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The NFC South is limping toward the finish line with a late season matchup between the Carolina Panthers (1-11, 2-8-2 ATS) and the New Orleans Saints (5-7, 2-9-1 ATS) on Sunday. The Panthers were the first team mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, while the Saints sit at 11th in the conference, but are just one game behind division leading Atlanta. Carolina is coming off a tough road loss to Tampa Bay 21-18, but covered as 3.5-point favorites. The Saints just lost at home to the Lions 33-28, just missing a cover as 3.5-point home dogs. These teams met in Week 2 with New Orleans winning 20-17 on the road. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 EST from the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, and can be found regionally on FOX.
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The Carolina Panthers have earned the unfortunate distinction of being the first team eliminated from playoff contention. Even in the relatively weak NFC South, the Panthers have only mustered one win this season, when they defeated the Texans six weeks ago. The Panthers fight hard, but are low on talent, they are not getting blown out as three of their last four losses came in one-score games. In their last game, they lost in Tampa Bay by three, but Panther running back Chubba Hubbard had a strong game on the ground with 104 yards and two touchdowns.
Bryce Young is 25th in the NFL in total passing yards, and averages 186.8 yards per game. It hasn't helped that the young quarterback has been sacked 44 times this season, the second most in the NFL. Young has a 9-9 TD-INT ratio, and has not thrown for over 200 yards in any of his last five games. Chubba Hubbard has taken over the starting spot in the backfield, he averages 46.4 yards per game with four touchdowns, and had his best game of the year last week against Tampa. Miles Sanders is another option out of the backfield, but Carolina expected more than his 29.5 yards per game average. Adam Thielen is the top receiver, he has nearly 400 more receiving yards than the next highest Panther. Thielen averages 62.8 yards per game with four touchdowns. Rookie wideout Jonathan Mingo is next up with 32.3 yards per game but is still looking for his first touchdown.
The Panthers rank 29th in the league in scoring, averaging just 15.9 points per game, and their defense ranks 31st by allowing 26.1 points per. Linebacker Frankie Luvu leads the team in tackles with 90, and linebacker Brian Burns leads with six sacks. The Panthers do not have any player on defense with two interceptions on the season. The Panthers have forced the least amount of takeaways this season, with just eight through 12 games. Their offense has turned it over 15 times.
Injury Report:
Questionable: TE Hayden Hurst, S Vonn Bell, S Jeremy Chinn, LB Yetur Gross-Matos, DT DeShawn Williams, CB Jaycee Horn