The Saints came out of the gate looking like a souped up car on Sunday afternoon, but as the game progressed, they sputtered out and had to rely on the foot of their rookie kicker to propel them to a 41-38 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
The Saints started things off with the football and marched down the field with a twelve play drive that ended with Coby Fleener running one in from two yards out to make it 7-0.
Later in the quarter, Drew Brees found one of his favorite targets in Brandin Cooks and he proceeded to put on the jets, rolling in for an 87-yard score to increase their lead to two touchdowns.
The Saints forward momentum continued as they forced a three and out and Tommylee Lewis returned the ball to Carolina’s 29-yard line and that led to another touchdown through the air, this time finding rookie Michael Thomas to make it 21-0 early in the second quarter. The Saints had a chance to make it 24-0 after a Sterling Moore interception in the endzone, but Will Lutz kicked it wide left from 53 yards out.
The Panthers would finally get on the board with three minutes left in the half with a 42-yarder from Graham Gano, making it 21-3.The attempt at a rally continued in the second half with Newton connecting with Devin Funchess for the score to make it an 11 point game. But the Saints made it a two-touchdown game as the first half wrapped up with a 33-yarder from Lutz.
The second half scoring started with a controversial penalty on fourth down when Kenny Vaccarro was flagged for defensive pass interference call which gave the Panthers the ball at the one yard line and Cam Newton connecting with Dickson with a near-perfect jump pass to make it 24-17.
The Saints would respond on the next drive with a nice pass to Fleener, which looked intended for Willie Snead, but it didn’t matter as it was taken to the house for a touchdown to put some distance between themselves and the Panthers.
But the distance between the two didn’t matter as the lead was cut into yet again with a two yard run from the returning Jonathan Stewart. Carolina would get the ball back only three plays later after Brees threw an interception to Teddy Williams that led to another short touchdown run from Stewart, but a missed extra point from Gano made it a one point lead for New Orleans.
The shootout escalated as the Saints would make it an eight point lead after a pass to Josh Hill in the endzone counted after review.
But the Panthers kept rolling with Newton running it in for the score and then connected with Funchess to tie things up with 2:58 left on the clock. The Saints would then put the game on their rookie kicker’s foot with a 52-yarder, which he nailed through the uprights for the win.
The Saints (2-3) will now hit the road to take on Kansas City (2-2) next Sunday with kickoff set for noon.
-Clint Domingue