Despite a fantastic performance by Luke McCown, the Saints came up short in the closing seconds, falling to the Carolina Panthers 27-22.
After an efficient opening drive by Luke McCown, the Saints had to settle for a field goal by Zack Hocker to take an early 3-0 lead.
The Saints got into the endzone in the second quarter with a five-yard run by Mark Ingram to extend their lead to 10-0.
The Carolina Panthers got one the board later in the second quarter with an 11-yard pass to tight end Greg Olsen to cut away at the Saints lead. The Panthers followed it up by forcing a three-and-out and marching down the field, but having to settle for a field goal to tie it up at the end of the first half.
The Saints came out of the gate in the second half with rookie Marcus Murphy taking a punt return to the house after he muffed the previous punt before a penalty was called for unnecessary roughness which made the Panther punt again. This gave the Saints the lead but missed the extra point due to a botched snap.
Carolina responded once again with another 11-yard pass from Cam Newton to Greg Olsen to take a one-point lead. Graham Gano extended the lead with a booming 47-yarder.
Newton scored, this time on the ground, from 13 yards out to try and put the game away.
But with plenty of time on the clock, the Saints managed to score off of a quick run by Khiry Robinson to the outside, but missed the two-point conversion to make it a three point game. McCown had a chance to win after the Saints defense came up big, forcing a three-and-out. But a deep pass intended for Brandin Cooks was intercepted by Josh Norman in the endzone. But because the Saints still had two timeouts, the defense forced Carolina to punt again, but McCown was unable to complete the rally in the closing seconds.
The Saints (0-3) will return to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for a primetime matchup on Sunday night against Brandon Weeden and the Cowboys (2-1) with kickoff set for 7:30 pm.
-Clint Domingue