NFL Carolina PanthersNew Orleans Saints

Predicting the Final Score of Saints vs. Panthers

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Crystal LoGiudice -- USA TODAY Sports

Crystal LoGiudice — USA TODAY Sports

The Thursday night football game pits two hated NFC South rivals against each other as the New Orleans Saints take on the Carolina Panthers. Both teams have records below .500, yet in a sign of how competitive — or terrible — the NFC South truly is, this is a battle for first place in the division.

The Saints, behind a renewed rushing attack and the usual competent passing game Drew Brees provides, knocked the Green Bay Packers from atop their NFC North perch with a 44-23 victory last week. Meanwhile, the Panthers struggled with the Seattle Seahawks‘ defense throughout a low-scoring game and nearly knocked them down, but the Seahawks recovered in the end for a 13-9 victory.

The fact that this game is in Charlotte could help the Panthers somewhat. Carolina won’t have the noisy New Orleans fans inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to put up with throughout the game, and the Panthers have proven Bank of America Stadium can be a difficult place to play in its own right.

The question, as always, is who gets the ball. Green Bay’s toilet-paper run defense propelled Mark Ingram to 172 yards and a breakout game. Ingram won’t repeat that feat in Carolina, but he figures to get most of the touches again as Khiry Robinson and Pierre Thomas did not practice on Tuesday. Either of these two could play, but would they be up to par?

Carolina has had run issues of their own thanks to injuries, leaving Cam Newton to rely on the passing game to get the job done. Will it be Kelvin Benjamin or another receiver catching passes?

With their passing and running games firmly in the top 10, odds are the Saints will come into Carolina and make this a high-scoring game. The Panthers will put up a fight, but in the end New Orleans takes over first place.

Projected score: New Orleans 34, Carolina 21

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