After suffering a fourth consecutive loss, the New Orleans Saints traveled from the West to the East Coast, this time taking on an NFC South rival, the Carolina Panthers. New Orleans came up with some big stops on defense and special teams to earn their second win of the season, beating Carolina 17-7 on the road.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
New Orleans won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half, meaning Carolina received the football first. The Panthers methodically moved down the field, getting to the Saints’ 31-yard line in 10 plays. Demario Davis’ interception of Bryce Young was called back after safety Justin Reid was flagged for roughing the passer and extended Carolina’s drive. Running back Rico Dowdle was the point of emphasis, getting touches on the final three plays, including the five-yard touchdown run that put the Panthers up by seven.
Tyler Shough was making his second career start in Charlotte and was sacked on second down by Trevin Wallace to set up a 3rd & 12. On the next play, Shough evaded three sack attempts and found a wide-open Juwan Johnson, who went down the field for a 52-yard catch-and-run. Rookie Devin Neal followed that with a 14-yard run, and Shough hit Foster Moreau for another 10 yards, setting up 1st & GOAL from the two-yard line. Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill were stuffed near the line of scrimmage, and Shough had to throw the ball out of the endzone. Blake Grupe’s 21-yard field goal was good, making it 7-3 with 2:52 left in the first quarter.
Three drives later, Nathan Shepherd sacked Young on third down for a loss of 13 yards. That led to a punt, and the Saints started their next possession at the 25-yard line. On 3rd & 8, Shough connected with Chris Olave down the right sideline for a 62-yard touchdown. The cornerback in coverage fell before the catch by Olave.
Cam Jordan also sacked Young a couple of drives later. This time it was on second down, but the defensive play led to the same result, a Carolina punt.
New Orleans had a chance to build on its lead late in the second quarter. Olave came down with an 18-yard catch as the Saints moved the football to the Carolina 40-yard line. It wasn’t enough, and the Black and Gold punted with under 30 seconds to go. Carolina bled the rest of the clock, and New Orleans went into the half with a 10-7 lead.
The Saints began the second half with the ball and went three and out after a holding penalty by left guard Dillon Radunz set up 3rd & 17. DeVaugh Vele was stopped two yards short on the next play.
Carolina lined up for a 48-yard field goal to tie the game, and Shepherd blocked Ryan Fitzgerald’s kick. Normally, the Saints would have taken possession of the ball, but because the ball bounced forward beyond the line of scrimmage, the Panthers maintained possession with a new set of downs. Four plays later, rookie receiver Jimmy Horn Jr fumbled on a reverse handoff, and Pete Werner recovered at the New Orleans 17-yard line.
The Saints followed that up with a 12-play drive that took up almost six minutes off the clock. Kamara dove forward to move the chains on a 4th &1, but the Black and Gold couldn’t repeat that success as Nic Scourton sacked Shough on fourth down.
Young gave the ball back to New Orleans two plays into the Panthers’ next drive as Alontae Taylor faked a blitz and dropped back into coverage to intercept the Carolina quarterback near the sideline.
Shough extended the Saints’ lead with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Johnson on 3rd & 12. New Orleans was ahead 17-7 with 10:20 left in the fourth quarter.
The Panthers began to get desperate as they got beyond midfield. Bryan Bresee and Taylor combined to tackle Dowdle for a one-yard loss and force a fourth down. Carolina elected to go for it, and Young dumped the ball to Chuba Hubbard short of the line of scrimmage.
Following the turnover on downs, New Orleans ran it down the defense’s throat, draining the rest of the game clock. Kamara, Hill, and Devin Neal combined for 10 carries on the final drive as the Saints secured the 17-7 win.
BIG NUMBER: 287
Tyler Shough set the new Saints rookie quarterback record for most passing yards in a game with 282. The previous record was by former Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun Jake Delhomme in 1997, when he threw for 243 yards against the Rams.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Tyler Shough
It was a productive day for the rook. A record-setting 287 passing yards on 19 completions, two touchdown passes, completed four passes for at least 26 yards, and earned his first career win with a 17-7 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
UP NEXT: The New Orleans Saints will be on their bye week next week and return the following week for another NFC South matchup. The next go-around will be the Atlanta Falcons. That matchup inside the Caesars Superdome will be Sunday, November 23rd at 3:25 PM.