The Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints will leave the stadium with losing records regardless of what happens when they face each other Sunday in New Orleans.
Both teams are 3-5, but sole possession of first place in the NFC South — barring a tie — will be decided at the dome the Saints call home.
The logjam in the division is nothing new. The Panthers won the division last season thanks to tiebreakers over Tampa Bay and Atlanta, after all three teams finished 8-9 while the Saints finished 6-11.
Entering this weekend’s games, the Buccaneers and the Falcons are just a half-game back at 3-6 and the race likely won’t be settled until Week 18 when the Bucs visit the Saints and the Falcons visit the Panthers.
Carolina is 1-1 in the division but has lost its last three overall, and the Saints are 0-1 in the division but have won two of their last three overall.
“Exciting times, division football right here,” Panthers head coach Dave Canales said. “We have a championship opportunity right in front of us, exactly what we need (for) the focus of the team.”
Two of the Saints’ six victories last season came against the Panthers — 17-7 in Carolina and 20-17 in New Orleans.
“We know each other so well,” Canales said. “We’re aware of the different tendencies, so it’s going to come down to execution.”
Canales fired defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and promoted defensive line coach Todd Wash to interim defensive coordinator in a shakeup of the defensive staff on Oct. 30. In the first game after the changes, Carolina lost to the visiting Denver Broncos 26-21 last Sunday.
“I love the energy that (the defense) took the grass with,” Canales said. “They were all together and really being disruptive up front and we’ll continue to build off that.”
The Panthers’ top four cornerbacks were sidelined by injury and the two starters in the game — Marco Wilson and Corey Thornton — were both called up from the practice squad and combined for five defensive pass interference penalties.
Bryce Young has been sacked a total of nine times in the last two games and will face a Saints defense that is tied for ninth in the NFL with an average of 2.9 sacks per game, led by Chase Young, who is tied for second with eight sacks, and Carl Granderson, who has 7.5.
“Chase is a really good football player,” Saints head coach Kellen Moore said. “Our edge group as a whole is doing a good job. The pass rush speaks for itself.”
New Orleans won a home game for the first time this season last week, stopping a two-point conversion on the final play to beat the Cleveland Browns 23-22 in overtime.
The is the last division game until Dec. 13 for the Saints when the rematch with the Panthers starts a stretch of four divisional games in the final five.
“They won the division last year for a reason — they’re a good football team,” Moore said of the Panthers. “Division games are always really important. We understand the journey we’re on. We’ve got to build on last week, because we have an opportunity to stack some games.”
Only one Carolina starter — linebacker Bobby Okereke — missed practice Wednesday, which was a walk-through. Two starters who have been sidelined — wide receiver Xavier Legette and cornerback Will Lee — were back on the field.
New Orleans starting center Erik McCoy (biceps) missed practice and will not play Sunday. In his absence right guard Cesar Ruiz will move to center and rookie Jeremiah Wright will make his first start at right guard.
Running back Travis Etienne, who is on injured reserve, returned to practice on a limited basis and might be able to play Sunday for the first time in six games.