Can QB Luke McCown lead the Saints to victory vs. Panthers?

Drew Brees will not be participating in the action when the New Orleans Saints hit the road to take on their division rival Carolina Panthers. New Orleans is currently sitting at 0-2 in the season and are in danger of digging a whole nearly too deep to dig themselves out of right off the bat to start the season.

Who will be trying to help the Saints get their first win of the season on Sunday afternoon? Backup quarterback Luke McCown is going to be the starting quarterback for the Saints, but can he lead them to a victory over a tough Panthers’ team?

During the the two seasons prior to this one with the Saints, McCown only threw one total pass. He hasn’t played any kind of decent role on the field since 2011 during his time with the Jacksonville Jaguars. That should make Saints’ fans nervous in and of itself and there is good reason to believe that he is no longer prepared for regular season action.

At 34 years old, McCown is being asked to get back out on an NFL field and actually lead a team to a win over a very strong opponent.

New Orleans should already be nervous about the veteran and there simply isn’t much of a chance that he can come back out of what was practically retirement to play a big game against the Panthers’ defense. It isn’t like the Saints have a superstar tight end or wide receiver anymore. This entire situation is a recipe for disaster and New Orleans needs to expect the worst heading into tomorrow’s game.

It should be interesting seeing just how bad the Panthers are able to knock off the Saints. More than likely the Carolina defense is going to do whatever it can to put pressure on McCown and force him to make quick decisions.

There is always the chance that McCown can step and shock the media and the league with a big performance. No one really knows what to expect from him this week. Carolina is a tough opponent for any quarterback to face, but perhaps them not knowing what to expect from the Saints’ quarterback could be a disadvantage for the Panthers.

So to answer the original question, at this point in time there doesn’t appear to be much of a chance that McCown will be able to lead the Saints to their first win of the season.

About Evan Massey

Evan Massey is a sportswriter that has been in the industry for the past six years. He has seen his work featured on Sports Illustrated, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN and Bleacher Report. Known for his work ethic and ability to cover any league and team, Evan is always willing to talk sports with fans and debate any topic. Follow him on Twitter at @Massey_Evan, or email him: emasseysports@gmail.com.

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