In short order, you will find out the identity of the NFC Souths best team. With two meetings scheduled over the next three weeks, the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints are set to battle for division supremacy as well as a potential first-round bye in the NFC playoff picture. Things get started this Sunday night in the Big Easy with the sequel set for Charlotte on Dec. 22. Catch all the action on TSN starting with Football Night in America at 7pm et/4pm pt. "Its like youre getting the best of the best," NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said when talking about this weeks affair, which will air nationally on "Sunday Night Football." "Youre going to see Carolinas defense, led by Luke Kuechly, going into the Superdome where weve seen everybody struggle to try and stop that offense with Drew Brees. Its going to be fantastic." Fantastic indeed. Carolina has won a franchise-record eight consecutive games, including last weeks dominating 27-6 victory over Tampa Bay. For their next trick the Panthers will attempt to become just the second NFL team to win nine consecutive this season (joining Kansas City) and the first club to beat Brees and Co. in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another against the Bucs, while Carolinas defense, which leads the NFL in fewest points allowed (157), limited Tampa Bay to 206 total net yards and no touchdowns. Newton threw for 263 yards with two interceptions while adding 68 yards and a TD on the ground. Brandon LaFell and Ted Ginn Jr. each had touchdown catches in the rout. "People want to keep pointing at me, but the truth of the matter is our defense is playing lights out and giving us opportunities," admitted Newton. The Saints, meanwhile, are 6-0 at home this season and Brees leads the NFL with a 122.2 home passer rating, which includes 19 touchdowns and only three interceptions. However, New Orleans was blitzed in Seattle on Monday night when Russell Wilson had three touchdowns passes and the Seahawks became the first team to clinch a playoff spot with a resounding 34-7 win over the Saints. The Seattle defense did its part on Monday, limiting Brees to just 147 yards and a touchdown on 23-for-38 passing, and allowing the Saints to cross midfield just once in the first three quarters while also stopping NOLA twice on fourth down in the fourth quarter. The seven total points matched the lowest output the Saints have scored since Sean Payton took over the team in 2006, while the 188 total yards accrued were the fewest in Payton-era. "That first half was real tough and we just couldnt get anything going," said Brees. "We had a bunch of three-and-outs before we had that one drive where we scored. But after that we just couldnt do much at all. We took one in the chin today." With the loss, its first since dropping a game in New York to the Jets on Nov. 3, New Orleans fell into a tie for first in the NFC South with Carolina, and two games behind the Seahawks for the conferences top spot. "Well make sure well get the corrections made because theres a lot of things we didnt do well," said Payton. "Its a short week and we have some work to do here." The Panthers lead the all-time series with the Saints by a slim 19-17 margin after sweeping the season series a year ago. WHAT TO WATCH FOR This is your classic matchup of strength versus strength pitting New Orleans powerful offense against Carolinas league-leading D. Forget the Saints team you saw in Seattle, this is a totally different bunch on the fast track in the dome. New Orleans is unbeaten and averages 33.2 points a game at home this season while outscoring opponents 199-95 in six contests. The Panthers, on the other hand, have won four consecutive on the road and their defense is allowing an NFL-low 13.1 points per game and only 289.8 yards per contest, second best in football. Carolina is also the last team to actually beat the Saints in NOLA, earning a 44-38 decision last December. "There are a lot of things theyre doing offensively that make you say, Wow," Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. "A lot of people thought last year that Jimmy Graham had an off-year, but now watching him he looks like hes in the form he was two years ago. Darren Sproles, Ive got a bottle of Tums next to me because he is a heck of a football player. And Drew Brees is having a classic Drew Brees season." Rivera touched on the two players that make the New Orleans offense so difficult to deal with, matchup nightmares Graham and Sproles. The lengthy Graham has 68 receptions for 988 yards and 12 TDs on the season and six 100-yard games, the most ever for a tight end, while Sproles leads all NFL running backs with 216 catches, 1,872 receiving yards and 16 receiving TDs since 2011. Helping matters for Carolina could be the possible return of star pass rusher Charles Johnson, who has missed the last two games with a sprained knee. Johnson leads the Panthers with 8 1/2 sacks and since the 2010 season is one of just two NFL players with 40-plus sacks (41.5) and 10-plus forced fumbles (10). Kuechly, meanwhile, has settled in as the best middle linebacker in the game, compiling 266 tackles since debuting in 2012, the most in all of football over that period. The Carolina offense isnt nearly as formidable save for the dynamic Newton, who has thrown 19 touchdowns and rushed for six more so far this season. Veteran receiver Steve Smith and tight end Greg Olsen have been Newtons favorite targets but neither will pop the top off a defense at this stage. Newton, though, seems to have realized that he can live to play another down so to speak and punting the football isnt the worst thing in the world with his defense. Taking care of the football is paramount to the Panthers and Newton has done so in recent weeks, although he did throw two picks against Tampa Bay. Overall, Carolina has turned it over just seven times during its winning streak and is one of only five teams with a plus-10 turnover ratio. "We know that were going to have to minimize these turnovers," Newton said. OVERALL ANALYSIS A dismal trip to Seattle and a short week for the Saints was further exacerbated when the teams chartered flight out of the Pacific Northwest was delayed a day. "Its a setback and now youre on a short week, but we have to make the corrections," Payton said. "We have to quickly get focused on Carolina. Theyre playing as good football as anybody in the league right now." The best way to forget about the Seahawks and Seattle is to get back on the horse in the dome and halt Carolinas franchise-record winning streak. Expect the fast track to be the difference here before the Panthers rebound to hold serve in Charlotte down the road. Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Saints 27, Panthers 17 Dallas Cowboys Shirts . Here are some of the best from Week One and some to watch in Week Two: TOP PERFORMERS Anthony Allen, RB, Saskatchewan (176 YDS, 2 TD, 30 touches vs. Hamilton) - Powerfully-built back burst onto the scene in his CFL debut, after a couple of years in the NFL, playing 21 games with the Baltimore Ravens. Stitched Cowboys Jerseys . -- Top-ranked Stacy Lewis birdied the last three holes and five of the final six Thursday for an 8-under 64 and a share of the lead with Mi Jung Hur in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic. https://www.cowboysjerseysale.com/ .2 million in 2012, according to tax returns the league has submitted. Cowboys Jerseys 2021 . Thats when the eight-time champion revealed that a painful back is slowing his serves -- and, all in all, giving him more trouble than his opponents so far. Dallas Cowboys Store . Orlando is to begin play in the MLS for the 2015 season. Kaka, who currently plays with AC Milan, is expected to be loaned out to his home club Sao Paulo for the upcoming season before joining Orlando for next season.CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs newly minted mascot made his debut at a Pediatric Developmental Center of a hospital near Wrigley Field. Clark, a young bear wearing a Cubs jersey and backward blue baseball cap, was accompanied Monday at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center by a dozen team prospects. The mascot is named after the North Side Chicago street on which Wrigley Field is located. TTeam officials say they held focus groups before deciding on Clark, and fans told them they wanted a more family-friendly atmosphere at Wrigley Field.dddddddddddd Clark will greet fans at Wrigley before and during games, and the mascot will have a Twitter account and Facebook page. The Cubs had a live bear mascot in 1916, nine years after formally adopting the Cubs moniker. ' ' '