New Orleans Saints vs Carolina Panthers Prediction 9-8-24 Picks

The Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints meet in week 1 NFL action from Caesars Superdome on Sunday afternoon. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this Game. Here’s a Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints prediction.

Carolina Panthers Recap

The Carolina Panthers come in off of another frustrating season in 2023, finishing just 2-15 in year one with Bryce Young as the QB1. It ended up being Carolina’s worst season since a 2-14 record in 2010. Dave Canales comes over after being the OC for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2023, with his stop in Carolina being his first head coaching gig of his career. The Panthers would try to build around Young once again, trading for Diontae Johnson from the Steelers while also drafting other offensive skill players like Xavier Leggette and Jonathan Brooks to go alongside returning veteran Adam Thielen. Chuba Hubbard is coming off of a career year after Miles Sanders was a free agent bust for Carolina while Jadeveon Clowney and K’Lavon Chaisson will flank Shaq Thompson in anchoring Carolina’s defensive front seven. Jaycee Horn will be the top name in the Panthers’ secondary as well this season.

Why the Carolina Panthers will win

• The Saints have lost four of their last five September games as home favorites against NFC opponents.
• The Saints have failed to cover the spread in each of their last eight September games as favorites.
• The underdogs have covered the spread in five of the Saints’ last six Week 1 games.

New Orleans Saints Recap

The New Orleans Saints come into the 2024 season looking to build on a 2023 campaign where the Saints finished with a 9-8 record, but lost out on a playoff spot because of tiebreakers in the division and wild card races. Derek Carr is back at starting QB for the Saints, but the Saints offense needs to be better and their numbers at the end of the season were not indicative of how bad the Saints’ offense was at times throughout the 2023 season, scoring 20 points or less 7 times last season. Gary Kubiak comes in as offensive coordinator, and will be tasked with revamping an offense that still has some solid pieces like Chris Olave, who is coming off of back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and A.T. Perry, who is hoping for a solid sophomore campaign. The key will be helping Alvin Kamara get back to the Kamara of old, and if they can, this Saints team could be one to watch in the NFC South. On defense, Chase Young comes in via free agency to help an aging front for New Orleans, but a neck injury could reduce his ability to see the field early on in 2024. Demario Davis is back at linebacker for the Saints while the secondary will once again be the glue of the New Orleans defense, with Tyrann Mathieu back and the addition of Kool-Aid McKinstry via the draft out of Alabama in the second round.

Why the New Orleans Saints will win

• The Panthers have lost each of their last nine road games.
• The Saints have won each of their last five season openers.
• The Panthers have failed to cover the spread in eight of their last nine road games.
• The Saints have covered the spread in each of their last four Sunday games.

Panthers vs. Saints Prediction

I’m on the under in this one. Neither of these teams are ones I loved backing last year and made more money going against both if I’m being honest, and neither really did anything to improve their respective teams all that much. Both had inexperienced or bad QB play, and I don’t expect much improvement if any on either side. I think this is going to be an ugly slugfest for a full 60 minutes in this one, so give me the under as was the case in many NFC South battles last year.