With the game on the line, experience was the decisive factor as the Saints drove downfield for the winning score in the final minute and hung on to beat the upstart Panthers 30-27. In an offensive shootout where the teams combined for over 800 yards of total offense, the Saints executed when it counted most and moved to 4-1 on the season.
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New Orleans led for much of the game and didn’t panic when they fell behind early in the fourth quarter – winning the game on a 6-yard touchdown catch by Pierre Thomas to cap off an 80-yard drive.
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The Panthers are starting to look like this year’s version of the 2010 Detroit Lions: showing plenty of potential, but lacking the ability to win close games. If they can make that next step – as the Lions have this season – then they could soon become one of the most dangerous young teams in the NFL.
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Let’s take a look at some of the outstanding (and not-so-outstanding) performances from this exciting encounter:
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New Orleans – Three Performances of Note
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1) Cool Brees
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Drew Brees (+9.2) calmly led his team downfield for the winning score by completing eight of nine passes on the final drive. These boosted his final numbers to 359 yards and two touchdowns, as he completed attempts to nine different receivers and threw the ball all over the field. Brees, who is second in the league for deep passing accuracy, completed three of four passes beyond 20 yards. He is also second in the league for accuracy when pressured and was eight of 11 for 99 yards when under pressure on Sunday.
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2) Golden Graham
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Brees’ favorite target on Sunday was Jimmy Graham (+3.2) who continues his quiet emergence into one of the best receiving tight ends in the league. Graham was constantly able to use his combination of speed, size and strength to get open on Sunday and racked up 129 yards on eight catches. The Saints were able to get him in mismatches by lining him up out wide or in the slot on 28 plays out of 67 and he now leads the NFL in yards per route run for tight ends. His rating could have been even higher, but he gave up a sack in pass protection, albeit his first of the year.
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3) Dun and Dusted
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On the defensive side of the ball, JoLonn Dunbar (-4.1) in particular had his struggles. Despite being matched up with a tight end most of the time, he was blocked out of too many running plays, including on DeAngelo Williams’ 69-yard touchdown run, where he was handled by Jeremy Shockey, enabling Williams to get to the outside. Dunbar also had a couple of missed tackles, a neutral zone infraction and gave up four catches, including a 13-yarder to Shockey.
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Carolina – Three Performances of Note
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1) Oh Captain, My Captain
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Before the game, Saints head coach Sean Payton commented that Captain Munnerlyn (+1.8) was having “an exceptional season”. Once the game started, it looked like the Saints were going to test Munnerlyn early and often, but he held up reasonably well and they only threw at him twice after their first drive of the second quarter. Munnerlyn gave up four catches and was called for pass interference once, but still graded out positively in coverage because he did a good job of limiting the damage with some solid tackling. He also received a positive rating in run defense and made an impact as a blitzer with a sack and a pressure.
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2) Newton: What Goes Up…
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After a terrific performance last week, Cam Newton (-1.9) fell back to earth this week. He threw an interception on his first pass of the game and either underthrew or overthrew 12 of his 31 passes. Newton still made things happen with his legs though, scoring one touchdown and keeping a play alive for 13 seconds at the end of the third quarter before managing to pick up the first down on 3rd-and-2. Despite his overall struggles, it was impressive that Newton led the team back and gave them the lead with a fourth quarter touchdown pass.
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3) Sione Shines Brighter
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The Panthers are continuing to start their two third round rookies at defensive tackle and they are currently experiencing contrasting fortunes. Sione Fua (+2.2) had the best rating for the Panthers on either side of the ball, whereas Terrell McClain (-4.3) had the worst. Fua improved his rating for the third week in a row and had a season-high three stops, whereas McClain only has three stops all season, despite being on the field for more plays than Fua, who has nine. In this particular game, McClain kept getting taken inside by the Saints guards, whereas Fua got the better of his matchup with Center Brian De La Puente, beating him several times.
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Game Notes
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● Newton misfired on all six passes thrown to his left, including one that was intercepted.
● Greg Hardy had a good day as a pass rusher (+3.1) with a sack and four pressures, but had the second worst rating for run defense (-2.9) on the team.
● The two teams combined to miss a total of 17 tackles, but only dropped one pass between them.
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PFF Game Ball:
Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints
It was close between Brees and the ever-dangerous Graham, but Brees gets the game ball this week for his unwavering consistency and calmness in the clutch, which was the key factor in this matchup.
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