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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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Sunday's NFC South clash between the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers at the Caesars Superdome is set up to be an absolute shootout. Both defenses have been bleeding points, with the Panthers allowing the fourth-most points per game (27.4) and the Saints giving up the sixth-most per game (27.0). It will be the first time the two division rivals will face off against each other this season, and with all four teams having just three wins each, the NFC South is wide open.
On Saturday morning, NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported that New Orleans plans to activate running back Travis Etienne Jr. from injured reserve, potentially giving the Saints another weapon on Sunday to drive that score up even further.
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Etienne signed a massive four-year, $52 million deal with the Saints in March after hitting unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career. He spent the first four years of his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars and was coming off one of his best seasons with 1,107 rushing yards, 292 receiving yards, and 13 total touchdowns. But the Jags chose not to re-sign him, instead going in a younger direction with Bhayshul Tuten now leading the backfield, while Etienne joined a rebuilding Saints team looking for a true bell-cow back.
But Etienne suffered a hamstring injury just three games into this season and was placed on injured reserve shortly after. He's since missed the last five games, with the Saints going 2-3 over that span. Across the first three games of the season, Etienne had rushed for 128 yards on 30 carries, averaging 4.3 yards per carry, along with 51 receiving yards on 11 catches, averaging 4.6 yards per catch. He never really got going before the injury, and will look to get off to a strong start in his return to the lineup.
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This comes at an important time for the Saints, who had to lean on Audric Estime, whom the team had just signed, in last week's narrow 23-22 win over the Cleveland Browns. Estime put up 72 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries (4.8 yards per carry) in the win. While he was efficient with his touches, he's not as explosive as Etienne, who was signed to be the Saints' No. 1 option. Having him healthy should give this team some more juice on offense as they look to take control of the division.
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