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Saints look to stop seven year losing streak to Panthers in the Superdome
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Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young have a song called “Find the Cost of Freedom” that has some lyrics that ring true for this Sunday’s game between the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers. The lyrics, “Hear the past a callin’ […] Do we find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground,” have a certain ring to it that describes the past seven years of this divisional rivalry.
Can the Saints actually hear the past calling? The team has not beaten the Panthers in the Superdome since 2001. Allow me to repeat, since 2001! That season, both teams were still in the old NFC West and the Saints surprised everyone by drafting a running back named Deuce McAllister to back up then star running back Ricky Williams.
Allow me to repeat, the Saints have not beaten the in the Superdome since the franchise’s all-time leading rusher’s rookie season. Seven long, long years.
That 2001 season was also the last time the Saints swept the Panthers for the season. Though the Saints have managed to win four road games in their seven trips to Carolina, they have been swept for the season series two of the last three years, for a 1-5 record under Sean Payton against the Panthers.
So can the Saints finally find their freedom against the Panthers, after being constantly buried into the ground by their divisional opponent? It is hard to say yes with confidence.
This game is always of more importance for Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme than anyone else on the roster. Delhomme started his career with the Saints as an undrafted player from the University of Louisiana Lafayette in 1998. He would start the last two games for the Mike Ditka coached Saints in 1999, which included an upset win over the playoff bound Dallas Cowboys in the Superdome.
A change in head coaches before the 2000 season led to a backup role, which he was constantly buried at behind then quarterback Aaron Brooks. Delhomme would play in four more games as a Saint, before leaving for the Panthers in 2003. His first year with the team, Delhomme lead the Panthers to their first ever Super Bowl appearance. The Saints would have to suffer through three more years of Brooks before he was released following the 2005 season.
As a starter, Delhomme is undefeated in six games in the Superdome and has a 9-3 record against the Saints. Drew Brees’ career record against the Panthers is 2-4 including one win with the San Diego Chargers in 2003 at the Panthers. One win with the Saints in five chances for Brees is a surprising stat to read.
Since Payton has come on as coach and Brees at quarterback, the Saints always lose close at home to the Panthers. The last two games in the Superdome, the Saints lost by a combined five points. The biggest lost was by 10 points in 2006, but the Saints were resting their starters for the playoffs and the Panthers were playing at full strength.
Though the past is rather frightening, the present is not too pleasing either.
The Panthers have the league’s fifth ranked rushing attack in DeAngelo Williams and James Stewart. The tandem rushed all over the Arizona Cardinals last week, who were then ranked first in the league in rush defense. The Panthers rushed for 270 yards in the game, the second most in franchise history. The Cardinals fell from first to eighth in rushing defense after the game.
This is not good news for a Saints defense that yielded 151 yards on 20 carries to Atlanta Falcons running back Michael Turner on Monday night, the first hundred yard runner against the Saints this season. The Saints are currently ranked 11th in rushing defense, whereas the Panthers are fifth in the NFL in rushing offense.
One could think that the Saints could simply get an early lead and take the running game out of the equation. But that may be a rather daunting task.
The Saints defense has not fair so well the last two games against the run. The team has been without defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis since his knee injury two weeks ago during the Miami Dolphins game. Kendrick Clancy has been injured most of this season, playing in only two games. Remi Ayodele has started since Week 4 against the New York Giants and Anthony Hargrove has been the diamond in the rough.
Hargrove is a better pass rusher than a run stopper and Ayodele had a spectacular game against the Miami Dolphins but has not done much before or after that game. This might be why the Saints have struggled in two consecutive games against the run.
These two young defensive tackles will be put to the true test against the Panthers on Sunday.
As for the offense, the Saints have the number one offense in the NFL, sixth in passing and fourth in rushing. However, the Panthers have the seventh ranked defense and the first ranked pass defense in the league. The Panthers’ glaring weakness is their run defense, which ranks 24th in the league. The Panthers are also yielding 23.7 points a game.
A solid mix of Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell at running back might get the game moving in the Saints direction. Throw in the occasional Reggie Bush run here and there to catch the Panthers defense out of rhythm, the Saints could set up Brees on more play actions and the passing game as a whole.
When it comes down to it, this game will be won through ball control, clock management, and least amount of turnovers. There is a feeling that this will be another close game for the Saints, perhaps down to who has the ball last scenario.
In my training camp prediction, http://www.examiner.com/x-7128-New-Orleans-Saints-Examiner~y2009m8d11-Preseason-Preview--Saints-fall-to-Panthers-three-way-tie-for-first, I did not have the Saints winning this game. I stuck with the history, but that was before the first preseason snap was taken.
Knowing what I know now, the great plays and the 7-0 start, there might be a change in the winds. This will come down to the wire and I do still think overtime is still a possibility, but I’m going with my gut: Saints win 23-17.
Perhaps this is the game, this is the year that the Saints actually hear the past calling and finally get their freedom from their losing streak to the Panthers in the Superdome. But more importantly, the Saints will hear the past players calling for becoming the first team in franchise history to begin the season 8-0.
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