Carolina is for real. They were undervalued because of their incompetence under Riverboat Ron Rivera in close games. But the Panthers have now found a way to win the close ones behind Cam Newton returning to being one of the premier QBs in the league. This is a tough back-to-back situation off the humbling loss at Seattle then flying back 2,100 miles on a short week.

The key for Carolina the pressure its front four gets on quarterbacks. We saw how Brees struggled against that type of pressure from Seattle. Having defensive end Charles Johnson back after missing two games with a sprained knee is key. Quarterbacks have a rating of 33.0 when Johnson is on the field, 47.9 when he is not.

In his last 16 games to New Orleans, Steve Smith has caught a total of 83 passes for 1,271 yards and he has scored 10 touchdowns