The regular season is here, which means all our hopes have to get in line and wait for reality to begin.
Welcome to our new weekly game pick series where I will attempt to guide you through picking every Carolina Panthers game of the 2024 season. Buckle up, it’s probably going to get rough. This week is going to be a great start as the team faces their beloved division rival, the New Orleans Saints.
As much as I want to pick the Panthers this week, I simply can’t. My FanDuel pick for Week 1 is the New Orleans Saints. I think they thoroughly ground Carolina’s hopes for the season with a convincing 35-17 win at their home.
I have a strong distrust of the New Orleans Saints ability to create and sustain success, so this isn’t the easiest prediction to make. However, I do think that the Panthers are fielding a defense that is stocked with the bare minimum of NFL talent. Jadaveon Clowney and Derrick Brown would have to play the games of their collective lives. Cornerbacks that none of us have ever heard of will need to become overnight household names. The odds are not in our favor.
I believe in what Dave Canales is preaching. I believe that Bryce Young is going to look miles better and that the Panthers offense is going to look miles better. I also believe they are going to be stuck in a shoot out that their development timeline is just not suited for.
The Panthers have gone all in on offense this season in an effort to evaluate Young. That makes sense, but it does have real world costs. You can’t abandon one side of the ball and expect to win. Starting opposite Clowney is 2023 third round NFL draft pick DJ Johnson. Johnson played in 29% of the teams snaps last season and registered 16 tackles. He made very little noise in the preseason and is now expected to put pressure on quarterbacks until the return of unproven talents Amare Barno and DJ Wonnum in, at best, Week 5.
I’ll sell you some optimism come Monday, but for right now I’d put money on the Saints.