Panthers bracing for new Saints QB

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers could never really figure out Drew Brees when he was playing quarterback for the New Orleans Saints.

They’re hoping things will be different today with Jameis Winston at the helm.

Brees dominated Carolina for more than a decade, going 18-11 as a starter with 57 TD passes and 22 interceptions. Under Brees, the Saints won eight of their last nine games against Carolina, including a 2017 playoff game. Winston, on the other hand, has struggled against the Panthers, going 4-5 with 9 TDs and 16 INTs when he was playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But facing a seemingly more confident Sean Payton-coached Winston presents a different set of challenges for Carolina’s young defense.

Panthers second- year Coach Matt Rhule said he was impressed with Winston’s arm strength and his ability to extend plays with his feet — two things that Brees wasn’t particularly known for during his 20year NFL career — in the Saints’ surprisingly easy 38-3 win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 1.

Winston threw f ive touchdown passes, including a perfect 55-yard downfield bomb to Deonte Harris, and was able to scramble productively, gaining 37 yards on six carries to keep drives alive.

“His ability to attack you up the field and run with the ball adds a dynamic element to the game that we have to prepare for,” Rhule said.

Like Winston, Carolina’s Sam Darnold is hoping to make a mark with his second NFL team. Darnold threw for 279 yards and combined for two touchdowns in a 1914 win over the New York

Jets in the season opener.

“It’s a significant change at quarterback when you have a starter that’s different,” Payton said of preparing for Darnold.

The Saints’ offense had to conduct practice and meetings without a handful of assistant coaches present this week, and it’s not clear if any of them will be on the sideline today.

Fortunately for New Orleans, Payton designs and calls the offense, and he was present. Payton also took a more hands-on role in meetings where assistants were absent.

“We got a chance to experience one of the best offensive minds in the game, one on one, in a staff meeting running the tape. We got a chance to hear how he wants it done,” Winston said of Payton. “It is a blessing in disguise. I promise. You can ask anyone else. Everybody in that room really enjoys that.”

It didn’t take long for critics to begin questioning the Panthers’ use — or overuse — of running back Christian McCaffrey after he gained 187 yards on 30 touches against the Jets coming off a 2020 season in which he missed 13 games due to injuries.

Offensive coordinator Joe Brady said the team didn’t go into the game planning to get McCaffrey 30 touches, but said Darnold had a number of unscripted checkdown throws to the 2019 AllPro running back because of how the Jets defended the Panthers.

McCaffrey, for one, isn’t worried about his workload.

“I honestly don’t care. I don’t focus on that stuff,” McCaffrey said. “I just focus on being the best player I can be and taking care of my body at all times and prepare like I’m going to going to play the whole game.”