‘Thursday Night Football,’ schedule and results: Saints beat Panthers on the road, 28-10

Here are the three things we learned from the game:

The Saints managed just 2.8 yards per carry, but the ground game still played a significant role in the win. It wasn’t so much the production of the rushing attack as it was simply the Saints’ commitment to it: they ran 37 times on the night.

The play was reviewed, but the touchdown stood. The ball crossed the goal line before Newton’s knee touched down.

Cam either bit his tongue or he’s celebrating Halloween a day early:

All I’m saying is there’s no way you ever would have seen Cam Newton in orange and gray Bobcats cleats.

I like those. I like those a lot. I hadn’t considered how the Hornets are back to matching the Panthers (kinda) color-scheme-wise, but there you go. Down with feline solidarity, up with color solidarity.

New Orleans is favored by 1.5 points on the road over Carolina, with an over/under of 48, according to OddsShark.

For more on the Saints, head over to Canal Street Chronicles.

Despite New Orleans’ terrible play on the road in recent years, the Saints appear to be in better form than Carolina and could pick up a rare road win this Thursday. The Saints are 2.5-point road favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.

OddsShark Computer Prediction: New Orleans 27.6, Carolina 19.3

The Panthers failed to a score a touchdown in three red zone trips in their 13-9 loss to the Seahawks, a recurring theme for Carolina’s offense this season. The team has scored a touchdown on just 46.2 percent of its possessions inside the 20, ranking them 28th in the NFL. They have completely self-destructed near the goal line, with a league-leading 11 plays for negative yards in the red zone. The Panthers have also been one of the most predictable teams inside the 20, rushing on 59 percent of their red zone snaps (third in NFL), yet their 1.2 yards per rush inside the 20 is the lowest among all teams.

The Saints are coming off perhaps their most impressive performance of the season, a 44-23 thrashing of the Packers at the Superdome on Sunday night. Now they need to carry that confidence with them on the road, where they are 0-4 this season and have lost their last seven games dating back to last season, the longest active road losing streak in the league. If there is any optimism in that winless record it’s that three of the four road losses this season have come by three or fewer points. The Saints are the only team this season to lose three games by a field goal or less, regardless of location.