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4 Things Saints Fans Learned about the Panthers from Thursday Night Football

Here are four things we learned about the NFC Champion Carolina Panthers by watching their game last night.

Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL regular season is officially underway with the season kicking off with a Super Bowl 50 rematch between the Champion Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers. This time the Panthers were able to found a brief level of redemption by having a chance to win it on the leg of Graham Gano, only for the kick to go wide left. Broncos won the rematch, with a final score of 21-20.

Here are four things we learned about the Saints's NFC South rival Carolina Panthers (who are thought to be the favorites to win the NFC Championship again in 2016):

1. Kelvin Benjamin is back. Benjamin opened up the scoring in the game with a catch where he was able to use his big frame to make a fine catch and hold on to the ball in the endzone after contact. Then later, right before halftime, was able to elude a tackle at the line of scrimmage on a wide receiver screen and convert a first down.

2. Luke Kuechly is one of the best linebackers in the NFL. He was constantly disruptive and in the backfield, making stops and forcing a fumble.

3. The Panthers pass defense misses Josh Norman. I don't want to take anything away from Trevor Siemian, but (at least at this point in his career) he is no Drew Brees. Still, Sieman was able to find a lot of open receivers at various points during the game.

4. The Panthers defensive line was able to get pressure on the Broncos QB Trevor Siemian, register a couple sacks, and force a poor throw that led to an interception. However, Broncos running back C.J. Anderson ran for over 100 yards and punched it into the endzone twice. Mark Ingram is a comparable back in size and skillset to Anderson, so Ingram could be in for a similarly productive game.