The New Orleans Saints[6-7] defeat the Carolina Panthers[1-12] 28-6. Next week, the Saints host the Giants while the Panthers host the Falcons.
1st Quarter: Saints Kicker Blake Grupe misses a 29-yard field goal. Panthers Quarterback Bryce Young is strip-sacked by Saints Safety Jordan Howden and Saints Linebacker Pete Werner recovers. This gives New Orleans the ball at the Carolina 36-yard line.
2nd Quarter: Saints Running Back Alvin Kamara runs in a 9-yard touchdown. Panthers Kicker Eddy Piñeiro kicks a 47-yard field goal. On a Panthers Johnny Hekker punt, Saints Linebacker Nephi Sewell forces a fumble on Hekker, and Saints Linebacker D’Marco Jackson recovers the ball for an 8-yard touchdown. Saints Quarterback Derek Carr throws an interception to Panthers Defensive Tackle Derrick Brown who gives the Panthers the ball at the New Orleans 45-yard line. The Saints lead 14-3 at halftime.
3rd Quarter: Eddy Piñeiro kicks a 29-yard field goal.
4th Quarter: Eddy Piñeiro misses a 41-yard field goal. Derek Carr throws a 7-yard touchdown to Wide Receiver Chris Olave. Derek Carr throws a 4-yard touchdown to Tight End Jimmy Graham. The Saints won 28-6.
Saints Notes:
Offense-This game proved how essential Taysom Hill is. Running, passing, and blocking were all changed because of Taysom not being there. Jimmy Graham was used more. Derek Carr was forced to throw to receivers. There were more runs inside the tackles that were successful instead of designed runs going outside. Alvin Kamara was running well but was not given the ball enough despite averaging over 4.5 yards per carry. Derek Carr spread the ball out to everyone with no real favorite target. Nobody had more than four catches. Chris Olave continues to be underutilized and he will not reach his peak with this offense and/or Derek Carr throwing to him. Against Carolina, I expected a lot more from this offense.
Defense-The pass defense dominated against Bryce Young by allowing under 50 yards passing at halftime. The Panthers could not pass the ball at all and were forced to run the ball. Miles Sanders averaged over 7 yards per carry and Bryce Young averaged over 13. If Carolina did not force-feed Chuba Hubbard then maybe they could have moved down the field faster. The run defense could have locked this game up sooner. Again this is Carolina so I expected more in certain areas.
Coaching-Nothing much to say from the Coaches. Carolina was kept in this game for too long. A couple of weird times for timeouts and play calls. It is almost like the coaching staff stooped down to Carolina’s level for this game and let the players do whatever they wanted.
-Jordan Burden