Saints vs Panthers: Carolina Grades, Notes & Quotes
They allowed Luke McCown to look like a world-beater, but Greg Olsen set a career high in receiving yards and Cam Newton looked fantastic once again as the Carolina Panthers moved to 3-0 on the season by beating the New Orleans Saints, 27-22.
It’s the first time the Panthers have been 3-0 since their Super Bowl season in 2003.
Newton had another great day passing, throwing for 315 yards and two touchdowns and adding another score with his legs, to lead Carolina’s offense. Both touchdowns went to Greg Olsen, who tallied 134 yards receiving on the day.
The Panthers needed every bit of the 431 yards the offense put up, as well. After two consecutive weeks of the defense bailing the offense out after slow starts, it was the offense this week that needed to come to the rescue of the defense.
By the end of the first quarter, the Panthers had just run eight plays on offense as New Orleans dominated the ball and time of possession, scoring 10 points on long drives of 67 and 94 yards. The Panthers allowed McCown and the Saints to rack up 380 yards of total offense, a far cry from what was the fifth-ranked defense in football entering the day.
They made their biggest play when it counted most, however, with Josh Norman making a spectacular leaping interception with just over a minute left in the game to seal the victory.
The Panthers’ win propels them into first place in the NFC South. Both they and the Atlanta Falcons are 3-0, but the Panthers now have a crucial division win.
Let’s take a deeper dive into some of the stories and headlines from the Panthers’ victory.
Grades
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Position | Grade |
QB | A |
RB | B- |
WR | B |
TE | A |
OL | A |
DL | D |
LB | B |
DB | C- |
Special Teams | D |
Coaching | A- |
Quarterbacks
Newton’s 315 yards passing were the fourth most in his NFL career, and the most since he threw for 374 yards against the Chicago Bears in October 2011. He hadn’t topped his 119.7 quarterback rating since November 2013 against the Patriots. Add in 33 yards and a touchdown on the ground, and you have a fantastic day for the $100 million man.
Running Backs
The game flow meant the running backs didn’t get an excessive amount of work, especially when Jonathan Stewart had to leave the game for a few plays when he was shaken up. He still led all running backs with 52 yards and a serviceable 3.7 yards per carry, while Mike Tolbert added in five carries for 16 yards and 28 yards through the air as a complementary option to the offense.
Wide Receivers
Ted Ginn caught four passes for 93 yards, most of it coming on a 55-yard bomb in the second half. The rest of the receiving corps had a very quiet day, combining for just two catches and 27 yards, with starter Philly Brown being shut out.
Tight Ends
Greg Olsen set a career high with 134 receiving yards on eight receptions, including a 52-yard catch that was Carolina’s biggest play of the season…for about 30 minutes before Ted Ginn topped it. Ed Dickson added in two more receptions for 19 yards.
Offensive Line
Cam Newton was only sacked one time, by Hau’oli Kikaha on what essentially was a coverage sack. He had to run his way out of trouble on another occasion, but the offensive line generally gave him plenty of time to work. The Panthers also averaged 4.0 yards per carry on the ground, meaning Carolina was creating rushing lanes when asked.
Defensive Line
A poor day for the front four. No sacks or hits on Luke McCown by anyone, as they let McCown have all day to find his open receivers. They did hold the Saints to just 2.9 yards per carry, with Mario Addison adding a couple of tackles in run defense, but both of New Orleans’ offensive touchdowns came on running plays.
Linebackers
Shaq Thompson had the first sack of his NFL career, and Thomas Davis and A.J. Klein each had 10 tackles to lead the way for Carolina’s defense. They didn’t have a great day in pass coverage, with Mark Ingram and Benjamin Watson combining for nine receptions and 91 yards, but they tended to make the tackle shortly thereafter. It’s worth noting that Davis suffered a minor injury; it wasn’t just a stinger, but he didn’t miss any time.
