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NEW ORLEANS -- This is what it has come to for the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers.Either they beat the Saints in the Superdome on Sunday, or they fall into last place in the NFC South by themselves with 10 games to go.You dont expect to start this way, Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly said. Its a situation we are in now and its all about how youre going to respond from it.On its face, the matchup of the Saints (1-3) and Panthers (1-4) has the look of a game between two struggling teams who very well might be going nowhere this season.On the other hand, it could make for a desperate, high-stakes affair, given both teams are trying to salvage their season and believe it is still early enough to do so.Were not looking at them as a 1-4 team. Were looking at them as the returning NFC champions. We know that and just like when I was on a Super Bowl team, the next year, you get the best of every team, said Saints fullback John Kuhn, who played in the Super Bowl with Green Bay.This is two really good football teams going at each other. Throw the records out. Anybody watching this game is not going to be unsatisfied.Weve only played a quarter of the season, Kuhn added. Youve seen it in years past, especially with this division -- anything can happen. Weve got a lot of football left in front of us. So do they. It starts this week. We both understand whats going on.And its not as if either team has been on the wrong end of many lopsided scores. Both teams have each lost games by three points and one point. Those games came down to the final possession and a play here or there could have tipped the balance.The Panthers also played without star quarterback Cam Newton last Monday night against Tampa Bay and only lost on a last-second field goal.Newton, who had been held out because of a concussion, is expected to play this week as the Panthers try to keep pace with the ever-prolific offense designed by Saints coach Sean Payton and executed by QB Drew Brees.We know the team were playing is a championship-level team that has lost some tough, close games, Payton said. Were going to have to be at our best.Here are some other story lines to watch as the Panthers invade the Superdome:NEWTONS NUMBERS: The Saints might be just what a struggling Newton needs. Newton, whose quarterback rating of 80.2 ranks 32nd in the league, often has played well against New Orleans, whose defense has been rated among the NFLs worst in three of the past four seasons and is again ranked 31st so far this season. Newton threw for 331 yards and five touchdowns last season at the Superdome and has 10 touchdowns and one interception in the past three games against New Orleans.HOPEFUL HISTORY: The Saints can look at their own franchise history for examples of why they still might emerge as playoff contenders -- if they can win this week. Under the current NFL playoff system, the Saints have twice made the playoffs after starting a season 1/3 -- once in 1990 and once in 2000.Were trying to be an ascending team -- a team that is trying to get better each and every week, Brees said. I feel like we have gotten better. We have learned and grown.WHERES THE RUSH?: Panthers starting defensive ends Kony Ealy and Charles Johnson have yet to register a sack this season through five games. Ealy said a major reason for that is opposing quarterbacks are getting the ball out quicker, giving the teams front four less time to get to the quarterback.Obviously quarterbacks are doing it for a reason, offensive coordinators are game-planning that way for a reason, Ealy said. They know what our front can do. It would be crazy for them to just be lax back there and know we are going to pressure with four or sometimes five guys. We see it as a sign of respect.GETTING DEFENSIVE: Although the Saints rank second-to-last in the NFL defensively, there have been signs of hope for the struggling unit. New Orleans ranks 13th in the NFL in red zone defense and tied for seventh in the league in limiting TDs on opposing offenses goal-to-go scenarios. Also, New Orleans much-maligned defense came up with a pair of fumble recoveries and an interception in the fourth quarter of their comeback win in their game at San Diego on Oct. 2. Now theyre rested after a bye last week.STEWARTS RETURN: The Panthers are hoping to get Jonathan Stewart back on the field after the teams starting running back missed the past three games with a hamstring injury. When healthy, Stewart is difficult to bring down and can be among the best running backs in the league. If Stewart cant go, the Panthers will turn to Cameron Artis-Payne, who ran for two TDs in a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Randall Cunningham Eagles Jersey . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. JJ Arcega-Whiteside Eagles Jersey .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. https://www.eaglessportsgoods.com/Womens-Randall-Cunningham-Inverted-Jersey/ . Arsenal failed to take full advantage of its main rivals stumbles on Saturday as substitute Gerard Deulofeu levelled with a hard shot from a tight angle in the 84th minute to give Everton a deserved point. Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea. Seth Joyner Eagles Jersey . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. DeSean Jackson Womens Jersey .