鈥?Saints coach Sean Payton takes a small measure of comfort in New Orleans’ regular-season sweep of Carolina.It means the Saints (11-5) play the Panthers (11-5) in the Superdome
Michael Palardy Jersey , where New Orleans hasn’t lost a playoff game since 1992 and is 4-0 in the postseason under Payton.Beyond that, however, the Saints coach asserts that teams evolve over the course of a season as they develop chemistry and adjust to roster or positional changes brought on by injuries.And on Sunday, there will be a different psychology to performing in the postseason, when losing brings the season to a sudden end.“Each game’s different,” said Payton, whose team took its first NFC South crown since 2011 by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreaker over Carolina.“From the midpoint of the season, when (Carolina) got on a roll, you can see the confidence grow with that team. And you’re also talking about a team that (two years ago) was in the Super Bowl,” Payton said. “The prior two games don’t matter.”Payton pointed out that the Panthers not only defeated two of the top teams in the NFL this season 鈥?New England and Minnesota 鈥?but beat the Patriots on the road.Carolina coach Ron Rivera doesn’t downplay the significance of those victories.“I don’t think that is overplayed. I think that is a reality. But at the same time, we are playing against a team that has beat us twice,” Rivera said. “We have to figure out what went well and improve on that and what went wrong and correct that.”When the Saints pounded the Panthers by 21 in Carolina in Week 3, it began an eight-game winning streak that vaulted New Orleans atop of the division for good.When New Orleans topped Carolina by 10 in the dome in Week 13
Sam Mills Jersey , it ended a Panthers four-game winning streak and was one of only two losses in Carolina’s past nine games.Their third meeting 鈥?also the first playoff clash between them 鈥?is loaded with story lines. Here are some of the main ones:CAM ON THE RUN: The Panthers have been better when quarterback Cam Newton runs the ball. But Newton, Carolina’s leading rusher this season, didn’t run much in two losses to New Orleans, gaining 67 yards on nine carries.That could change with the season on the line. Newton has averaged 12.5 carries for 59.7 yards per game in Carolina’s past four games.“That’s my edge,” Newton said. “I’m comfortable running the football. I feel like I help the team when I’m running the football.”While Saints All-Pro defensive end Cam Jordan has done well containing the 6-foot-5, 245-pound, fleet-footed Newton in previous meetings, he said he doesn’t exactly enjoy the prospect of having to do so again.“Who likes facing Cam Newton? I mean, come on,” Jordan said. “He’s able to escape, spins. He reverse-spins. He pivot-spins. He gets out of the pocket as well as he climbs through the pocket and he’s got some weight to him. I mean, he’s not a frail guy.”FAMILIAL INSPIRATION: Saints quarterback Drew Brees, whose 72 percent completion rate this season was an NFL record
Trent Murphy Jersey , enters his first playoff game in four years just days after traveling to Texas for the funeral of his 92-year-old grandfather, Ray Akins, a World War II veteran and long-time high school football coach.Brees said his two days in Texas was “obviously very sad” at times, but stressed that he “really came back energized.”“Being with my family, and with friends, and with guys that played for my grandfather, and just listening to their stories again, just reemphasizing to me what a great man he was, and what a wise man he was, and just a true American hero,” Brees said.“He was my hero. I learned so much from him and it just reemphasizes all the important things in life, and the values and morals that I want to live by not only in the way I conduct myself as a family man and in the community, but also as a member of this team.”DEFENDING THE RUN: The Panthers finished third in the league against the run
Alfred Blue Jersey , but struggled to stop the Saints.The Pro Bowl running back tandem of Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara helped the Saints rush for 149 and 148 yards in two games against Carolina, the two highest rushing totals allowed by Carolina this season.“We take pride in being good at stopping the run,” Panthers outside linebacker Thomas Davis said. “If you look at those two games, we flat out didn’t get it done. … It’s uncharacteristic of this defense. This weekend should be a much better showing.”GETTING HEALTHIER: The Panthers expect to get two key players back on offense 鈥?running back Jonathan Stewart and guard Trai Turner.Stewart sat out last week’s 22-10 loss to Atlanta with back soreness. Turner has missed three games with a concussion.New Orleans could get starting left tackle Terron Armstead back from a thigh injury that kept him out of last week’s 31-24 loss at Tampa Bay. He practiced on a limited basis this week and was listed as questionable.Meanwhile, Panthers star tight end Greg Olsen and Saints Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore are slated to play after missing each of the previous two meetings. After struggling with a knee injury late last season, Devonta Freeman says he is on track to returning to the form that made him the NFL's highest-paid running back.
Freeman missed two games for the Atlanta Falcons last season following his second concussion in four months. Then a sprained right knee cut into his production in the last few games of 2017. The injury helped to keep him from his third straight season with 1,000 yards rushing. It also helped to stop the Falcons' bid for a return trip to the Super Bowl.
No offseason surgery was necessary, and Freeman said Wednesday his knee is feeling better.
"I'm able to do a lot of things I couldn't do back in January and February, running, cutting, sprinting, getting a little stronger," Freeman said.
Freeman said he's "making harder cuts" and "sprinting a little faster" in his offseason workouts .
He said he wants to be "100 percent healthy" for the team's minicamp in June and training camp in July.
"Be able to be ready for game one
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Two straight Pro Bowl seasons earned Freeman a five-year, $41.25 million extension before the 2017 season. It was the top overall salary package for any NFL running back. Only Pittsburgh's Le'Veon Bell has a higher average salary.
Health problems quickly followed Freeman's big new deal.
He spent the last two weeks of the preseason in concussion protocol before suffering another concussion on the second play of Atlanta's 27-7 win over Dallas on Nov. 12. He missed the next two games but returned with three strong games, including a season-high 126 yards rushing at Tampa Bay on Dec. 18.
The knee injury helped to limit Freeman's production the rest of the season. He was held to a combined 59 yards rushing in the final two regular-season games and then managed only seven yards on 10 carries in a playoff loss to Philadelphia.
Following the season, Freeman said he feared he would need surgery on the right knee. No surgery was needed, so he has focused on rebuilding strength through his offseason program.
Freeman's health will be a key for Atlanta's offense, which led the league in scoring in 2016 before falling to mid-pack in the league last year. The Falcons will be closely watching Freeman's health, as top backup Tevin Coleman is entering the final year of his contract.
The Falcons selected running back Ito Smith from Southern Mississippi in the fourth round of last week's NFL draft. Smith is expected to replace Terron Ward as the team's third running back, behind Freeman and Coleman.
General manager Thomas Dimitroff said Smith was not drafted to be a safety net if the team can't re-sign Coleman.
"That's not what we're looking back," Dimitroff said Saturday. "We're looking at him being a nice addition in that third position."
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