The New Orleans Saints take on the Carolina Panthers to start the 2024 regular season. The game is in the Superdome where the Saints have won four of their last five home openers. While the Black and Gold squad will open with a new offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak, and five new coaches on the offensive side of the ball, the Panthers come in with a new head coach, Dave Canales, and a new OC of their own in Brad Idzik. The Panthers dropped both games to the Saints last year and finished the season with a 2-15 record.
Date: Sunday, September 8
Start Time: 1:00 EST
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Stadium: Caesars Superdome
TV Info: Fox (Chris Myers and Mark Schlereth on the call)
Uniform Info: Saints will be in black with gold helmets
Panthers are in white with silver helmets
Panthers Statistical Rankings (2023)
Pts/Gm: 13.9 (31)
Pts Allowed/Gm: 24.5 (29)
Yards/Gm: 265.3 (32nd Overall, 32nd Pass, 20th Rush)
Opp Yards/Gm: 293.9 (4th Overall, 3rd Pass, 23rd Rush)
3rd Down Conv: Offense 34.1% (27)/ Defense 38.0% (15)
Red Zone Conv: Offense 50.0% (21)/ Defense 63.2 % (27)
Saints Statistical Rankings (2023)
Pts/Gm: 23.6 (9)
Pts Allowed/Gm: 19.2 (8)
Yards/Gm: 337.2 (14th Overall, 11th Pass, 21st Rush)
Opp Yards/Gm: 227.2 (13th Overall, 10th Pass, 22nd Rush)
3rd Down Conv: Offense 38.7% (15)/ Defense 34.5% (4)
Red Zone Conv: Offense 53.3% (18)/ Defense 50.0% (8)
Panthers Injury Report
Ian Thomas (TE) Out
Tommy Tremble (TE) Out
Yosh Nijman (OT) Questionable
Saints Injury Report
Jaylan Ford (LB) Out
D'Marco Jackson (LB) Out
Dallin Holker (TE) Out
Khalen Saunders (DT) Out
Willie Gay (LB) Questionable
A.T. Perry (WR) Questionable
Nick Saldiveri (OL) Questionable
Carolina Panthers
Bryce Young will again be at the helm for the Panthers. As a rookie last year there were certainly growing pains that were expected. However, Young was awful against the Saints, especially in the dome. In New Orleans, Young was 13-for-36 for just 137 yards passing. He was also sacked four times. Aside from Adam Thielen and Jonathan Mingo, Young will have a few new targets this season. Carolina brought in Diontae Johnson and David Moore to help boost the WR room. The new wideouts will only be helpful if Young can get them the ball. He was sacked on more than 10% of his dropbacks last year, 62 times overall.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Panthers lost their three top sack leaders. Brian Burns, Frankie Luvu, and Yetur Gross-Matos are all gone. Jadaveon Clowney was brought in to help put pressure on the quarterback. Josey Jewell also came over from the Denver Broncos to help with the linebacking crew. Carolina also said goodbye to Vonn Bell, Jeremy Chinn, and Donte Jackson. Although they brought in Michael Jackson and Jordan Fuller, the secondary is weaker.
New Orleans Saints
Although the Saints have offensive line questions, the Panthers pass rush shouldn't pose a threat and should allow Derek Carr plenty of time. Kubiak will likely spread the ball around early to see what kind of matchups he can exploit. With A.T. Perry questionable, Cedrick Wilson Jr. will likely be opposite Chris Olave with Rashid Shaheed in the slot. Using Taysom Hill, Juwan Johnson, and Alvin Kamara will give the Saints offensive options that Carolina doesn't have the depth for.
With the addition of Chase Young, New Orleans can limit Cameron Jordan's snaps even more. Last year Jordan played on only 70% of the defensive snaps, which marked the lowest of his career. In an effort to keep the 35-year-old as fresh as possible, Young and Carl Granderson will see a ton of time on the field. The Saints' secondary is an excellent group. They finished third in the NFL with 18 interceptions, and the team ended up with 29 takeaways overall, good for fourth in the league.
Betting Info
Points Spread: NO -4 (-108) | CAR +4 (-112)
Moneyline: NO (-198) | CAR (+164)
Over/Under: O 41.5 (-108) | U 41.5 (-112)
All lines are from DraftKings as of noon EST Saturday
Although the new game callers for both teams will put a new wrinkle to the offenses, trends are often hard to ignore. The Under has hit the last seven times these two teams met. It should again as both of these quarterbacks are dealing with new systems.
The spread is a tough call as the Saints are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 week one games. However, they are 7-2 in their last nine home games against Carolina. I like the Moneyline but -198 seems a bit much. However, if you could tease the spread down to New Orleans -2.5, you get it at -158 which is a little more acceptable.
The prop bet to go for here is Bryce Young's 25+ rushing yards at +300. Last year he ran for 34 and 40 against the Saints. The game script does not call for a blowout so Young will look to keep drives alive with his legs. If you want to be bold go for 40+ rushing yards for Young at +950.
Final Score: New Orleans Saints 19, Carolina Panthers 14
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