Thursday Night Football Open Thread: New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers

NFL rules dictate every division must have a winner, yet clearly nobody wants to win the NFC South in 2014.

Somehow, the Carolina Panthers (3-4-1, 1st place NFC South) have herp'd and derp'd their way to the top of the division, but it certainly feels tenuous.  The New Orleans Saints (3-4, 2nd place NFC South) refuse to wear pants when they play on the road, or at least they play like it.  It's to the point where these Saints remind me of my beloved Run 'n Shoot era Houston Oilers, who would often dominate at home and then just absolutely lose their kitten outside the confines of the Astrodome.

The longer the season goes on, the more you figure New Orleans will start to take this division over.  Buuuut, those clowns can only play eight games at home, so we'll have to see what happens when Drew Brees takes the (kitten)show on the road in a key NFC South division matchup.

Actually, there are some intriguing players to watch tonight.  Rookie WR Kelvin Benjamin's game has been quite impressive for Carolina, as has fellow rookie WR Brandin Cooks of the Saints.  Brees should also have Jimmy Graham closer to full-strength as he continues to be eased back into the lineup after hurting his shoulder several weeks back.  Mark Ingram was very impressive Sunday night against Green Bay, but running the ball against the Packers hasn't exactly been a rarity in the NFL this season.

Enjoy the game and let the comments flow like so much vomit on the streets of New Orleans.  Yeah yeah yeah, great city, blah blah blah.  They have full-time vomit-moppers.  It's true.