Say hello to 2-0!

Good morning and welcome to the September 19 edition of the Saints Insider newsletter.

It wasn't pretty, but the Saints improved to 2-0 with a grind-it-out 20-17 win over the Carolina Panthers on Monday night game in Charlotte. Let's check out the stories we have for you from the big game:

Winning ugly counts

They looked out of sorts and out of rhythm, again, until it mattered, again, beat reporter Luke Johnson reports in his game story from Charlotte. The start of the 2023 season for the New Orleans Saints will not go down in history as the most aesthetically pleasing, but winning ugly counts for something in the NFL, and in consecutive weeks the Saints have emerged at the top of the pile after beating the Carolina Panthers 20-17 on Monday Night Football. It's the first time the Saints have started 2-0 since 2013.

Offense is a work in progress

The scoreboard at Bank of America Stadium told you more than just the final score Monday night. It also told you the New Orleans Saints’ offense isn’t anywhere close to being as good as it needs to be, columnist Rod Walker opines in column about the close win.

Defense dominated -- again

The Saints defense dominated an opponent for the second consecutive game on Monday night. They also received from timely big pass plays from Derek Carr and finally improved their red zone offense. But there's work to do from here, I observed in my quick '3 Things We Learned About the Saints' analysis of the game.

Chris Olave, Michael Thomas shine

Even though the Saints didn’t quite cover the three-point spread, the numbers show they did plenty enough to win, and there were some interesting takeaways to be had after reviewing the betting odds from Caesars Sportsbook, official odds partner of Bet.NOLA.com. Check out Spencer Urquhart's notable numbers file from the game.

That's it for today. We'll have more news and analysis throughout the week as the Saints begin preparations for their road game against the Packers on Sunday in Green Bay, Wis. Also, we will have new editions of our Saints Insider podcasts on Wednesday and Friday, so make sure to check us out on YouTube.

Until next time,

Jeff Duncan