Saints vs. Panthers live stream: How to watch ‘Thursday Night Football’ online

This week’s Thursday Night Football game features two teams fighting for their seasons after disappointing losses on Sunday. The Carolina Panthers host the New Orleans Saints in an NFC South grudge match that is essentially a playoff elimination game with both teams under .500. The game can be streamed live on Twitter.

The Panthers, last season’s NFC champions, had a disastrous 1-5 start to the year. They rebounded with two straight wins and looked like they could be making a second-half surge towards a playoff spot. However, their season got derailed once again with a devastating loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 10. The Panthers jumped out to a 17-0 lead and looked like they’d cruise to the victory, but Kansas City scored 20 unanswered points for the comeback win.

It’s not just that the Panthers lost again -- it’s how they did it that has to be dispiriting. The Chiefs didn’t score a single touchdown on offense -- the only time they found the end zone was on an impressive pick-six by Eric Berry. Cairo Santos kicked four field goals as Kansas City repeatedly stalled out in the red zone. Carolina’s defense did more than enough to secure the win, but the offense withered and died in the second half, including a 20-play drive that ended with a punt. With a chance to win the game late, Kelvin Benjamin fumbled away the ball in Chiefs territory, setting up Santos for the game-winning field goal.

Now 3-6, the Panthers’ playoff hopes are dangling by a thread, but they’re not the only NFC South team in deep trouble. New Orleans’ momentum ground to a halt thanks to a truly bizarre loss to the Denver Broncos that dropped its record to 4-5.

Denver’s defense gave Drew Brees all he could handle, but the Saints’ defense was surprisingly game, picking off Trevor Siemian two times and never letting the game get out of hand. However, New Orleans had turnover problems of its own, with Brees throwing two interceptions and wide receiver Michael Thomas making rookie mistakes with two back-breaking fumbles.

Despite those problems, the Saints rallied late in the game, with Brees leading a vintage comeback drive that ended with a Brandin Cooks touchdown. All New Orleans needed to do was make the extra point and it would have been ahead, 24-23, with 1:22 left.

Then disaster struck. The Broncos blocked the extra point try and Will Parks ran it back for a two-point conversion. He appeared to step out of bounds, but the replay was inconclusive due to Parks’ white shoes not giving a clear view of the sideline. (No, really.) At the end of the day, Denver escaped with the 25-23 win and the Saints dropped to 4-5.

Bad luck and inconsistent play led these teams to where they are now, with Thursday’s game setting up as a must-win for both sides. It’s certainly a critical game for the Panthers -- dropping to 3-7 would require them to essentially win out and get help for a playoff spot. With Cam Newton not playing his best football this year, that could be easier said than done.

Time: 8:25 p.m. ET

Place: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.

TV: NBC, NFL Network

Announcers: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Heather Cox

Online: Twitter, NBC Sports Live