THURSDAY NIGHT NOTES: NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (4-5) AT CAROLINA PANTHERS (3-6)

 

November 17, 2016

Week 11 gets underway on Thursday night as the Carolina Panthers host the New Orleans Saints (NBC, NFL Network, Twitter; 8:25 PM ET) in an NFC South showdown. The game features NBC’s debut in the “Tri-Cast” distribution model of broadcast, cable (NFL Network) and digital (Twitter). In Week 6, New Orleans defeated Carolina 41-38 as rookie WIL LUTZkicked a game-winning 52-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining. Saints QB DREW BREES passed for 465 yards and four touchdowns in the game, marking his NFL-record 15th career 400-yard passing performance. Brees ranks second in the NFL with 2,992 yards passing & ties for the league lead with 24 touchdown passes. New Orleans WR MICHAEL THOMASleads all rookies in receptions (51), receiving yards (613) & touchdown catches (five). Carolina RB JONATHAN STEWARTrushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns against the Saints in Week 6. Panthers TE GREG OLSEN ranks first among NFL tight ends with 50 catches and 712 receiving yards while LB LUKE KUECHLY is second in the NFC with 88 tackles.

REGULAR SEASON SERIES

	SAINTS	PANTHERS
SERIES LEADER		23-20
STREAKS		3 of past 4
COACHES VS. OPP.	Sean Payton: 9-12	Ron Rivera: 6-5
LAST WEEK	L 25-23 vs. Denver	L 20-17 vs. Kansas City
LAST GAME	10/16/16: Panthers 38 at Saints 41. New Orleans QB Drew Bress passes for 465 yards & 4 TDs. Saints K Wil Lutz converts GW 52-yard FG with 11 seconds remaining.
LAST GAME AT SITE	9/27/15: Panthers 27, Saints 22. Carolina QB Cam Newton passes for 315 yards & scores 3 total TDs (2 passing, 1 rushing). Panthers TE Greg Olsen has 8 catches for 134 yards & 2 TDs.
REFEREE	Pete Morelli
BROADCAST	NBC/NFLN/Twitter (8:25 PM ET): Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Heather Cox (Field reporter). Westwood One: Ian Eagle, Tony Boselli.

STATS

PASSING	Drew Brees: 263-376-2992-24-7-107.0	Cam Newton: 161-277-1994-10-7-82.0
RUSHING	Mark Ingram: 115-547-4.8-2	Jonathan Stewart: 92-334-3.6-4
RECEIVING	Michael Thomas (R): 51-613-12.0-5	Greg Olsen (TE): 50-712-14.2-3
OFFENSE	427.7	366.7
TAKE/GIVE	+2	-7
DEFENSE	400.6	351.6
SACKS	Nick Fairley: 4.5	Mario Addison: 4.5
INTs	Sterling Moore: 2	Thomas Davis: 2
PUNTING	Thomas Morstead: 49.6	Andy Lee: 49.1
KICKING	Wil Lutz (R): 71 (29/30 PAT; 14/19 FG)	Graham Gano: 65 (20/22 PAT; 15/19 FG)

NOTES

SAINTS: QB DREW BREES has 1,723 passing yards (344.6 per game) with 14 TDs vs. 4 INTs for 114.2 rating in past 5. Passed for 303 yards with 3 TDs last week & became 3rd player in NFL history with 450+ TD passes (452). Aims for 5th in row vs. NFC South with 300+ yards…RB TIM HIGHTOWER has 100+ scrimmage yards in 2 of past 3. RB MARK INGRAM has 4 TDs (2 rush, 2 rec.) in past 3 on road. Has 3 TDs in past 2 at Car…WR BRANDIN COOKS had 98 rec. yards & TD in Week 10. Aims for 3rd in row vs. Car. with 100+ rec. yards & TD. WR WILLIE SNEAD had 2 TD catches last week. WR MICHAEL THOMAS leads NFL rookies in receptions (51), rec. yards (613) & TD catches (5). TE COBY FLEENER had TD catch & rush TD in last meeting…DE CAMERON JORDAN has sack in 3 of past 4 at Car. LB CRAIG ROBERTSON leads team with 80 tackles. Aims for 3rd in row vs. NFC South with 11+ tackles. CB B.W. WEBB had career-high 4 PD in last meeting. S KENNY VACCARO had sack & INT in Week 10. Aims for 4th in row vs. Car. with 7+ tackles…

PANTHERS: QB CAM NEWTON passed for 261 yards & rushed for 54 yards with 2 TDs (1 pass, 1 rush) in Week 10. Is only player in NFL history with 20,000 pass yards (20,257) & 3,000 rush yards (3,486) in 1st 6 seasons. Became 5th-youngest QB all-time with 20,000 career pass yards…RB JONATHAN STEWART has 4 TDs in past 4 meetings…WR DEVIN FUNCHESS aims for 3rd in row vs. NO with TD catch. TE GREG OLSEN has 23 receptions for 357 yards (119 per game) & 2 TDs in past 3 vs. NO. Leads NFL TEs in receptions (510) & rec. yards (712)…DT KAWANN SHORT aims for 3rd in row at home with sack. Since 2015, is 2nd among NFC DTs with 14 sacks. DE MARIO ADDISON has 3 sacks in past 2. LB LUKE KUECHLY is averaging 10.6 tackles per game in 8 career meetings. Since 2012, leads NFL with 679 tackles. Rookie CB JAMES BRADBERRY had career-high 8 tackles in Week 10. S TRE BOSTON had INT last week.