Defensive Backs
Josh Norman will have the highlight-reel play with his jumping interception to seal the game, but as a unit, they allowed a journeyman backup to complete 82 percent of his passes, with 31 completions for 310 yards. Both Brandin Cooks and Marques Colston had plenty of room to make receptions, although there were no back-breaking ones; the longest was just 23 yards.
Special Teams
The Panthers fell behind in the second half on a punt return touchdown. Brad Nortman had a solid 56-yard punt, pinning New Orleans inside the 10, but an unnecessary roughness call on Teddy Williams forced them to re-kick. It was a costly penalty, as rookie Marcus Murphy’s 74-yard return on the subsequent punt gave New Orleans its last lead of the game, 16-10.
Coaching
Ron Rivera made the right call, going for it on 4th-and-1 on the 20-yard line with 51 seconds left in the half down by three, even if the drive ended in a field goal anyway. He also won a crucial challenge on one of the few spot calls you can win, though he lost another one later in the game in a pile.
Luke McCown, NFL Quarterback
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The general consensus entering the game was that the Saints offense would struggle with future Hall of Famer Drew Brees out and career journeyman Luke McCown in.
Someone forgot to tell that to McCown and the Saints—or, for that matter, the Panthers defense.
McCown got out to a lightning-fast start against a defense that had been one of the stingiest in football over two weeks. In the first half, McCown completed 16 of 17 passes for 124 yards, generating yards almost at will.
This was accomplished with a great offensive game plan from Sean Payton and the Saints’ offensive coaching staff. McCown had a lot of quick, defined reads, with screens, short passes and a lot of horizontal, stretch-type routes. The offensive line helped, too, shutting the Panthers pass rush down and generally giving McCown all the time he needed to scan the defense and find the open receiver.
The Panthers contributed by leaving plenty of open receivers. This wasn’t the same defense that started the season by shutting down the Jaguars and Texans; they were vulnerable and porous, letting McCown scan the field and complete most of his passes. The Saints completed four of their six third-down attempts in that first half as they jumped out to a 10-0 lead.
It was definitely not a showing that the defense, ranked fifth in the NFL coming in, would be proud of.
McCown wasn’t quite as effective in the second half, but still finished the day at 31-of-38 for 310 yards…and a game-clinching interception in the end zone. It’s a much better day than the Saints could have expected, but it ended up not quite being good enough.
Greg Olsen’s Career Day
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Entering Sunday’s game, Greg Olsen’s best day in terms of yardage was last year against Philadelphia, when he caught six passes for 119 yards. He had gone over 100 yards four other times in his career.
We have a new record.
Olsen, who averaged 31.6 yards per game against the Saints coming into this one, feasted on New Orleans’ secondary. He finished with 134 yards on eight receptions, setting a career high.
Olsen was consistently open on crossing routes. He had a touchdown called back by a clear offensive pass interference penalty, and then came back and scored a longer touchdown. The Saints simply did not have an answer for him, especially in the first half.
There had been questions about Olsen’s role in the offense after he was held to a quiet one-reception, 11-yard day in the season opener against Jacksonville. If there were any lingering doubts that he’s the best receiving weapon the Panthers have after a 70-yard day against Houston, today’s game officially slams the door on that one. Olsen is firmly in that group of top tight ends right underneath Rob Gronkowski.
The team may not have a true No. 1 wide receiver, but as long as Olsen can provide mismatches against the safeties and linebackers of the league, they’ll have a passing attack.
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Charles Johnson Goes Down
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Charles Johnson has been nursing a sore hamstring for essentially the entire season so far, missing the entire preseason. He has been fighting through it and playing in the regular season, however.
But in the fourth quarter against the Saints, Johnson was carted off the field with a hamstring injury and was quickly ruled out for the day.
This is definitely a big blow for the Panthers, but Johnson hasn’t actually been that great in the pass rush so far this season. He does have a sack, but he’s arguably been outplayed by Mario Addison on the other side of the line. However, Johnson is still the most experienced lineman the Panthers have, and he’s been above average in run defense. A significant hamstring injury keeping him out would definitely impact the Panthers’ defensive front going forward.
