The first game of a Monday Night Football doubleheader in the NFL will feature the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints facing off at Bank of America Stadium in a matchup of NFC South rivals.
New Orleans squeaked out a 16-15 victory in their opener versus the Titans, while Carolina fell apart in the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons, suffering a 24-10 loss.
Match preview
It has been said that first impressions last, but judging from what Frank Reich and his Panthers showed in their first game last week, they might not want many of those impressions to last too long.
The former Colts head coach and his talented rookie quarterback, who was picked first overall at the 2023 NFL Draft, did not make a great first impression, nor did the rest of the team, who allowed a 37.5% pressure rating against their new pivot, while managing just 3.9 yards per play on offence.
Throughout the previous campaign, costly turnovers may have kept Carolina from making the postseason, as they wound up 25th in the league regarding turnover differential (-4), and giveaways factored into their loss last week, with two interceptions thrown, while they also fumbled the ball once and failed to convert a pair of fourth downs.
Despite all of the mistakes they made in week one, their opener was still there for the taking, with the Panthers and Falcons dead-even going into the fourth quarter, where Carolina failed to deliver once again, having been outscored in the final 15 minutes in three of their last four regular-season affairs dating back to 2022.
For an up-and-coming team filled with new faces across the board, there were still plenty of positives to take away from their week one defeat, most notably how well they handled the line of scrimmage defensively, registering four sacks against the Falcons after finishing 25th in that category a year ago.
Carolina were a perfect 3-0 at home versus the NFC South last season, conceding 15 points or fewer in each of those triumphs.
Over on the Bayou, it was the Saints defence which won the day in their opener, as Dennis Allen saw his secondary intercept Ryan Tannehill three times, holding the veteran Titans QB to a rating of 28.8.
Their pass rush had some monster performances throughout the 2022 campaign, finishing the regular season tied for the fifth-most team sacks (48) and that D-line had a solid showing with three QB sacks last Sunday.
Given who they were facing out of the backfield in week one, Allen must be pleased with how his group contained Derrick Henry, holding the second-leading rusher in the NFL from 2022 to just 63 yards on the ground and a 4.2-yard average.
New Orleans were missing their Pro Bowl running back in week one, so the offence focused on their aerial attack, posting over 300 passing yards with three receivers racking up over 50 yards through the air.
They had their issues on the offensive line, however, allowing four sacks and a 51.4% QB pressure rating which prevented them from blowing their opening game wide open.
The Saints emerged victorious from their final two road games of 2022 and have won two of their last three away matchups against NFC South clubs.
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Team News
The Panthers' Taylor Moton hurt his biceps and will be questionable on Monday, while DJ Chark and Jaycee Horn are both dealing with hamstring injuries.
It was a less than stellar NFL debut for Bryce Young as the first overall pick at the 2023 draft completed 20 of his 38 passes with one touchdown and a pair of interceptions for a 48.8 rating, Pro Bowl running back Miles Sanders had 18 carries for 72 yards in his first game as a Panther, while he also had four catches, one fewer than their leading pass-catcher Hayden Hurst in his first regular-season encounter with Carolina, while their other newcomer Adam Thielen collected just two grabs for nine yards.
Brian Burns picked up a pair of QB sacks in a losing effort, Derrick Brown had one while also leading the team in tackles (eight), and veteran cornerback Vonn Bell was relatively quiet in his Panthers debut, with the former Cincinnati Bengal registering just two tackles.
Juwan Johnson might not be available for New Orleans as he is recovering from a calf strain, Kendre Miller has a sore hamstring, JT Gray hurt his shoulder and Pro Bowl running back Alvin Kamara will be suspended for another two games following a physical altercation outside of a Las Vegas nightclub last year.
Making his Saints debut, Derek Carr went 23/33 for 305 yards and a score, plus an interception, good for a 96.1 rating, Jamaal Williams had 18 carries for 45 yards in his first regular season game with New Orleans, while Michael Thomas, Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave each had five or more catches, with the latter leading the way with eight for 112 yards.
Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo and Marcus Maye each had an interception in their week one victory, Carl Granderson accumulated 1.5 sacks and Demario Davis came up with nine tackles.
Head To Head
These two NFC South rivals are virtually neck and neck in the overall series, with the Saints leading 29-28, though it was Carolina who won the previous encounter between the two in January of last season when offensive lineman Michael Jordan recovered a Sam Darnold fumble in the end zone and Eddy Pineiro booted a 42-yard field goal, helping the Panthers to a 10-7 victory.
The Saints have not won at Bank of America Stadium since December 2019 in a game that saw Alvin Kamara run for a pair of first-quarter scores, AJ Klein came up with a pick-six, while Drew Brees threw touchdown passes to Tre'Quan Smith, Jared Cook and Taysom Hill respectively as New Orleans came away with a comfortable victory of 42-10.
These teams have faced each other once in the postseason during the 2017 campaign, with the Saints coming away with a 31-26 victory as Ted Ginn and Josh Hill each caught a TD pass from Brees, with Kamara and Zach Line both running for a score.
We say: Carolina Panthers 17-24 New Orleans Saints
Developing an elite NFL quarterback does not happen overnight, and as promising as Bryce Young is, there is still a lot of maturing he needs to do before taking that next step forward and turning the Panthers into a top team.
Derek Carr still makes his share of mistakes, but he has a dependable group of veteran receivers and a solid secondary that can create plenty of turnovers and make life easy for the Saints pivot with short fields.
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