CHARLOTTE — The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The Carolina Panthers (1-7) and the New Orleans Saints (2-6) are vastly different teams than they were when the divisional rivals met in Week 1. But with both Bryce Young and Derek Carr back as starting signal callers, the matchup takes on some familiar storylines.

In a way though, corner Jaycee Horn sees that as a good thing. The Panthers can look back on what they did wrong in Week 1, marry it with how they've grown, and better prepare themselves for Sunday.

"We see a lot of the film, a lot of corrections on that film," Horn said. "We know they're probably going to attack us in some of the same ways since they had so much success Week one. So, there's a lot of stuff we can learn from game one, but it don't really carry over from week one to week eight or whatever."

So, what's changed? What's stayed the same? Let's break it all down with these five things to watch.

A second chance at the first opponent

On the opening offensive snap of the 2024 season, Young threw an interception over the middle of the field. The Saints capitalized and began an onslaught that led to a 47-10 loss for the Panthers in Week 1.

Young's start on Sunday will be just his fourth of the year, following a quarterback change that saw Andy Dalton take over for Week 3-7, before a sprained thumb sidelined the veteran passer. A mid-season chance to redeem the early season loss could provide a boost for the back half of the season. Young is trying not to put too much pressure on just one game though, focusing only on the week ahead.

"It's a week-to-week league," Young said Wednesday. "We have a ton of respect for them, and we know that it's week to week. So, we take it, we learn from it, obviously watch the film from that game, watch the film from all the games, you know, put a plan together.

"But you know, we go in, again with respect, but we have to do everything we can throughout the week to earn the right to go out and play well. We know it's going to take everything, but we also have confidence in ourselves."

Part of helping Young take a step forward—and subsequently the entire offense—is streamlining the pre-snap process. It's an area of the game Canales admits he still needs to improve on as well.

"It's, for myself, being decisive about what personnel I want out there; the communication from the coaches getting the call into Bryce. Bryce, handling the information, getting it to our players who need to hear the full call," Canales explained. "You know, it's the whole process."

Young is coming off of a game against the Broncos where he found a lot of success against man coverage, going 8-12 passes for 82 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception. His +18.5% completion percentage over expected against man was his highest rate in a game with multiple such attempts in his career.

Dalton was able to practice as a full participant all week with the sprained thumb. While coaches were still hesitant to put him back on the field as the starter just yet so soon from his car wreck injury, he will serve as the backup on Sunday.

The battle of the sack celebrations

Defensive end A'Shawn Robinson broke out a rock-and-roll worthy sack celebration against the Broncos, riffing on an air guitar.

"It was pretty good," outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney said of the celebration. "Better than mine."

Granted being better than Clowney's Week 3 attempt at the Nae-Nae wasn't hard. But it was the presence in the backfield that was notable. Before Sunday, the Panthers had not had a multi-sack game since Week 3 in the win against the Raiders. Robinson had two in Denver, with assisted pressure from Clowney in the backfield.

The defense had just one sack against the Saints in Week 1, with only five quarterback pressures, tied for their worst performance of the season in that respective category. And while Young is taking the week-by-week approach, Clowney willingly admitted to using that early season loss as a bit of motivation.

"That team beat us bad the first game, I hope it's motivation," Clowney said. "I know it is on my end as far as I don't want it to happen again. So go in there and try to make more plays than I did the first game against them to try to make the game tighter and do my job on defense and hopefully everybody can just bring it on.

"It's going to be a better week because we been around each other, we played with each other a lot more lately. So, I think that's a big difference to us being on the field with each other for seven or eight weeks before that first game. So, we're just excited to see what going to happen this weekend."

Clowney could be without DJ Johnson on the other side. He is officially questionable with an ankle injury that saw him exit early last week. But if Clowney does get into the backfield, he's ready to showcase his new celebration.

"I got something else, man," Clowney joked. "Them boys got on me, said I got to grow up. I'm joking but I got something for this week."

A chase for turnovers

The Panthers defense has been searching for takeaways this season. They currently have eight, which is the middle of the league, with only three interceptions (which came in Weeks 2, 3 and 4).

Demani Richardson made a name for himself as a ballhawk during the preseason. Now that he's starting at safety opposite Xavier Woods, while Jordan Fuller and Nick Scott deal with injuries, he's hoping to bring that mentality to the field again.

"I just feel like this defense as a whole, we need more turnovers," Richardson said this week. "And sometimes when Derek Carr gets pressured, once he gets pressured, he'll force throws sometimes. So as a defense, you have to capitalize off those moments.

"So, I just feel like we need to capitalize if he makes a mistake, we need to capitalize on stuff like that."

Carr has thrown four interceptions in five games this year, to eight touchdowns.

The Saints best receiving touchdown getter, Rashid Shaheed, suffered a meniscus injury two weeks ago that proved to be season ending. In answer, the Saints signed free agent Marquez Valdes-Scantling. He hasn't played in a game yet, only arrived a few days ahead of the Week 8 matchup, but the Panthers expect to see him Sunday.

"So, we're going to guess that (MVS) is going to replace Shaheed and what they did," Woods explained. "Shaheed was their deep threat, (Chris) Olave is too, but Shaheed was definitely a deep threat. A lot of touchdowns on deep balls. MVS can be the same way."

A post trade receiving corps

After trading Diontae Johnson to the Baltimore Ravens this week, the Panthers receiving corps looks a little different. Despite not playing in Week 8 against the Broncos (ribs), Johnson was still the Panthers leading receiver at the time of the trade.

His departure though opens a door for rookie receivers Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker to build on what they've done the past few weeks. Legette is tied for fourth for the most receiving touchdowns by a rookie so far this season, and Coker is the third highest graded rookie according to Pro Football Focus.

"It's certainly an opportunity for those guys to be able to play and have the experience, and you know, we expect nothing less from them," Canales said of the duo's chances post Johnson trade.

Added Legette, "That's what I wanted since I first got here. Any chance I got to hit the pile, I just want to make the best out of my opportunity."

Same faces, new places on the offensive line

The offensive line will look the same, but different, on Sunday. With Ikem Ekwonu officially out, the Panthers are moving center Brady Christensen over to left tackle. They will then plug Cade Mays into center, a position he has played at times in the past.

"I think Brady has done such a great job of the opportunities," Canales said. "Stepping in for Corb, being able to play center, it's not an easy thing to do. And the way that he did it was great. And then in-game to be able to pop out and play tackle at an NFL level was fantastic. So, I think I'm just really proud of Brady, the way that he was so mature about the changes and the way that he helped us in those situations."

Prior to Sunday, Christensen last played left tackle in 2021. That season, Christensen took 311 pass blocking snaps at tackle, giving up a quarterback pressure only 13.5 percent of the time, according to Next Gen Stats. Of those 311 pass blocking snaps, 222 were one-on-one, only allowing a pressure on 32 of said blocks.

Through eight weeks, every variation of the Carolina offensive line has held up. The Panthers will still have consistency at their guard spots, with Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt. Outside, right tackle Taylor Moton will have an interesting matchup.

According to Next Gen Stats, Moton has allowed a 6.2% pressure rate this season, the 6th-lowest among right tackles. Moton will likely face Carl Granderson, who has played 75.1% of his snaps at the left edge position and has recorded his lowest pressure rate since 2019 this season (11.9%).