The Panthers played a decent game on both sides of the ball and got to kneel out the clock for a win.
Bryce Young led the Panthers on a touchdown drive in the fourth quarter and got to take his first game winning kneel as the Carolina Panthers defeated the New Orleans Saints, 23-22.
First Quarter
The Saints leaned on Alvin Kamara to start, and the Panthers absolutely could not tackle him. For some reason the Saints went to the air once they got to the red zone, which the Panthers stopped and forced a field goal. The Panthers had a couple of nice plays to Xavier Legette to start their own drive, but it stalled out at midfield with a trademark swing pass to Miles Sanders that loses five yards.
Each team’s second drive was basically the as the first.
Second Quarter
The Panthers defense forced a three and out, and a bad Saints punt set them up on the Saints 40. The offense actually took advantage. Bryce Young made a couple nice throws, and a bubble screen to Jalen Coker set the Panthers up inside the five. Two plays later, young found Xavier Legette on a slant for a touchdown just like in the Broncos game.
The Saints responded with their own touchdown drive. They went to the Taysom Hill offense in the red zone, and he powered in for a touchdown.
The Panthers worked out to midfield. A quick out to Xavier Legette was blown up and got the receiver hurt. The Panthers elected to punt on 4th and short near midfield for the second time, and Johnny Hekker pinned them inside the 10.
The Saints hit another bad punt after a three and out that used almost no clock, which along with a Saints personal foul set the Panthers up inside the 40. They didn’t move the ball at all and settled for a 48 yard field goal.
Third Quarter
The Panthers got the ball to start the second half. Young found Ja’Tavion Sanders on a check down, and the rookie tight end hurdled a defender and took off down the sideline for the Panthers biggest play of the year. Young found David Moore for what should have been a deep touchdown, but the ball was dropped. Young found Sanders again with a dart to keep the drive alive. The quarterback set the Panthers up inside the five with a big scramble where he juked a defender. Chuba Hubbard punched in two plays later. It was by far Young’s best drive of the season.
The Saints drudged their way up the field and picked up a couple of fourth downs on the way. The defense held up after the Saints got into field goal range, and the kick brought the Saints within one.
The ensuing Panthers drive featured three screen passes that gained a total of -3 yards. The third quarter ended with the Saints driving after Carr miraculously escaped a third down sack.
Fourth Quarter
The Saints scored on a great, strong catch by Foster Moreau to take the lead back in the early fourth quarter.
A few plays into the next drive, Young found Legette with a perfectly placed ball over the shoulder, but he had the ball ripped away by the Saints defender for what was technically an interception.
Back to back holding penalties should’ve ended the Saints drive before it began, but soft defense almost allowed the unlikely conversion. Instead the Saints did the Panthers a favor and punted on 4th and 1 from midfield.
The Panthers called another unproductive screen pass to start their next drive and quickly had to punt back to the Saints. They did another couple of favors with a facemask penalty and Alvin Kamara running out of bounds before punting it right back.
Young found Legette over the middle on a 3rd and 10 to keep the drive alive. He drew a pass interference throwing a jump ball up Ja’Tavion Sanders. Chuba Hubbard navigated a crowded line of scrimmage to put the Panthers up with just over two minutes to play. They flubbed up the 2-point conversion attempt, committing a delay of game then letting Young get sacked.
The Panthers got their first sack of the game on second down of the Saints attempt at a game winning drive. That was enough room to force the Saints into a 4th and 4 a couple plays later. The Saints questionably decided to throw a deep fade route to Cedrick Wilson. He couldn’t come down with it under the duress of good coverage from Mike Jackson.
Bryce Young got to take his first career victory formation kneels.
Overview
Bryce Young had one of his better games a pro. He pushed the ball down the field several times and was pretty accurate with several of them. He was very unfortunate to see two perfectly thrown deep balls end up as an incompletion and an interception. He gave receivers a chance down the field when they weren’t wide open, which is something he’s hesitated to do in the past. He played a lot better than his stat line would suggest.
The defense had plenty of struggles, but they were able to get stops when they needed to and held the Saints off long enough for them to shoot themselves in the foot.
It’s nice to get a win. It feels good for Bryce too.
Next week is an early morning start as the Panthers take on the 2-7 Giants in Germany.