Sitting atop the NFC South here in the middle December was an inconceivable thought for the early-season version of the Carolina Panthers. By the end of Week 4, they were seemingly left in shambles at 1-3 after an embarrassing performance in Foxborough.

Yet, here we are.

Since then, the Panthers have gone 6-3—with wins over the likes of the Green Bay Packers and, more recently, the Los Angeles Rams. Now—with four games left to go—they’re 7-6 and attempting to push the Tampa Bay Buccaneers off the NFC South throne.

Before they can, they’ll have to face who many have considered to be the peasants of the division—the New Orleans Saints. Those pesky underdogs, however, have been far from the lower class of late.

Not only are the fresh off an impressive victory against the Bucs in Tampa, but they also took care of the Panthers rather handily just a month ago. And that 17-7 loss, which followed Carolina’s massive upset in Green Bay, raised some painful questions about the Panthers’ preparation.

Left tackle Ikem Ekwonu told reporters that the team wasn’t locked in on the “small details” throughout their lead-up to the Week 10 matchup. Rookie outside linebacker Nic Scourton also had some unflattering impressions, stating that some players “got too big-headed” prior to the game.

Head coach Dave Canales addressed the rumblings as well.

“Really, we just have a standard for how we work and when it’s not up to standard, it’s my job as the head coach to make sure they’re aware of it. I made them aware of it,” Canales said. “I’ve been in the league for a while now—and I’ve seen, sometimes, you have a bad practice and you play great on Sunday. Sometimes, there’s a fantastic practice and you don’t get the results you want. So I have to look at both things.”

In reality, the chatter around those practices may have been overblown. As Canales put it, the results may vary.

That listless showing, however, should serve as a warning for this weekend.

New Orleans has proved that they are no pushovers. Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough has the offense moving relatively well while the defense, perhaps surprisingly, has allowed the 12th-fewest yards per game and the 10th-fewest yards per play in 2025.

We saw those strengths come into play on Nov. 9 at Bank of America Stadium. The Saints stifled the Panthers, holding them to 175 total yards while Shough ripped off 282 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Given their inconsistencies throughout this wildly interesting campaign, the Panthers must win to sustain their momentum and postseason hopes moving forward. Another defeat at the hands of the Saints would damage their odds of cracking a franchise-record playoff drought ahead of their huge Week 16 showdown with the Bucs.

Have the Panthers learned from their previous mistakes from Week 10?

Can they focus on the small details and deflate their big heads?

Will they be able to take care of business this time, and not look too far forward to Tampa?

If Carolina wants to prove that they’re worthy of extra football this season, they mustn’t get trapped in New Orleans on Sunday.

Follow @ThePanthersWire on Twitter/X for more Panthers content.