Welcome everyone to the latest edition of #4Downs where I break down what went right and what went wrong for the New Orleans Saints! This week, I look at the Saints win over the Carolina Panthers.
1st Down: Secondary Looked Slightly Better
For the second straight week, the Saints defense was without Marshon Lattimore, who wasn’t quite 100 percent after suffering an ankle injury against the Los Angeles Rams. While it would’ve been nice to have the star rookie, Ken Crawley picked up the slack on Sunday with two pass deflections.
Was it a perfect performance? No, but it was a solid performance, allowing only 183 yards through the air. Another big factor for the performance is because of Greg Olsen being listed as inactive mere hours before kickoff.
2nd Down: Keeping Cam Down
One of the biggest reason why Cam Newton is so dangerous is because of his ability to create plays with both his arms and his legs. When you can handcuff a player like Newton, who was coming into the game with a slight injury to his thumb, it makes the defense’s job a whole lot easier.
He was kept largely in check with only 51 yards on the ground and was sacked twice. That alone was enough to force him to throw the ball a lot more frequently and that was enough to get their ninth win of the season, guaranteeing a regular season where they finish about .500 for the first time since the 2013 season.
3rd Down: Not Putting Foot On Gas Early
The Saints could’ve had the game in the bag before the half after forcing the Panthers to punt for the third time, but after a completion to Josh Hill he coughed it up and the Panthers pounced on it. The worst part of it has to be the fact that it turned into points and gave the Panthers some momentum heading into the locker room.
It seems like every time the Saints get out to a big lead, something winds up happening to get them two steps back. Thankfully, the defense has been able to limit the damage for most of the season.
4th Down: King of the Hill
Throughout the broadcast on Sunday, the commentators brought up third-string quarterback Taysom Hill. During of Carolina’s punts, Hill wound up beating his man and getting the punter to make a mistake, giving the Saints great field position to set up a quick touchdown in the second quarter. It’s strange to say the least to see a quarterback on special teams, but with his ability to get at the ball, I say why not play him?
Another interesting story coming out of the win was the broadcast team mentioning that Payton said that the next quarterback or this team is in the room. While he could be saying that he expects Drew Brees is thinking about coming back, it makes you think that Hill could be one heck of a quarterback because of his speed on special teams. The big question though has to be can he throw?
-Clint Domingue