We need to bite back at Saints to save our season
There are certain things our quarterback Cam Newton can do that nobody else in the world can.
Everything changes when Cam – the reigning NFL most valuable player – is out of the picture for the Carolina Panthers.
He missed our last game with a concussion as we lost again to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
We’re still struggling to just play mistakefree football. I barely missed a field goal that I should’ve scored. It’s frustrating but we’re tough and hav e a great group of guys – we need to gel right now.
We play the New Orleans Saints today. They didn’t play last week so are fresh and ready to go.
The easiest way to the play-offs is to win our division – and we have played two, lost two.
In reality, today is a must-win because we are playing our third divisional game.
But New Orleans are looking at this matchup in exactly the same way, having won one game this season too.
We have won in New Orleans a few times but it’s a hard place to play.
They have Drew Brees at quarterback, who is a game- changer, so I hope to have Cam back and playing well today.
The city is a fun place to be and the food stands out. There is so much Cajun- style cuisine, gumbo and alligator.
When I played at Florida State, our rivals were the Gators. Every year our team chef fried some gator up before the big game.
Alligator tastes great. Growing up in Florida, you’d be on a boat going down the river and see one alongside you.
It ’ s al l bus ines s today though. We have some ama z i n g athletes. Look at the Super Bowl last year – we played awful and it was still a close game.
When we are clicking and having fun, we are pretty unstoppable.
The biggest thing our coach Ron Rivera says is to play mistake-free football. There are a lot of times when we have conceded penalties at inopportune times.
He has a calm demeanour but he will tell you the truth even if you don’t want to hear it.
I hope the game goes down to the wire and I can go on to kick the winner. That is always my ideal scenario.