Beating the Saints in the Superdome is one of the toughest tasks that any NFL team can face. Today, the Panthers will give it a try. The odds are not in their favor, though. With only a couple hours to go before kickoff, New Orleans is favored to win by 10 points.

If they’re going to pull off an improbable upset, here are three keys.

1. Interior pressure on Drew Brees

Brees is unquestionably going to be in the Pro Football Hall of fame some day and the long-standing criticisms about his lack of height are mostly overblown. However, one thing that has borne out over the course of his career is he struggles against pressure up the middle. The Panthers’ interior linemen like Gerald McCoy and Vernon Butler have to get in Brees’ face and force him to make difficult throws. Ron Rivera might also consider throwing in extra A-gap rushers occasionally to keep Brees off balance.

2. Stick with what works defensively

Last week against the Falcons, Rivera reverted back to his traditional four-man fronts, eschewing the 3-4 formations that were ineffective stopping the run. It worked. Atlanta is not a good run team but they were held to only two yards per carry. Rivera should go back to the well and see if his 4-3 looks can slow down Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray. If not, he needs to continue making adjustments to see what works against a Saints team that is more run-heavy this year than traditionally with Brees under center.

3. The Kyle Allen and Curtis Samuel connection

Samuel’s production this season has fallen short of expectations. Heading into Week 12, he’s caught just 38 of 75 targets, totaling 467 yards and four touchdowns. Part of the problem has been Allen’s inaccuracy on deep balls. He has routinely underthrown, overthrown or just plain missed Samuel on longer-developing routes. For what it’s worth, Allen did hit Samuel for a 53-yard touchdown last year against the Saints. Another one would be huge.

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