Saints vs. Panthers 2016 picks and predictions: Carolina is a slight favorite Thursday night

The Carolina Panthers are 3-6, but the reigning NFC Champions aren’t out of the playoff hunt yet. With experts leaning towards Cam Newton in a Thursday Night Football matchup against New Orleans, their quest to defend that title should last at least one more week.

The NFC South matchup will air on NBC and NFL Network, and it can be streamed live on Twitter and at NBC Sports.

Prognosticators favor the Panthers to defend their home turf, but the pick is far from unanimous. Both Carolina and New Orleans have explosive offenses with the firepower to overcome the defensive lapses that have defined each team through 10 weeks of the regular season.

The Panthers are trying to become only the third team in modern NFL history to recover from a 1-5 start and rally to the playoffs. Coincidentally, the team that may have derailed their hopes last Sunday was the second team on that list. The Kansas City Chiefs rallied from 1-5 to an 11-5 finish in 2015. In 2016, they rallied from a 17-0 deficit to upend Carolina in a frantic comeback that included double passes, terrible punts, and poorly timed turnovers.

The defeat cut out any margin of error on which the Panthers could have relied. Carolina is 2.5 games behind a wild card bid and 14th in a 16-team conference. A loss against the Saints could be the fatal wound that ends their playoff hopes.

New Orleans has a bit more breathing room, but also needs a win after watching victory slip from its grasp in Week 10. The Saints were an extra point away from taking a 24-23 lead over the Broncos with just 1:22 left when Wil Lutz’s kick was blocked, then run to the New Orleans’ end zone for a defensive PAT conversion.

The loss left the Saints at 4-5 and sliding down the competitive NFC playoff ladder. A win on Thursday could help separate Drew Brees and his high-powered offense from a group of 4-5 teams that includes Green Bay, Tampa Bay, and Los Angeles.

Whoever wins on Thursday will probably be the last offense to hold the ball. Both teams have generated plenty of points but struggled to stop opponents in 2016, suggesting we’re in for a shootout in primetime. No team in the nation gains more yards per game than the Saints, but only two teams allow more points. Carolina has been a bit more balanced, but gave up 48 points against a similarly high-powered passing attack in a loss to Atlanta.

The experts at ESPN are divided, while over at CBS the panel is split right down the middle at 4-4.

Here at SB Nation, the consensus rolled towards Cam Newton in Thursday’s must-win matchup with the Saints.