of bounds around midfield, but the Officials didn’t see it that way, allowing the play to stand, and the visitors to receive possession with a two-point lead effectively ending the affair altogether.  Rare as it is, the Louisiana Superdome sat silent, as their beloved Saints missed a golden opportunity to climb back into the conversation in the NFC.  With that said, even though the Officials clearly missed the call, New Orleans had nobody to blame but themselves for even being in that position in the first place.  As has been the case all year long (and for years beforehand), Payton’s charges have struggled mightily on the defensive side of the ball, making Trevor Siemian (25-of-40, 258 yards 2 TD 2 INT) and a very average Broncos’ Offense look like the Greatest Show on Turf for large stretches of Sunday’s defeat.  The visitors held the ball for a staggering 39:22, converting 11-of-19 Third Down opportunities en route to posting 337 yards of Total Offense.  However, Brees (21-of-29, 303 yards, 3 TD 2 INT) and Co. were culpable as well, committing four turnovers, including TWO crucial lost fumbles from Rookie Wideout Michael Thomas in the Second Half that nullified a pair of promising drives for the home side.  One can’t help but question what could have been with this group, for with half of the season in the books, the Saints COULD HAVE BEEN 7-2 if not for some extremely narrow losses.  Like Sunday’s debacle, Week One against Oakland (35-34) was decided by a Two-Point Conversion, while the following week against the Giants (16-13) featured an Interception Return for a score as the lone touchdown of the game.  Indeed, it’s been the same story in the Big Easy for a while now, as the Offense remains one of the most explosive in the league (29.4 Points on 437.4 Total Yards, 2nd and 1st Overall), the pedestrian Defense (29.3 Points on 400.6 Total Yards, 30th and 29th Overall) just can’t find a way to stop opponents, leading to a volatilely inconsistent product.  Just look back at their previous meeting with the Panthers, which served as a microcosm of their issues; New Orleans jumped on the reigning NFC Champs early, opening the contest with twenty-one unanswered points, only to allow Carolina to rally back to tie the game at thirty-eight points apiece with just under three minutes to play, before the aforementioned Lutz pushed a 52-yard Field Goal through the Goal Posts as time expired to earn a hard-fought 41-38 victory.  Despite five touchdowns and a whopping 523 yards of Total Offense, Payton’s charges very nearly blew the whole thing as they conceded 406 Total Yards, thirty-two First Downs, and oh by the way, committed a ridiculous ten penalties for 126 yards.  If these guys could manage to get out of their own way for about a month, look out…

2016 has not been kind to Newton, who has been a shade of his MVP self, throwing ten touchdowns to seven interceptions.

Meanwhile, oh what a difference a year has made for the Panthers (3-6, 4th in NFC South).  After going 15-1 last season en route to their third consecutive Division Title, and ultimately an appearance in Super Bowl XLX, you would be hard-pressed to even recognize this team, which has regressed considerably on BOTH sides of the ball, and as a result have all of a sudden found themselves in the basement of the NFC South.  So just what the hell is going on Charlotte, North Carolina, you ask?  Well… how much time do you have?  For the sake of this column, we’ll keep things short.  First and foremost, reigning MVP Cam Newton is NOT the same player he was in 2015; after accounting for a staggering forty-five touchdowns a year ago, Newton has struggled in the Pocket, completing 58.1% of his passes for ten touchdowns and seven interceptions, posting a middling Quarterback Rating of 56.0, with each statistic representing a steep decline from the previous campaign.  Furthermore, as dangerous as he is when he decides to run the ball (whether it was a designed play or not), he’s taken A LOT of hits, creating a cauldron of controversy as to the manner in which he is officiated in comparison to other Quarterbacks.  The three-time Pro Bowler has already missed one game this season due to a concussion, and with twenty-three sacks on his ledger, he’s on pace to easily surpass last year’s total of thirty-three.  Secondly, the Offensive Line has been a real problem, as injuries have hampered this unit; Left Tackle Michael Oher (Concussion) has not played since Week Three and has once again been pronounced out for tonight’s contest, while Pro Bowl Center Ryan Kalil (Shoulder) has missed the last two outings, but is listed as Probable to return tonight.  With Newton’s struggles coupled with an unsettled Line, the play-calling has changed to a degree, translating into a far less-imposing rushing attack; Carolina averaged a healthy 142.6 yards on the ground (2nd Overall) in 2015, only to slump to 113.9 this year (11th Overal).  Lastly, Ron Rivera’s Defense can’t stop anyone.  The Panthers’ previous success was predicated on the Defense as much (if not more) as it was on Newton’s exploits, and can be pointed to for many of their struggles to this point.  In 2015, Carolina allowed 19.3 points (6th Overall) on 322.9 Total Yards (6th Overall), while amassing a league-high thirty-nine takeaways, but has hit in the mat in 2016, permitting 25.1 points (23rd Overall) on 351.6 Total Yards (15th Overall), totaling just twelve turnovers (12th Overall).  That last number looms largest, as Turnover Differential so often dictates the outcome of a football game, and by extension a team’s relative success.  A year ago, these guys were a ridiculous Plus-20, only to see that number flip a disappointing Minus-7.  Just take their miraculous 20-17 loss at home to the Chiefs last weekend for a complete take on their plight; the hosts jumped on the visiting side early, scoring an answered seventeen points, before Kansas City kicked a Field Goal to put the score at 17-3 Halftime, only to remarkably relinquish seventeen Fourth Quarter Points to meet defeat.  Making matters even more puzzling, was the fact that Carolina managed to collapse completely despite NOT allowing a single offensive touchdown on the day.  Early in the final stanza, Newton was intercepted by Chiefs’ Safety Eric Berry, which was returned forty-two yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to three points, followed by a pair of 30+ yard Field Goals courtesy of Cairo Santos, the last of which was set up by a Marcus Peters Forced Fumble of Kelvin Benjamin with twenty seconds remaining.  Carolina amassed 341 Total Yards, held the ball for 35:12, and limited the visitors to 256 Total Yards, eighteen First Downs, and 2-of-12 on Third Down, yet still managed to lose the game.  Oh, and by the way, they lost the Turnover Differential 2-1.  We’ve said it already once in this column, but if these guys could manage to get out of their own way for a month, look out…

Predicted Outcome: Panthers 27, Saints 23