Last year, Kyle Allen made his first start under center for the Carolina Panthers and led his team to a late-season victory over the New Orleans Saints in a game that was essentially meaningless for the Saints.
New Orleans had already had the No. 1 seed in the NFC locked up, so there was no reason for the Saints to go out of their way to try and win the game.
Still, Allen was impressive, and now, with New Orleans facing him in a meaningful Week 12 matchup on Sunday, things will be quite different.
“He played his a– off against us, that’s what I remember,” Saints defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins said, according to Luke Johnson of The New Orleans Times-Picayune. “They, for lack of a better word, embarrassed us. And yeah, that’s not something we forget.”
So, how will the Saints treat this game differently? Well, they now have some tape of Allen, for one.
“He made some big throws (last year) and certainly you have a chance to look at that film,” said head coach Sean Payton. “But we have so much film from this season that you’re really seeing him in a starter’s role, and that’s kind of how we’re approaching it.”
Allen relieved Cam Newton as the Panthers' starter in Week 3 following Newton's foot injury. He got off to a strong start, leading Carolina to four straight wins, but since then, the Panthers have lost three of four largely due to Allen's struggles, as he has thrown just three touchdowns as opposed to nine interceptions over his last four games.
The Saints are 8-2 on the season and are aiming to nail down another first-round bye. Meanwhile, the Panthers are 5-5 and are fighting for their playoff lives.
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