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The Carolina Panthers (9-3) travel to New Orleans this evening to take on the Saints (9-3) as one of the hottest teams in the NFL having just ripped off 8 straight victories. Their goal of winning 9 straight and to take over sole control of the NFC south is made more difficult by the fact that the Saints have not lost a game at home this season with the Superdome being of the most difficult venues for an opponent to play in. With the new NFL scheduling emphasis on making late season games more meaning as they apply divisional races, these two teams will meet again in Charlotte, NC in just two weeks.
Carolina is coming off last Sunday's win over another divisional foe, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Saints of course lost in Seattle to the NFC's hottest team, the Seahawks. Once again the Saints will face an opponent who's strength is their smothering defense. Drew Brees hopes to have much more luck directing the Saints offense this week and must do much better then last week if they hope to keep up with a resurgent Cam Newton who is once again showing the flashes that he did in his first two seasons in the NFL.
