Many say the New Orleans Saints must win as they open their 58th season against the Carolina Panthers, who finished 2023 with the NFL’s worst record. Does the team have to win in Game 1?
Judge for yourself: The Saints have played four straight games against likely playoff teams and three away games: Dallas, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Kansas City. Carolina opens the season with five of its first eight away games.
First, let’s analyze this matchup by going over the trends, series history, weather forecast, lines, and odds. We’ll also give you other information you might be interested in, such as uniforms and starting quarterback numbers against their opponents.
TIME/TV: Sunday at noon at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. The game will be broadcast on FOX, with the commentary team consisting of former WWL-TV sports anchors Chris Myers and Mark Schlereth. The WWL radio team consists of Mike Hoss and Deuce McAllister.
LINE TREND: The line at DraftKings hasn’t moved much during the week. Although it reached a high of Saints -5.5 a few weeks ago, this week it started at -4, briefly dropped to -3.5 and stayed at -4 on Friday. By late Saturday afternoon it remained at Saints -4.
The money line for New Orleans is -192 and for Carolina it’s +160. The over/under total is 41.5. What did I pick in this game? Check out my NFL Week 1 picks column to find out.
WEATHER FORECAST: It’s going to be the nicest weather in New Orleans since spring, but whether it’s sunny or rainy outside… it’s always perfect at Caesars Superdome.
UNIFORMS: The Saints will wear black jerseys with gold numbers, black pants and black shoes. They will wear their traditional gold helmets with the fleur-de-lis.
The Panthers wear white jerseys with black numbers in “Carolina blue” and white pants. They wear their standard silver helmets with the trademark panther in the center on both sides.
SERIES NOTES
Series Guide: The Saints have a 30-28 record against Carolina since the first game on October 22, 1995 in the regular season. The Saints also won the only playoff game after the 2017 season. When they play in September, they are 5-5.
All times in New Orleans: Saints, 15-14
All times in Charlotte: Saints, 15-14
Last meeting: The Saints won 28-6 at the Superdome on December 10, 2023. The Saints only managed 207 net yards and 14 first downs on offense, but the defense forced two fumbles and Derek Carr threw two touchdowns.
Current winning streak: Saints have won two times in a row
Saints’ longest winning streak: 5 (Oct. 2000-Dec. 2002)
Panthers’ longest winning streak: 4 (Twice, 2002-04 and 2005-07)
INFORMATION ABOUT THE SAINTS
Record: 9-8 in 2023 (Series: W2)
Offensive Ranking (2023): 14th overall YPG; 9th overall PPG; 21st running YPG; 11th passing YPG
Defensive Ranking (2023): 13th overall YPG; 8th overall PPG; 22nd running YPG; 10th passing YPG
Notes: The Saints have won five straight season-opening games, but three of those victories were by two points or less. … The last Game 1 loss for New Orleans came at home in a 48-40 shootout against Tampa Bay, when they allowed 417 yards passing and four touchdowns by Ryan Fitzpatrick. This ruined a 439-yard passing attempt by Drew Brees.
PANTHERS INFO
Record: 2-15 in 2023 (Series: N3)
Offensive Ranking (2023): 32nd overall YPG; 31st overall PPG; 20th running YPG; 32nd passing YPG
Defensive Ranking (2023): 4th overall YPG; 29th overall PPG; 23rd running YPG; 3rd passing YPG
Notes: Carolina has its fifth coach since the start of the 2022 season, as Dave Canales plays his first-ever game as head coach. … The Panthers have lost four of their last five season openers. They have not won a season opener on the road since their 23-3 victory at San Francisco in 2017. … The Panthers finished with 188 or fewer passing yards in 14 of 17 games last season.
QUARTERBACKS IN THE SERIES
BRYCE YOUNG is 0-2 against New Orleans
December 10, 2023: 13-36, 137 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT.
18 September 2023: 22-33, 153 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT.
IN TOTAL: 35-69 (.507 completion percentage), 290 yards (145 per game), 1 TD, 0 INT.
DEREK CARR is 4-0 against CAROLINA
December 10, 2023: pp. 28-6. 18-26, 119 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT.
18 September 2023: pp, 20–17. 21-36, 228 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT.
September 13, 2020 (with Raiders): pp, 34–30. 22-30, 239 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT.
November 27, 2016 (with Raiders): pp. 35-32. 26-38, 315 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT.
IN TOTAL: 87 of 130 (66.9% completion rate), 901 yards (225.3 per game), 5 TD, 3 INT.