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Two very tall blokes, one very short one, someone with slicked back hair, another with none on his head but a fair amount on his face; ten more men of different shapes and sizes. No, this is not one of those jokes about what happens when they all walk into an eatery. This is a story about what happens when they play for the same sports team - South Africas cricket team.Ask them what they believe was the most important factor for their third successive series win in Australia and they do not talk about runs, wickets, catches or even specific personnel. They put it down to culture. If you believe Bo Hansen, a three-time Olympic medalist from Australia and author of the book Team Culture - Is it making or breaking your team?, that makes complete sense.Culture is a critical factor in the success of any organised group, whether that be a corporate organisation or a sports team. It is one of the most important factors to get right to enjoy sustained success, Hansen writes.Hansen defines culture simply as the way we do things around here. For a long time, that way in South Africa was brash and bold. Allan Donald bursting through; Graeme Smith batting with a broken hand. Then, after the 2015 World Cup semi-final, which sucked the soul out of the system, South Africa forgot what their way was.It was a low point for everyone. Not only the players but I think the whole country. At the time, we didnt quite know what to do, Kyle Abbott, who found himself at the centre of controversy after being left out of the team, said.South Africa meandered through a series in Bangladesh, met their match in India and against England, and melted under the heat of off-field issues. Lets not deny it: transformation was seen as a game-changer. Some said it would prompt a player exodus. Others said it would promote mediocrity over meritocracy. Almost everyone agreed it would be divisive before they considered that it would also provide a window to a much deeper talent pool than South African cricket has ever had access to before.Maybe that was one of the things discussed at the culture camp the team held before the New Zealand series in August. The exact content of the conversations will not, and should not, become public, but whatever it was, it united South Africas cricketers.Abbott is the embodiment of it. Hotly sought after in county cricket, he stuck it out at home and hoped for a chance, knowing that when he got one, he would bowl his heart out. He did so in the fourth ODI against Australia in Port Elizabeth last month, and he did it again in Hobart today. He said his fire came from the new culture the team has created.I was lucky to be in that first team, led by Graeme. That culture was great but times move on and players move on, Abbott said. What we have come to now as a team and our values are totally different to what it was 18 months ago. It was tough for us. We set down our goals and what we stand for and we walk it and we talk it every day. Thats how you turn things around.Faf du Plessis has also referred to living the new culture. It cant be something you pay lip service to, he said. You might start to understand some of what they are talking about if you look at how they live.dddddddddddd Many of the players are deeply religious, many are also tied to charity work and are doing everything they can to be just as normal as the common people in their country. The new culture is perhaps about representing their people more than themselves and that shows, not just in the fact that they are more diverse now, more than ever, but in the way they chase excellence.South African sport, in all its colours and guises, has always aimed to be among the best, because sporting prowess is seen as a measure of the countrys worth. The setting of that standard is among Hansens nine characteristics of high-performance culture.His other criteria include personal accountability, clearly defined goals and genuine care, words you will hear coming out of the South African camp. But the qualification that stands out most, because it goes against the grain of the machismo usually associated with sport, is relationship-building and communication. This South Africa team has taken that to a different level.From du Plessis jokes about sharing a bed with his champion bowlers to Abbotts confirmation that all squad members know where they stand, the team is in a good space, which also means some of the drivers of the cultural change are the backroom staff. Incidentally, Hansen places responsibility on the coaches to deliberate on, determine and drive a teams culture.Russell Domingo has flown under the radar so far, speaking only once after the Perth Test, when he confirmed the players had recommitted to the countrys cause. He does not have the profile of his predecessor Gary Kirsten, or make the headlines as much as his counterpart Darren Lehmann does, but he has an astute cricket brain and is well stocked with support staff. Adrian Birrell is as down to earth as they come, Charl Langeveldt has moulded the attack into a skilful and scary pack, and Neil McKenzies reputation as one of the nicest men in cricket with one of the best work ethics speaks for itself.Crucially, the selection panel has also made the right calls, like including Keshav Maharaj on this tour, picking Abbott in Hobart, rewarding Rilee Rossouws form with inclusion. Naturally they will make decisions that will be debated and calls that will go wrong, but they have earned confidence and trust with what theyve done so far, from the public and from the players.We are happy off the field, du Plessis said. And it shows.You only need to compare those words against Steven Smiths angst to see how a team can get stuck in an unhappy rut. Smith said he was embarrassed, and said he needed players who took pride in wearing the baggy green, and that he was tired of saying the same things. That was South Africa a year ago. It took immense introspection to get to where they are now but theyve shown it can be done. And they want to keep doing it.Its important to stay with it and stay nice and humble, and dont think the world has changed now that we have won a few series, du Plessis said. We want to keep working hard and making sure we can get better. We want to go special places. ' ' '