This is the first meeting between these two divisional rivals this season, as they are due to face off again in the Big Easy in two weeks time to close out the regular season.

 

Saints are currently 11-2 , have won the division and are 6-1 on the road, the Rams loss last night means that they would have a stranglehold on the #1 NFC playoff position by winning tonight, which comes along with home field advantage through the post season, which is HUGE. They could seal that by winning and again at home, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome this coming Sunday, that would allow them to ease off in the New Year game and mean they would not have a "competitive" fixture beteen December 23rd and second week in January and, at this time of year, when players are tired and banged up ( no team is immune), that is a godsend. Carolina are on 6-7, they were 6-2, but did not look of that level and have lost five in a row subsequently and even turning this around and "winning out" (going to 9-7) is still unlikely to be enough to claim a wildcard spot. Star quarterback Cam Newton has been nursing a shoulder injury for weeks and clearly favouring it/protecting it in games and then picked up a leg issue in Detroit last month, his last two starts (Tampa ......easy to score against and Cleveland) have seen his put up a passer rating of 66.2 and 70.0 respectively, his two lowest of the season (102.25 average in his first 11 starts). We have been here before (end of season fall off) with Carolina and Newton and they have lost 5/6 divisional games played in the final month of the regular season and we can add in a post season loss to the Saints last year , but that did get close, as the 5 point winning margin implies and was in New Orleans. Panthers have put up more than 21 points just once in those five straight losses and are going to need to find more today from a QB who is maybe less than 100% not playing well in a struggling team who often have issues at this time of year.

 

However, winning is not covering and you do not have to look at Cam Newton for long to realise how much he loves the limelight and, if he has another performance in him this season, it is going to come out tonight and he is 5-1 on MNF, Brees is on a run of 3-5 in Monday games. Newton's record against the Saints here in Charlotte is decent too, Panthers have won 4/6 and in the last 8 meetings, Newton has 17 TD's to just 5 INT. Some stats highlight that the home side can keep this close, under head coach Ron Rivera they are 22-6 ATS when coming offa road loss and they have an almost 60% win rate versus teams who average 27+ points. Saints are bettors favourites (popular) and oddsmakers know this , with lines often inflated  and under Sean Payton they are 18-25 ATS versus teams with a losing record over the second half of a season. As bad as the Panthers have been in this recent run, their home form remains solid and they are probably significantly better than most of those "losing teams" that New Orleans have faced. If there is to be one more performance from Carolina and especially Newton it will probably come today, not sure that will be enough to force the win, but the handicap start of 5.5 points + feels on the big side.