Arizona New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers
Time: 8:25 PM (ET) on NFL Network
Favorite: New Orleans (open: +2.5 / current: 2.5 | over/under: 49.5)
Tonight Week 9 in the NFL kicks off with a great NFC South rivalry game. The second place Saints (3-4) travel to the first place Panthers (3-4-1) to decide who will be at the top of the NFC South after tonight.
The Saints put up 44 points against the Packers in a shootout victory last week, which Drew Brees threw for 311 yards and three touchdowns. The biggest surprise in the Saints victory last week, was their running back Mark Ingram exploding for 172 yards and one touchdown – in his biggest game of his career. The Saints defense also look fairly good causing three turnovers, and two of those being interceptions off of Aaron Rodgers.
On the other side, the Panthers are coming off of one tie and two losses in the last three weeks. Carolina only racked up a total of 266 yards and 9 points last week against the Seahawks, who have been giving up some yards and points this year. The main concern of the Panthers this year is surprisingly their running game. The whole team is only averaging 92 rushing yards per game, which is 27th in the league. Last year, they finished averaging 130 yards per game rushing – which is almost 40 more yards.
Both teams are looking to get the top spot in a wide open NFC South, and they would love to do it by crushing the other. We can’t wait for another week of football, and this game should kick it off with a bang!