The last game of the Wild Card Round was also the best one, with the New Orleans Saints holding off the Carolina Panthers, 31-26. The Saints move on to face the Minnesota Vikings in next week’s Divisional round.
Drew Brees was in vintage form on Sunday, throwing for 376 yards and two touchdowns on 23-of-33 passing. Still playing great football at age 38, Brees effortlessly carved up the Panthers defense most of the day.
Cam Newton nearly made a valiant comeback, however, rallying the Panthers from a 21-6 deficit before his final drive fell short. The Panthers had their struggles on offense, but Newton still finished with 349 yards, two touchdowns, and no turnovers. Despite losing in the first round, the Panthers still have to be satisfied with a rebound season after going 6-10 in 2016.
On fourth and 23, Newton ate a sack from Vonn Bell, sealing the victory for New Orleans.
On the next play, Newton got flagged for intentional grounding, a back-breaking mistake that cost Carolina 10 seconds on a runoff.
With no timeouts, the hurry-up was on. Newton moved the ball past midfield and close to scoring range, but the clock kept ticking down. A defensive penalty set them up at the 21, and Marshon Lattimore dropped a potential game-ending interception.
Michael Thomas had yet another highlight-reel catch, securing a crucial first down for the Saints. But the Panthers defense eventually forced an interception on fourth down at the two-minute warning, giving Newton one more chance with the ball.
Saints 31, Panthers 26 It’s not over yet! Christian McCaffrey, who’s been invisible most of the game, exploded for a 56-yard touchdown run to get the Panthers back in it.
Saints 31, Panthers 19 While all the attention was on Newton, the Panthers’ defense fell apart at the worst time. Brees hooked up with Thomas for a 46-yard gain, then Kamara scored from 2 yards out for the potential dagger.
Carolina got a huge scare when Newton went down after taking a brutal sack. He got his eye examined on the sideline and went into the medical tent while Derek Anderson checked in the game. The Panthers got good news, however — Newton escaped this hit with only a poke to the eye and cleared concussion protocol.
The Saints are having trouble closing this game out, with the Panthers defense forcing another punt. Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara just haven’t gotten anything going on the ground.
Saints 24, Panthers 19 The Panthers got yet another red zone shot after Newton hit Greg Olsen for a big catch-and-run. It took until well into the fourth quarter, but the Panthers finally got their first touchdown with Olsen catching a 14-yard score. Game on.
In one of the game’s strangest subplots, Saints defensive lineman Tony McDaniel thought his wife went into labor in the middle of the game. It turned out she just has the stomach flu instead.
Saints 24, Panthers 12 Carolina’s defense has no answer for Brees, who once again marched his offense into scoring position. They got a lucky break when Brees committed intentional grounding on third down, but Wil Lutz banged through a 57-yard field goal.
Saints 21, Panthers 12 The Panthers came out of the half with the ball first, and quickly got in Saints territory after a big run by Jonathan Stewart. But once again, they failed to convert a red zone opportunity and settled for a field goal.
Saints 21, Panthers 9 Carolina finished off the half with a 58-yard field goal by Gano.
Saints 21, Panthers 6 New Orleans marched right back down the field in the final two minutes of the half, with a couple of huge catches by Hill and Thomas. Zach Line punched it in from 1 yard, putting the Panthers in an even bigger hole.
Saints 14, Panthers 6 The Panthers didn’t go for it on a second fourth down, opting for another field goal instead.
Riverboat Ron re-emerged with his team down big, going for it on fourth down at midfield. Newton converted rather easily with a sneak.
Saints 14, Panthers 3 The Saints scored again after Michael Thomas laid a vicious juke on Shaq Thompson, setting up an easy red zone play for Drew Brees. A 9-yard touchdown pass to Josh Hill extended New Orleans’ lead.
The Saints suffered a big loss to their offensive line when Andrus Peat got carted off with his leg in an air cast.
Saints 7, Panthers 3 Carolina couldn’t find the end zone again, but at least this time Gano connected on his field goal kick, getting his team on the board.
Newton took advantage of blanket coverage on Funchess, drawing a pass interference flag that gave the Panthers 39 free yards.
Saints 7, Panthers 0 Following the missed field goal, the Saints struck fast with an 80-yard touchdown by Ted Ginn. Of course Ginn burns his former team.
The Panthers got a handful of first downs with Cam Newton scrambles, getting deep into Saints territory. However, they came away from the drive with zero points after Kaelin Clay dropped a touchdown pass and Graham Gano shanked the field goal attempt.
Funchess’ injury turned out to not be serious — he was back in on the Panthers’ next drive.
The Saints went three-and-out to start the game. The Panthers also punted on their opening possession, with Devin Funchess suffering a knee injury in the process.
The Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints will meet for the third time this season, with higher stakes than the previous two meetings. That’s because they’re playing in a Wild Card Game on Sunday, beginning at 4:40 p.m. ET on FOX (live streaming availablevia Fox Sports GO and FuboTV).
Carolina finished the regular season with an 11-5 record despite significant issues on the offensive side of the ball, namely a lack of production from running backs and a whole lot of interceptions from Cam Newton. Jonathan Stewart rushed for just 680 yards on 198 attempts, while Newton led the team with 754 yards on 139 attempts.
Newton also rushed for six touchdowns, and when combined with his passing touchdowns, the interceptions might not look as bad. He completed just 59.1 percent of his passes for 3,302 yards, 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions this season.
Drew Brees has had a good season for the Saints, completing 72.0 percent of his passes for 4,334 yards, 23 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He’s also been assisted by a productive running game featuring Mark Ingram, who put up 1,124 yards and 12 touchdowns with a per-carry average of 4.9 yards.
Newton threw three interceptions and Brees threw three touchdowns in the first meeting between the two teams, a 34-13 Saints’ win. Newton didn’t throw any picks in the second game, but the Saints still won it, 31-21.
We’re going to have coverage of the game with highlights and other news, and below you can take care of some pregame reading.
Pregame reading
- Seven SB Nation experts picked the Wild Card Games, and all seven of them are going with the Saints. To make it truly unanimous, the OddsShark computer joined them in picking New Orleans.
- History is on the side of the Saints when it comes to season sweeps rolling over into the postseason. Since 1970, there have been 20 different instances of a team sweeping a division rival in the regular season, and 13 of those 20 times, the team completed the sweep. New Orleans beat the Falcons both times they played in the regular season.
- On the injury front, the Panthers had some big names limited like Newton and Matt Kalil, and also were without Julius Peppers, Mario Addison, and West Horton, all defensive linemen, earlier in the week.
- The Saints have seven players listed as limited on their injury report earlier in the week, but for the most part, they have fewer big names on the list than Carolina.
- The folks at Cat Scratch Reader took a look at three reasons why the Panthers will win the Super Bowl, not just a win over the Saints. Pretty ambitious!
- Also from Cat Scratch Reader: they took a deep dive on the offensive side of the ball for the Panthers and how far that unit can take the team. There are some issues, but if they’re playing to their potential, they can keep up with the Saints.
- And over at Canal Street Chronicles, they examined the battle between the New Orleans offense and the Carolina defense, obviously the marquee matchup for Sunday.
- The odds of every single potential playoff matchup has been released, if you’re interested in the general opinion of how each team will perform in the postseason.
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