CHARLOTTE, NC – The New Orleans Saints moved one step closer to clinching home field advantage throughout the playoffs after they slipped past the Carolina Panthers 12-9 despite a very bland offensive performance, the third such performance in the last three weeks.
The Saints are now 12-2 on the year and finish the regular season with two home games. New Orleans will play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday and the Panthers again on December 30. One more win and the Saints will hold the home field advantage as long as they stay in the post-season.
Credit the New Orleans defense for the Saints’ twelfth win of the season. New Orleans held one of the best running games in check all night long, as they allowed only 98 total yards rushing. The Panthers came into the contest with the No. 3 rushing attack in the league, averaging 134 yards per game.
However, the Saints stymied Carolina all evening, limiting the 1-2 punch of Christian McCaffrey and Cam Newton to 68 yards on the ground.
In fact, New Orleans punctuated its dominance of the Panther offense by only allowing 179 total yards. Newton finished the game with 131 yards passing on a 16 of 29 performance. Newton was constantly harassed, as the Saints sacked the Carolina quarterback four times.
On the opposite side of the ball, the New Orleans offense did not live up to their previous hype in terms of points put up on the board. The Saints totaled 358 yards, with 155 of those coming on the ground. Part of the reason for the lack of points was the plethora of penalties and turnovers that killed momentum.
New Orleans finished the game with nine penalties for a total of 80 yards. The Saints also gave up the ball on two turnovers, an interception and a fumble.
With the two teams not able to get much going on offensive in the first quarter, the Panthers were able to strike first in an unconventional way. On a fourth-and-2 from midfield, McCaffrey got a handoff, took a step toward the line, then stepped back and lofted a perfect pass over the middle to tight end Chris Manhertz, who was 15 yards behind the defense.
Manhertz trotted into the end zone for a 50-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 4:02 left to go in the opening quarter. It was McCaffrey’s first career pass attempt, although he threw two TD passes while at Stanford. He became the first non-QB to throw a TD pass in Panthers history.
The Saints got back into the game on a Will Lutz 46 yard field goal with 1:46 to go in the first quarter. Lutz tacked on another field goal in the second quarter, this one from 24 yards out, to put New Orleans down by one as the teams headed into the locker room. That field goal allowed Lutz to tie a franchise record for most consecutive field goals with 25.
The Saints capitalized on one of the two Carolina turnovers when they fell on a DJ Moore fumble at the New Orleans 16-yard line. That fumble came after a long run by Moore, who had it punched out of his hands by Vonn Bell.
New Orleans then put together their most productive drive of the night, going 84 yards and capping it off with an Alvin Kamara 16 yard run. The two-point conversion was intercepted by Dontae Jackson, who took back to the end zone, giving the Panthers two points of their own and making the score 12-7.
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TRACEY JAGNEAUX Sports Editor