Carolina Panthers Offensive Keys to Victory vs Saints
The Carolina Panthers' offense struggled mightily against the elite Chicago Bears' defense last week. They will look to bounce back against the division rival New Orleans Saints in week seven. Second place in the tough NFC South will be on the line in this matchup. The Saints are 1-0 in the division having beaten the Tampa Bay Buccaneers way back in week one. The Panthers are 1-1 having lost to the Bucs early in the year and beating the Atlanta Falcons two weeks ago. We are nearing the halfway point in the season and the outcome of this game could reveal rather Carolina is ready to take that leap into the playoff conversation or not.
Here are our three keys to the game for the Panthers' offense:
Take care of the football
How do you pull off an upset against a team that is more talented? I'm glad you asked. The best way to beat a team that might have a more talented roster is to limit your mistakes on offense. This means no turnovers and minimal penalties. Last week quarterback Teddy Bridgewater threw two interceptions and looked careless with the football at times. Running back Mike Davis also lost a fumble. That didn't fly against the Bears and it definitely won't get the job done against the Saints. The Saints have the type of offense that will make the Panthers pay if they turn the football over and give them a short field to work with.
Take some deep shots
The Carolina offense will have to take some deep shots down the field if they want to keep the Saints' defense honest throughout this game. Taking deep shots down the field is the easiest way to break our No. 1 key of taking care of the football but the Panthers must be able to do both. I never said it would be easy to knock off the division winners from the last three seasons. The Bears exposed the Panthers' offense last week by stopping the run and daring them to throw the ball deep. They held Davis to just 52 yards on the ground. Hopefully, they will have a gameplan put together to stretch the field and to at least prevent the Saints from stacking defenders in the box. Carolina certainly has the playmakers in DJ Moore and Robby Anderson to make catches down the field.
Protect Teddy Bridgewater
Bridgewater was sacked four times last week and under pressure countless times. The Panthers offensive line has played really well this season so hopefully, we can just chalk up their struggles last week to an exceptional Bears defensive line. Carolina does not have the offensive firepower to play from behind the chains too often. Long drives that keep the Saints' offense off of the field is a great strategy to beat them. The Panthers will have to protect Teddy in order to establish long scoring drives.
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