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Saints vs Panthers Game Day Thread

The New Orleans Saints look to close out their regular season this weekend with not only a win but their fourth consecutive victory for the first time since 2020.

The Saints (7-9) host the Carolina Panthers (6-10) for a noon kickoff Sunday inside the Caesars Superdome. FOX will carry the Week 18 broadcast coverage.

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Four downs
1. Maintaining momentum

Since the Week 14 bye, the Saints have been on a roll, rattling off three consecutive wins. They have the opportunity to make it four in a row Sunday. New Orleans’ last season with a four-win streak was 2020, when the Saints finished with a winning 12-4 record and made the playoffs. Neither can happen this season, but ending on a positive note such as this would be good for a team that has struggled with injuries and inconsistencies under first-year head coach Dennis Allen.

2. Saints secondary

Cornerback Marhson Lattimore finally returned last week after missing 10 consecutive games due to an abdominal injury. Now, fellow starter Paulson Adebo is injured and has been ruled out for Sunday’s contest. Even without a consistently healthy starting secondary this season, the Saints have the third-best pass defense in the NFL, allowing an average of 193.9 yards passing per game. They haven’t given up more than 235 yards passing in a single game since October. The Panthers, meanwhile, are averaging 185.3 yards passing per game. They managed a season-high 326 yards passing last week.

3. Delayed dominance

The Saints defense as a whole has been popping off lately, giving up no more than 20 points in the last seven games. Better yet, since the bye week, the last three losing opponents averaged just 12.7 points against the Saints, which is significantly lower than the 20.9 season average. On the flip side, the Panthers have an average of 25.7 points during that same shorter period. That’s more than their 21.1 average on the season. So, while the Saints defense has gotten betting in stopping points, the Panthers offense has been doing better at scoring them.

4. Ranging runs

Zoomed out, the run game between these two as of late could not be more similar. They’re both totaled 415 yards rushing in the past three games, good for an average of 138.3 yards per contest. Zoomed in, they’re totally different. While the Saints have rattled off three consistent 100-plus rushing games, the Panthers have swung back and forth with their numbers. The Saints last three games look like this: 134, 152 and 129 yards rushing. The Panthers have this: 21, 320 and 74. Saints, obviously since previously noted, won all three of those games. Panthers won only the 320 game.

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