New Orleans Saints Lucky To Beat Carolina

After having suffered a loss to division rival Atlanta (their first of the season), the New Orleans Saints sought to get a win and keep pace in the NFC South.  The Panthers, losers of three straight, just wanted to get a win and feel better about themselves.  In the end the Saints didn’t play their best football. They made some near-costly mistakes but they did end up beating the Panthers 16-14.

The Panthers have played the Saints tough at home for the past few seasons and, once again, they came in determined to win and almost did.  Had it not been for the fact that Carolina had a rookie quarterback running the offense in Jimmy Clausen, they may have won this game.

The following is a look at Saints victory over the Panthers this Sunday at the Superdome with some insight into how they won and why.

Scoring Summary

The Saints got the first score of the game after quarterback Drew Brees connected with wide receiver Lance Moore for a four-yard touchdown pass to put the Saints up by seven.  The Panthers would tie it up shortly after that with a 55-yard touchdown catch and run by running back Jonathan Stewart.

Newly acquired kicker John Carney booted a 32-yard field goal in the second to make it 10-7 heading into halftime.  

The Panthers jumped ahead of the Saints in the third quarter after running back DeAngelo Williams broke loose and ran for a 39-yard touchdown.  A John Kasay extra point made it 14-10 in favor of Carolina.

The Saints squeezed to within one after Carney hit a 32-yard field goal in the third quarter.  The Saints would get the go ahead score off of another Carney field goal (this one from 25 yards) to go ahead by two and make it 16-14.

Despite a determined effort to come down the field and try to get a field goal, the Panthers fell short and the Saints ended up winning the game 16-14.

Stud of the Game

The Saints signed Carney off the street this past week and had him ready to go for this game.  After Garrett Hartley struggled in games this season, the Saints felt that it was vital to have a safe and reliable kicker so they went out and got Carney.  Carney came through in this game by kicking three field goals which helped the Saints win the game and stay on top of the NFC South.

Dud of the Game

While wide receiver Lance Moore scored a touchdown and has scored three in the last two games, he fumbled at the goal line and cost the Saints a score.  Had New Orleans lost this game, they would have regretted losing the scoring opportunity.

Analysis

This year, the Saints haven’t looked too much like the team that went to the Super Bowl last season.  They appear confused on offense and a little bit less put together on defense.  Some of that has to do with their preparation but it also has to do with how opposing teams are game planning against them.  You can bet that every team the Saints face this year will be gunning for them because they won the Super Bowl.

The mistakes on offense almost killed the Saints. Had the Panthers been able to take better advantage of them, this game would have had a different outcome.  The Saints haven’t been too mistake prone in their past few games. They need to make sure what happened on Sunday doesn’t become a habit.

The rushing defense still looked pretty rough in this game and allowed Williams to break free and run in for a touchdown.  They are improving, however, and getting better run defense out of their linebackers.  Hopefully they will get better as the season moves along.

Their special teams coverage units are still a little weak and need some help but at least their kicking game has improved.  Expect the Saints to keep Carney on for a while. Perhaps the rest of the season or at least until they feel Hartley is out of his slump and ready to be accurate with his field goals.

Next Up

The Saints will travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals this Sunday afternoon.  Stay tuned for a full preview of this game coming up at the end of the week.