The Black and Gold traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina for their third divisional matchup of the season. New Orleans struggled offensively and dropped to 1-2 on the season with a 22-14 loss to the Panthers.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The first three drives resulted in punts with two of them being by the Panthers. For New Orleans, they were setting up to score at least a field goal, but a false start on Adam Trautman and a chop block by Mark Ingram took them out of range.
At the 5:32 mark of the first quarter, running back Alvin Kamara was stripped by Carolina linebacker Frankie Luvu. The fumble was recovered by Marquis Haynes and taken to the house for the first touchdown of the game.
After a Saints three-and-out, Baker Mayfield completed his first four passes of the contest. Carolina’s drive would stall and would settle for a 45-yard Eddie Pineiro field goal to take the 10-0.
With three minutes left to go in the first half, Pineiro knocked down a 48-yarder to extend their lead to 13.
On their final drive of the half, Jameis Winston connected with Chris Olave for 49. Wil Lutz lined up to kick a 30-yard field goal with 33 seconds left but the kick was blocked and the Saints go into the half down 13-0.
New Orleans started the second half with the ball and down the field for over seven and a half minutes. They would attempt another Lutz field goal, this time from 48-yards out. The attempt would go wide right. Jarvis Landry would also go into the blue tent after he picked up a first down early in the drive.
A few drives later, the Black and Gold got on the board with a 10-play, 89-yard touchdown drive. Winston completed all seven of his passes for 85 yards. Ingram finished with the five-yard scoring run.
Carolina responded with a 67-yard touchdown catch by wide receiver Laviska Shenault on a screen. The Panthers would go for two but fail the attempt. Saints were now down 19-7 with 12 minutes left in the game.
Following a Winston interception, the Panthers got close enough to kick another field goal and go up by 15.
Winston managed to find Marquez Callaway for the touchdown with less than three minutes to go. He previously hit a 38-yard pass to Olave and a 48-yard pass to Tre’Quan Smith to set up the score.
New Orleans forced a punt giving the offense another chance but Jaycee Horn picked off Winston to seal the 22-14 win for the Panthers.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jaycee Horn
Horn recorded three pass deflections, and a couple of tackles, and made the game-sealing interception as the Panthers defeat New Orleans 22-14.
BIG NUMBER: 3
The Black and Gold turned the ball over three times, two were Jameis Winston interceptions, and Alvin Kamara’s fumble was returned for Carolina’s first touchdown.
UP NEXT: The New Orleans Saints will go across the pond to London, England to play the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, October 2. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 a.m.