Ron Rivera, in his postgame press conference, indicated he was “concerned” about Johnson’s leg injury, according to Fox 46’s Zach Groth. The fact that Johnson was dealing with the hamstring leading up to the game means that this could be a significant one. We’ll have to wait and see just how prolonged the injury is.
Ron Rivera: Very Pleased with Team Victory
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While coach Ron Rivera pointed out several flaws the team had on both offense and defense, he ultimately was very pleased with what he called a team victory:
"It was a hell of a team victory; it really was. Our guys fought and scratched and did a lot of good things. We made mistakes; we put ourselves in a tough situation a couple times. We’ve got some things we’ve got to shore up. It’s unfortunate. We had an opportunity to play better, and that’s the thing we pretty much got across from our guys. Very pleased with the team victory, though.
"
It certainly wasn’t a perfect victory by any stretch of the imagination. The defense, which had been so solid this season, suddenly struggled against the Saints. The running game didn’t add much, and Philly Brown went without a catch. Special teams continue to be an issue.
All that being said, however, when the Panthers had to make plays, they did so. Newton and Olsen picked up the rest of the team and practically carried them to victory, and Norman made a highlight-reel catch to end the game. There’s only so much you can critique when you pick up a win over a division rival—though the Panthers would love to put one of these games away before the closing seconds one of these days.
Cam Newton: Not Old Enough to Get Calls?
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Late in the game, Newton rolled left, threw a pass and was knocked to the ground out of bounds by Saints tackle Tyeler Davison. It was a borderline play, and could easily have resulted in a late-hit penalty on New Orleans, but no flag was thrown.
According to Newton (h/t Charlotte Observer's Jonathan Jones), referee Ed Hochuli told him that he didn’t have enough seniority to draw that flag. Here is Newton’s response, in full.
"I was really baffled by what was said to me. I was rolling out trying to string out the play and create some type of opportunity to get a completion and the defensive lineman, you know, kind of hit me. It was close. It was right on the cusp. Was it a late hit? I don’t know. But the response that I got was, ‘Cam you’re not old enough to get that call.'
I’m looking at him like what? Jesus. I didn’t think you had to have seniority to get a personal foul or anything like that. You just have to be accountable. It’s one thing to be frustrated in a situation where you see a personal foul on the opposing quarterback get called, and then for me when it’s something around the same range and for that flag not to be called, it’s…I’m ticked off. Really.
Just the fact that it’s kind of, one, did he miss the call? If he would have said he missed the call, that’s one thing. But for his response to be what it was, that I’m not old enough to get that call, geez. So heaven forbid he gets any rookies. They’re going to have a long day. So, I don’t know.
"
A penalty is a penalty, wherever and whenever it occurs. It doesn’t matter if it happens against one of the faces of the league like Aaron Rodgers or a career backup pressed into action. A foul is a foul.
The play itself was borderline enough to not necessitate a flag—it could easily have been called, but I’ve seen the same sort of hits been no-calls in the past. However, if Hochuli really did tell Newton that he wasn’t old enough to get a call, that’s inappropriate, and the NFL needs to respond.
Greg Olsen: That One Felt Good
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Greg Olsen is not one for big, showy celebrations after his scores—he’s mostly workmanlike, turning in efficient plays week after week.
After having yet another touchdown called back due to a penalty, however, it seemed he had had enough. Olsen caught a touchdown pass a few plays later and celebrated with a very emphatic spike.
“Not a big celebrator,” Olsen said after the game (h/t Nick Case), “but that one felt good. That spike felt good.”
Olsen definitely had some pent-up celebration in him. Olsen had a touchdown called back in the season opener against Jacksonville thanks to an offensive pass interference call, and had a second one called back this week because of a pick play. Finally, Olsen got to catch a touchdown that counted, and he basically combined three scores’ worth of celebration into one massive spike.
Bryan Knowles is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the Carolina Panthers. Follow him @BryKno on twitter.
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