The New Orleans Saints defense will likely see a different iteration of Carolina quarterback Bryce Young at noon Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

It’s been a long eight weeks since the Saints beat Carolina 47-10 in the season opener at Caesars Superdome. Both teams enter Sunday on losing streaks: the Saints (2-6) have lost six games in a row and the Panthers (1-7) have lost five.

As for Young, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, he was benched for ineffectiveness but returned to the starting lineup in part due to injury and produced one of four best statistical games of his 21-game career in a 28-14 loss to Denver last week.

Young’s best game this season included completing 24 of 37 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns, with two interceptions, in his return after a five-game layoff. He only had two games with more completions, three with more yards and one with more touchdown passes.

The Saints will counter with a defense that allows a league-leading 392.8 yards per game and will be missing cornerbacks Paulson Adebo (out for the season), Marshon Lattimore and Kool-Aid McKinstry.

“Offensively, maybe they tried to do more things to help him, without putting him in tough situations,” defensive coordinator Joe Woods said. “Make it a little easier to operate. Obviously they have a good running game. They’re big up front, good offensive line, so trying to establish the run just makes their offense easier to operate for him.”

“I thought he played better in that game against Denver,” Saints coach Dennis Allen said. “They did some things to try to get the ball out of his hands quickly. I thought he performed pretty well in that situation.

“I thought he did a good job in the two minutes of practice at the end of the game to come down and score some points. He’s a good quarterback. We’re going to have to play well to try to win the game .They drafted him No. 1 overall for a reason.”

That aside, Young has had his share of problems in the NFL.

Carolina is 2-17 when he starts and he has completed 60 percent of his passes, with 13 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. New Orleans is 3-0 against the Panthers with Young as the starter and in the season opener, Young completed 13 of 30 for 161 yards and no touchdowns, with two interceptions. He was sacked four times but scored Carolina’s only touchdown with a 3-yard run.

But Allen said there’s no reason to ruminate on this game or this result.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “This game was eight weeks ago. What we do this week in practice matters, and what we do Sunday in the game matters.”