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"I think everyone will agree with me on this: it's been a crazy week that's going to get crazier when the Saints head to Charlotte to face the Carolina Panthers.The Saints head to Carolina, looking to clinch the NFC South and the number two seed, but the Black and Gold will have to go on the road.Yes, the road where the Saints have struggled all season with a 3-4 mark.In the four losses, the Saints have averaged 15 points a game. Even in their three wins they've struggled to score, averaging around 20 points.The problem is simple: slow starts by the offense -- whether it's turnovers, missed field goals, or three and outs.Brees says they're just not executing, but the chances are there.I heard Brees earlier in the week say, \"We need to simplify the game plan on the road.\"I couldn't agree with him more than that, but at the end of the day it still comes to catching, running and blocking. It's what I like to call the basics of football.Speaking of blocking, I'm interested to see how rookie left tackle Terron Armstead does in his first career start. This is a guy who has played in four games, but all of his snaps have come on special teams.It's a tough spot to put a rookie against a top defense like the Panthers. I believe Ron Rivera will send the house at Armstead, trying to get to Brees' blindside.Alright, back to Brees and the offense. They looked amazing in their 31-13 win over the Panthers on Dec. 8.That was, by far, the worst game the Panthers defense played all season.Brees killed them for more than 300 yards and four touchdowns. They went into that game giving up only two first-half touchdowns all season. Brees drilled them for three scores just in the second quarter.If you ask me, I think the Panthers defense will be more ready after watching what happened to them a few weeks ago. They will try pressuring Brees in any way possible and those defensive backs will play physical with the receivers so they don't get open down the field. The Panthers are still the second-ranked defense, allowing under 15 points and 300 yards a game.For the Saints to have a chance, they need the running game to help out. I've been saying, \"If they can just rush for a 100 yards as a team, the Saints will win that game.\"You don't understand how much pressure that takes off Brees. He's coming off a game where he threw the ball 56 times and they rushed it for 61 yards on 20 carries.I've been beating the \"running the ball\" drum since week one and it hasn't worked yet. My idea had been to run the two-minute offense so defenses can't adjust and make substitutions. But that's just my opinion and what I want to see.The defense picked a bad time to miss tackles. That's a bad omen going on the road, and facing a team that likes to run the ball with three running backs and Cam Newton.Junior Galette said that situation can't happen against Newton or it could be a nightmare for them. This is the same guy that Galette and Cam Jordan sacked five times two weeks ago. They also played Newton's receivers and tight ends physically and saw Newton finish 22/34 for 160 yards.The Saints held them under 250 yards. I will bet that Carolina will make it an emphasis to run the ball with Williams, Stewart, Tolbert and Newton after watching what Zac Stacy did to the Saints.Lets be honest, the Panthers' philosophy is to run it like the Saints throw it. I don't think any of that will change for either team come this Sunday. Newton will have a better game this time around. It's just the law of averages. I know I feel like I've been using the phrase a lot this year.Another concern that many of us have is creating turnovers. They've only forced two turnovers in the last seven games, after having 15 in the first seven.It seems like games were so much easier when they were forcing turnovers, which sounds like a no-brainer comment, but it's true. When they created all those turnovers, the Saints were 6-1 compared to 4-3 with two forced turnovers. I say the team that wins that battle wins the game.My pick to click this week is Jimmy Graham. He went missing last week against the Rams, thanks to the double and triple teams he saw all game. Graham had only two catches for 25 yards. However, No. 80 had six receptions for 58 yards and two TDs last time out against the Panthers. If he can come remotely close to that, Brees will be in good shape.So the Saints have now lost four games, but after each one of those losses they've come back to win the following game.Unfortunately those wins all came at home and this game is being played in Charlotte, where the Panthers have only lost once. Seattle beat them 12-7 in the first game of the season. Since the Panthers 1-3 start they've won nine of 10 games. They've won six straight at home by an average of 19 points.So many times this season I've predicted the Saints to win on the road and they burned me, but this time I'm going with the home team, because they're just hotter right now.Saints 20, Panthers 24"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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