Panthers at Nawlins

[Balljim55]

The Saints plane had issues and they are having to spend another night in Seattle. Even though this will be a shorter week for them, they will probably be even more cranky when we play them. Should be a fun game. The Panthers need to play loose like they have nouthin to lose.

 

[CaptainStubing]

Yep, I'm looking forward to this one. The saints play better at home but will they get shut down again by a very good defense?

 

[ONEPANTHERSFAN]

The Saints play a whole lot better at home. Their crowd can really get into it and that dome makes them louder. We are going to need to do almost exactly what the Seahawks did, sack and pressure Brees, find a way to take Graham and Sproles out of the game, and put up points. Take away their home field advantage. Their passing game is terrific but their run game is well below average. Their D is great against the pass but only average against the run. Right now, I believe, we will be at or very close to full strength. This won't be easy but we can win.

 

[JohnShadows]

Just took a look -> NOLA a 3.5 point favorite. They had trouble stopping the run against Seattle, and they didn't do a good job containing Wilson. Look for some rollouts from Cam. I also don't think we're going to see as many mistakes from them this week at home.

Agree with ONE about focusing on their playmakers, especially Sproles - as good as Graham is, it's DS that makes them get going, when he gets it rolling. He's a great route-runner, out of the backfield. We also don't have the shutdown corner that Seattle obviously has in Sherman. Secondary is going to be challenged especially if we can't at least hit Brees a few times.

 

[ONEPANTHERSFAN]

Charles Johnson tweeted he will be ready to go come Sunday. Now if we can get everyone else back.

 

[douggie]

Charles Johnson tweeted he will be ready to go come Sunday. Now if we can get everyone else back.

That is huge! If the Panthers harass Brees then they certainly have a shot. If the Panthers lose this one the boo birds will come outta the wood work saying they've peaked. Cam needs to have the best game of the season. The defense will keep the Panthers in the game. Go Panthers!

 

[ONEPANTHERSFAN]

Johnson and Hartsock both returned to practice today and are expected to be ready Sunday. Blackburn is not even on the injury report. Edwards, Gross, and Wharton were all given the day off. Deangelo and Tolbert were both limited in practice but are expected to be fine. Stewart missed practice with an ankle issue, we'll need to watch that and Jordan Senn missed with a hamstring issue. Chris Scott continues to be held out of practice.


I expect Stewart to be fine come Sunday. I know Senn is not the most valuable piece of our D but I think we'll miss him on special teams if he has to sit out. I really hope we can get Scott back.

 

[ONEPANTHERSFAN]

Ron Rivera said he was going to watch the NO/Seattle game on Monday. When asked what he learned about the Saints he said


"I learned that they're beatable," he said Wednesday at his news conference. "I thought Seattle played a very good game and I thought some things were off for New Orleans. But it was good to see, give you a little bit of a jump, a little bit of a head start on our next opponent."

 

[ONEPANTHERSFAN]

You gotta love Steve Smith. He has the right attitude.


From ESPN.com


Punching bag: For the third time this season and second by wide receiver Steve Smith, former offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski was on the receiving end of pointed remarks.

Prior to the season, Smith blamed Chudzinski for some of Carolina's offensive problems the past two seasons. When asked about the team's lack of offensive players among NFL statistical leaders, he again brought up Chudzinski, now the head coach at Cleveland.

“If the team goals are greater than the individual goals, then that’s the whole point,” Smith said. “I look at our old coordinator, [Browns receiver] Josh Gordon has my whole stats in two games. He caught two-hundred and something yards last week [261 yards in a 32-28 loss to Jacksonville]. How many points did they score? Three?

“A lot of years, I had great stats sitting at home in January watching other people play.”

 

[ONEPANTHERSFAN]

Chris Scott and Jordan Senn are out against NO, everyone else was in full practice and is expected to be ready.


Here's a question, do we keep AJ Klein starting or does Blackburn get back in the starting lineup?

 

[pantherfanforever11]

Aj Klien needs to keep starting.

our running game though needs to pick up. Newton shouldnt be the only reason we have a consistant running game. last few games we have not run well, only reason the stats look good are because of Newton. our o line needs to pop a couple holes open this week so its not Newton or bust. IMO

 

[Balljim55]

Aj Klien needs to keep starting.

our running game though needs to pick up. Newton shouldnt be the only reason we have a consistant running game. last few games we have not run well, only reason the stats look good are because of Newton. our o line needs to pop a couple holes open this week so its not Newton or bust. IMO

Totally agree. We gotta start getting yards between the tackles otherwise our play action is ineffective. I want to see more runs by Tolbert on first down. He has been our most effective RB the past 3 weeks.

 

[ONEPANTHERSFAN]

Aj Klien needs to keep starting.

our running game though needs to pick up. Newton shouldnt be the only reason we have a consistant running game. last few games we have not run well, only reason the stats look good are because of Newton. our o line needs to pop a couple holes open this week so its not Newton or bust. IMO

Rivera announced Blackburn will start, mostly because of how he was playing before the injury.

From ESPN.com

Blackburn was perhaps the toughest decision when it came to starting because of the way rookie A.J. Klein played in his absence the past three weeks.

But in the end, Rivera went with Blackburn because he was playing well before the injury.

"A.J. will still have a role in the defense," Rivera said on Friday as he looked ahead to a showdown of the 9-3 teams. "The biggest thing to understand is when Chase left because of injury, Chase was playing well. We're putting a guy in there that has had success.

"Believe me, this was not an easy decision. It was weighed very heavily."

 

[ONEPANTHERSFAN]

Panthers Advantages - Better Defense, more physical team, better run game, the Saints D is pretty mediocre against the run, Saints are on a short week, Panthers are getting back lots of players from injury, we want to prove we are among the best in the NFL


Saints Advantages - Better passing game, Panthers secondary is vulnerable to the deep ball, Home Field (it's going to be noisy), Breese is one of the best QB's in the game (hate to say that but he's been doing it a long time, lots longer than Cam), wanting to get over an embarrassing loss


Just the way I see it.

 

[JohnShadows]

Panthers Advantages - Better Defense, more physical team, better run game, the Saints D is pretty mediocre against the run, Saints are on a short week, Panthers are getting back lots of players from injury, we want to prove we are among the best in the NFL


Saints Advantages - Better passing game, Panthers secondary is vulnerable to the deep ball, Home Field (it's going to be noisy), Breese is one of the best QB's in the game (hate to say that but he's been doing it a long time, lots longer than Cam), wanting to get over an embarrassing loss


Just the way I see it.

Agreed with all of this. It's Cam on the big stage again, too -> Sunday Night Football in a high-pressure, big game. He responded well against NE, going to be interesting to see if he can keep it going. What I really don't want to see is us come out and get 14 points down quick, in the Super Dome. That's a recipe for disaster.

Gamecocks are done until the bowl, so it's primarily Panthers right now -> excited about this one.