The New Orleans Saints season came to an end early Sunday afternoon as they hosted the NFC South foe Panthers. The Saints scored a touchdown early and wouldn’t be able to score again as the Panthers won 10-7 to end the regular season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Black and Gold started off with the ball with their black jersey and white pants combo. Andy Dalton completed all four of his passes for 59 yards. Chris Olave caught two passes for 32 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown. New Orleans was up 7-0 just four minutes into the game.
After a few drives that resulted in punts, the Saints had a chance to extend their lead. Alvin Kamara had a big 22-yard run to get the offense into Panthers’ territory. They would have to settle for a 44-yard field goal, but the kick went wide left.
New Orleans got another chance to score in Carolina territory after the defense forced another three-and-out. This time the Saints tried to go for it on 4th &1 at the 20-yard line, but Kamara got stuffed for a three-yard loss.
The Panthers had by far their longest drive of the game to this point which lasted 14 plays and ran almost seven minutes off of the clock. Tyrann Mathieu intercepted Sam Darnold’s pass at the two-yard line and returned it to the 43-yard line of the Saints.
New Orleans tried once again to extend their lead right before the half. Olave made his third catch in field goal territory and tried to get out of bounds to save a timeout. CJ Henderson forced a fumble while Xavier Woods recovered the ball and returned it near midfield.
The teams headed into the locker room with the Saints holding onto the seven-point advantage.
Coming out of the half, Carolina received the ball and had their second 14-play drive of the game. This time for 82 yards and a touchdown. Marcus Davenport of the Saints and D’Onta Foreman of the Panthers were disqualified in the middle of the possession. Darnold took it himself and dove for the endzone. Mathieu forced the fumble but offensive lineman Michael Jordan fell on the ball for the tying score.
Not much would happen and there wouldn’t be another score until the end of the game. Daniel Sorensen picked off Darnold and returned it all the way to the 35 yard line of the Panthers with less than two minutes to go in the game.
New Orleans would line up for another field goal. The kick was blocked and gave the Panthers another shot and made a 42-yard kick to defeat the Black and Gold 10-7.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Eddy Peniero
There wasn’t much good offensively by either team, so we’ll give it to the guy who made the game winning kick.
BIG NUMBER: 9
The Saints were unable to score on their final nine drives as they fell to the Carolina Panthers 10-7 in the Caesar’s SuperDome.
UP NEXT: We will have to wait until to start of the 2023 season to get more New Orleans Saints football.