Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young is 1-5 against the New Orleans Saints in his career. I’m not confident he has a winning record against most of the teams he has played—excluding, of course, his sterling 5-1 record against the Atlanta Falcons. But this year Young has showed he isn’t the same quarterback he was his first three years in the league. Injuries across the board have affected this team more than most, but they have been within one score of their opponent in three of five losses half way through the season.
Thin margins aren’t enough to pass judgment on a team that can’t field a full roster. If anything, they are cause for hope when the team is starting to get healthier. This week that looks like current starters Will Lee III, Jaelan Phillips, and Damien Lewis all returning. Each of those players could have a significant impact above the level of play their backups have demonstrated in recent weeks.
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The Saints are dealing with their own injuries for this week. Their starting center, Eric McCoy, and starting right tackle, Taliese Fuaga, have already been declared out. Their starting left tackle, Kelvin Banks, Jr, has been limited with an ankle injury. This is a contest that could be decided by who can manage pressure the best.
That and the Panthers current upward trajectory for their own health have four out of five of our staff picking the Panthers, in spite of FanDuel still favoring the Saints by -1.5 points:
Staff predictions for Week 10
Walker Clement
Panthers 35, Saints 28 -Lee, Phillips, Lewis, and Legette returning would have made the difference last week against a better Denver squad. It should do more than enough against a struggling Saints team.
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Jonathan DeLong
Panthers 31, Saints 21 – The Saints have been abysmal at home, so a healthier Panthers team jumps on them early and cruises to a win.
Brian Beversluis
Panthers 17, Saints 21 – The pass rush for the Saints continues the Panthers protection woes
Daniel Belton
Panthers 30, Saints 21 – The Panthers might get some much needed reinforcements this week off injury designation, which should help them clean up some mistakes. Panthers win 30-21 in points and 75-45 in penalty yards.
Eric Buchanan
Panthers 29, Saints 23 – Bryce Young runs for his life just well enough to find some explosive plays and take down the Saints.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
