The NFC South picture is still messy, but the Carolina Panthers are hanging onto the top spot for now.
That’s the strange reality after Sunday’s 26-21 loss to the Denver Broncos, the Panthers’ third straight defeat. Even with that skid, Carolina stayed in first place because Tampa Bay and Atlanta also lost. Now the focus shifts to Week 10, where the Panthers meet the New Orleans Saints in a game that could shuffle the division again.
Both teams enter at 3-5, and the stakes are simple: a Panthers win gives Carolina sole possession of first place. A loss would send them behind New Orleans in the standings. For a team that hasn’t won since October 4, when it beat the Philadelphia Eagles, that makes this one feel especially important.
Oddsmakers see a tight matchup. DraftKings Sportsbook has the Saints as 1.5-point favorites, with New Orleans at -120 on the moneyline and Carolina at +100.
The over/under is set at 47.5 points. Odds were reported November 10, 2026, and are subject to change.
The Saints arrive with some momentum of their own, though not much. They needed overtime to edge Cleveland 23-22 last Sunday and have won two of their last three games. That still leaves both teams in the same neighborhood, with the Buccaneers and Falcons sitting at 3-6 right behind them.
Carolina’s latest loss was another missed chance. The Panthers had a path to beat Denver, but Bryce Young’s fumble on a strip sack while driving for a potential winning score proved costly.
So now the Panthers don’t need to solve one of the league’s elite teams. They just need to handle a Saints team with the same record and its own issues.
Win, and Carolina stays in front. Lose, and the chase begins.
In Other News...
Panthers Just Opened The Door For A Deadline Move
The Panthers created a little more breathing room ahead of the NFL trade deadline by restructuring offensive tackle Taylor Motons contract, a move that clears $3.5 million against the 2024 salary cap. For a team still sorting through its long-term roster picture, that kind of flexibility matters, especially when the deadline is approaching and opportunities can disappear quickly.
Carolina has already shown some interest in adding help on the back end, hosting cornerback Jack Jones for a visit without making a signing yet. With extra cap space now available, the front office has more room to chase a move if the right player comes into view, and the next step will be whether the Panthers choose to use that opening before the deadline passes. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Secondary Problem Just Became Dan Morgans Toughest Call
The Panthers cornerback room has been thinned out by injuries all season, and the ripple effect has left Dan Morgan staring at one of the rosters most pressing decisions. Jaycee Horn, Mike Jackson and Akayleb Evans have all landed on injured reserve, forcing Carolina to keep patching together depth behind its starters while trying to stay competitive in the secondary.
Morgan now has to decide whether to make a move before the NFL trade deadline or hold off and attack the need in the offseason through the draft or free agency. With so few healthy corners available, the question is no longer whether Carolina needs help there, but how aggressively the front office wants to chase it. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Suddenly Face A Trade Deadline Decision They Can't Ignore
A rough stretch has left Carolina in a familiar spot for this stage of the season: still hanging around the top of the NFC South, but with a record that makes every roster move feel heavier than it should. The Panthers are there by tiebreakers more than dominance, and after the latest loss, the conversation has shifted quickly from standings to whether the front office needs to act before the trade deadline to shore up a team that still has obvious holes.
The most obvious areas of concern are the secondary and the pass rush, and that is where the speculation has started to build. Cornerback Riq Woolen and edge rusher Will McDonald IV have both surfaced as possible targets in the kind of deadline chatter that tends to follow a team sitting in first place without looking settled, but for Carolina the bigger question is whether help is actually available and whether the Panthers are willing to pay for it. [Read more 🡒]