Matchup Notes

• Carolina returns home to face division foe New Orleans on Monday Night Football. The Saints are Carolina's most frequent opponent over the franchise's history, with the Panthers holding a 24-23 edge in the all-time series.
• The Panthers are 10-6 on Monday Night Football all-time, including a 5-2 record since 2011 under head coach Ron Rivera. Over that span, Carolina's win percentage on MNF ranks fourth in the NFL.

• Christian McCaffrey is closing in on the most productive offensive season in franchise history. He needs just 10 scrimmage yards to break DeAngelo Williams' franchise record of 1,636 scrimmage yards set in 2008. Over the last seven weeks, McCaffrey has scored a league-best 12 total touchdowns, and now ranks fourth in the NFL with 13 touchdowns.
• With 926 rushing yards and 701 receiving yards, McCaffrey could become just the 10th different player in NFL history to record at least 1,000 rushing yards and 750 receiving yards in a single season.
• Cam Newton eclipsed the 3,000-yard passing mark last week at Cleveland. He has now thrown for over 3,000 yards in each of the first eight seasons of his career, joining Peyton Manning as the only other player to do so.
• DJ Moore now leads all rookie wide receivers in receiving yards (676) and scrimmage yards (826). He needs 183 scrimmage yards to pass Kelvin Benjamin's franchise mark for the most by a rookie wide receiver.

Upcoming Milestones

Panthers players have a number of career milestones that could be in reach for Monday's game:

• Christian McCaffrey (1,627) needs 10 scrimmage yards to break DeAngelo Williams' franchise record (1,636) for scrimmage yards in a season, set in 2008.
• McCaffrey (86) needs 18 receptions to pass Steve Smith (103) for the franchise record for receptions in a season. If he gets 17 receptions, he will pass Matt Forte (102) for the most receptions by a running back in a season in NFL history.
• McCaffrey needs 74 rushing yards to become the sixth Panther in history with a 1,000-yard rushing season. He needs 74 rushing yards and 299 receiving yards to become the third player in NFL history (Marshall Faulk, Roger Craig) with 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season.
• McCaffrey (6) needs four receiving touchdowns to break Marshall Faulk's NFL record (9) for receiving touchdowns by a running back.

Panthers Single-Season Rushing Leaders

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• Cam Newton (33,131) needs 390 total yards to pass Matt Ryan (33,520) for second-most combined yards (passing and rushing) through a quarterback's first eight seasons. He (240) needs seven total touchdowns to pass Dan Marino (246) for second all-time through the first eight seasons of a career.
• Newton (473) needs 27 rushing yards for his seventh season of 500 rushing and 3,000 passing yards, the most in NFL history.

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• DJ Moore (12) needs three rush attempts to pass Ted Ginn (14) for the most rushes by a wide receiver in a single season.
• Moore (826) needs 183 scrimmage yards to break Kelvin Benjamin's franchise record (1,008) for most scrimmage yards by a rookie wide receiver.

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• Curtis Samuel (2) needs two rushing touchdowns to tie Tavon Austin (4, 2015) for the most rushing touchdowns by a wide receiver in the modern era.

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• Devin Funchess (159) needs four receptions to pass Jonathan Stewart (162) for ninth place all-time in catches in franchise history.

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• Julius Peppers (158.5) needs two sacks to pass Kevin Greene (160.0) for the third-most sacks in NFL history since it became a statistic in 1982.
• Peppers (51) needs two forced fumbles to pass Robert Mathis (52) for most forced fumbles since 2000.

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• Luke Kuechly (17) needs three tackles for loss to pass Charles Johnson (19) for the most in a season in the franchise.

Notable Connections

Coaching Connections

• Panthers running game coordinator John Matsko coached for the Saints from 1994-96.
• Panthers running backs coach Jim Skipper coached for the Saints from 1986-95, and was born in Breaux Bridge, La.
• Panthers assistant defensive line coach Sam Mills III is the son of former Saints and Panthers linebacker Sam Mills, who played for New Orleans from 1986-94 and is in the Saints and Panthers Halls of Fame.
• Panthers defensive coordinator Eric Washington is a native of Shreveport, La., and played at Grambling State University.
• Panthers linebackers coach Steve Russ played with Saints Quarterbacks coach Joe Lombardi at Air Force.
• Saints assistant wide receivers coach Ronald Curry served as the athletic director and head football coach at Mooresville Christian Academy in Mooresville, N.C. Curry also played collegiately at University of North Carolina. Curry played with Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers on both the football and basketball teams.
• Saints defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen served as the defensive line/recruiting coordinator/run game coordinator at North Carolina State from 2013-16.
• Saints head athletic trainer Scottie Patton served as the student athletic trainer at Appalachian State from 1986-90 and graduate assistant athletic trainer at South Carolina from 1990-91.
• Panthers safety Mike Adams played for Saints linebackers coach Mike Nolan, when he served as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Carolina tight ends coach Pete Hoener served on Nolan's San Francisco offensive coaching staff from 2005-08.

Player Connections

• Panthers running back Travaris Cadet played for New Orleans from 2012-16.
• Panthers tight end Chris Manhertz played for New Orleans from 2015-16.
• Saints safety Kurt Coleman played for the Panthers from 2015-2017.
• Saints linebacker A.J. Klein played for the Panthers from 2013-16 after he was drafted by the Panthers in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

Regional Connections

• Panthers guard Trai Turner is from New Orleans and played collegiately at LSU.
• Panthers safety Eric Reid is from Geismar, La., and played at LSU.
• Panthers cornerback Donte Jackson is from Metairie, La., and went to LSU.
• Panthers cornerback Lorenzo Doss is from New Orleans and played at Tulane.
• Panthers defensive tackle Vernon Butler played collegiately at Louisiana Tech.
• Saints tight end Benjamin Watson is a native of Rock Hill, S.C.
• Saints defensive tackle Taylor Stallworth played at South Carolina.

College Connections

• Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey and Saints tackle Andrus Peat were college teammates at Stanford.
• Panthers wide receiver Mose Frazier and Saints cornerback Arthur Maulet were college teammates at Memphis.
• Saints linebacker Alex Anzalone and Panthers defensive end Bryan Cox, Jr. played together at Florida.
• Saints defensive tackle Tyeler Davison and Panthers linebacker Ben Jacobs played together at Fresno State.
• Saints tight end Benjamin Watson and Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis played together at Georgia.
• Saints center Will Clapp and Panthers cornerback Donte Jackson played together at LSU.
• Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas, cornerback Eli Apple, safety Vonn Bell, cornerback Marshon Lattimore and Panthers wide receiver Curtis Samuel all played together at Ohio State.
• Saints running back Alvin Kamara and Panthers safety Rashaan Gaulden played together at Tennessee.

**The Panthers full release and statistical information for Monday's game can be found here.**