Week 17 Game Recap: Carolina Panthers 31, New Orleans Saints 21

What you need to know

Carolina Panthers

Neither team had anything to play for in terms of the playoffs. You wouldn’t know it by the intensity shown in this game though. They are division rivals and neither team was going to give up. New Orleans took out its starters early but Carolina played their starters throughout. Delhomme was back for Carolina and was wearing a glove in order to grip the ball with his hand injury. He played very well completing 23 of 27 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns, both to Steve Smith.

DeShaun Foster had most of the carries for the Panthers. He finished with 79 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown. His touchdown came on a fourth and one play at the two yard line. DeAngelo Williams had nine carries but never got it going, ending up with just seven yards on the ground. Williams was more involved with the passing game. He caught six passes for 52 yards.

As usual, Delhomme’s favorite receiver was Steve Smith. Smith caught two touchdowns and totaled 85 yards receiving on seven catches. After New Orleans had taken the opening drive for a score, Carolina came right back and added a touchdown of their own. Delhomme hit Smith with a perfect throw down the middle which Smith pulled down in the back of the end zone. Even with missing the first two games of the year, Steve Smith ended up catching 83 passes on the season.

New Orleans Saints

The Saints wrapped up the second seed of the NFC last week. They had nothing to play for this week so they gave the starters a little bit of playing time and then took most of them out. Even though they took out the starters they still played to win the game. Drew Brees looked very sharp in his limited time. He drove the Saints right down the field on the opening drive for a touchdown. Brees completed four of five passes before coming out of the game. Jamie Martin stepped in for Brees and played ok. Martin completed 16 of 24 passes for 208 yards and a touchdown.

McAllister was given the day off and Reggie Bush had limited playing time. Bush had the opening touchdown on a one yard run but that was about it. He ended up with 20 yards rushing and two catches for 13 yards. After he left, Jamaal Branch got the bulk of the carries. Branch rushed for just 29 yards but scored his first touchdown on a seven yard reception. He caught it near the sideline and dove for the pylon. Not too bad for an NFL Europe player who spent most of the year on the practice squad.

Seven different New Orleans backs or receivers caught passes in the game with Branch leading the way with five catches. Devery Henderson had a 65 yard catch and run that set up the Jamaal Branch seven yard touchdown. His touchdown put the Saints in the lead 14-7. Carolina would tie it up right before halftime on a 14 play 85 yard drive. They took for the lead for good when Martin was picked off and the pass was returned 18 yards for the touchdown by Chris Gamble.

What you ought to know

QB Jake Delhomme, Pass: 23 - 27 - 207 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - -3 - 0

Delhomme came back from his thumb injury after missing the last three games. He wore a glove on his throwing hand to help him grip the ball. He played an excellent game, throwing for 207 yards on 23 of 27 completions. He threw two touchdown passes to Steve Smith, the first of which was on Carolina’s first drive of the game. He started off hot completing four passes on their first drive for 55 yards. His touchdown pass to Smith was a beautifully thrown ball that found Smith in the back of the end zone. Delhomme also led Carolina on a 14 play drive that resulted in a DeShaun Foster touchdown right before the end of the half. His second touchdown pass of the game came two plays after a Jamie Martin fumble deep in New Orleans territory.

RB DeShaun Foster, Rush: 19 - 79 - 1, Rec: 3 - 12 - 0 (3 targets)

Foster had a solid game, rushing for 79 yards on 19 carries and he also scored a touchdown. The Panthers had gotten the ball down to the two yard line with two minutes left in the first half. Foster ran it on third and one but was stuffed. Carolina went for it on fourth and one. Foster broke through for the score. He also added three catches for 12 yards.

RB DeAngelo Williams, Rush: 9 - 7 - 0, Rec: 6 - 52 - 0 (6 targets)

On the ground, Williams could not get anything going at all. He had nine carries for seven yards which included an 11 yard run. He had six runs of no gain or negative yards. Carolina tried the direct snap to Williams three times but it wasn’t nearly as successful as it was against Atlanta. Both of his rushing attempts resulted in negative yardage. Williams was productive in the passing game though. He caught six passes for 52 yards. On Carolina’s second touchdown drive, Williams had receptions of 18 and 13 yards, both for first downs. All of the targets to Williams were short passes or dump offs in the flat.

RB Brad Hoover, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0, Rec: 3 - 22 - 0 (5 targets)

Hoover caught three passes for 22 yards. He had a nice 11 yard pickup for a first down on Carolina’s first scoring drive. Hoover matched his season high for catches in a game.

WR Steve Smith, Rush: 1 - 21 - 0, Rec: 7 - 85 - 2 (8 targets)

As is the case in most games for the Panthers, Steve Smith was the star. The guy must be fed the ball because he’s a threat to score on every play. Delhomme went his way eight times and Smith was able to catch seven of them for 85 yards. He scored two touchdowns with the second one being the game winner. He had another catch that he took down to the two yard line before being pushed out. Overall, five of his seven catches went for first downs and he also added another first down on a reverse that went for 21 yards.

WR Keyshawn Johnson, Rec: 3 - 24 - 0 (3 targets)

All three of the passes to Keyshawn went for first downs. Two of them were on Carolina’s second touchdown drive. His third catch put the Panthers down to the two yard line. Johnson’s momentum took him out of bounds before he could turn up and stretch for the goal line. New Orleans made a good goal line stand and Carolina could only get a field goal out of it but it was enough to put them up by two scores.

TE Michael Gaines, Rec: 1 - 12 - 0 (2 targets)

Gaines was targeted twice and caught one pass for 12 yards. He picked up a first down early on in the third quarter but the Panthers punted four plays later.

PK John Kasay 1 - 1 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 7 points

Kasay hit his only field goal attempt, a 19 yard try. He also made all four of his extra points.

CAR Rush Defense

The Carolina rush defense didn’t give up many yards in the game but they did give up two rushing touchdowns. On the opening drive, the Saints marched down the field and scored on a one yard Reggie Bush run. Right before the end of the third quarter, with Carolina up by 14, Fred McAfee went right up the middle for a six yard touchdown run. The Saints only gained 61 yards on the ground and picked up just six first downs via the run.

CAR Pass Defense

Carolina’s pass defense gave up a few big pass plays but overall they were very tough. Chris Gamble had a key interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter that put the Panthers up 21-14. Overall the pass defense had five sacks, three forced fumbles, one interception and a touchdown. They should have had another interception but Diggs dropped what should have been an easy catch. In the third quarter, the pass defense took over the game. They gave the Panthers the lead with the interception return and then five minutes later they sacked Martin and recovered the fumble deep in New Orleans territory. Two plays later, Delhomme found Smith for his second touchdown to put Carolina up 28-14. The rookie James Anderson had two sacks and two forced fumbles. They were the first two sacks of his career.

QB Jamie Martin, Pass: 16 - 24 - 208 - 1 TD / 1 INT

Martin replaced Brees on the Saints’ second drive of the game. Martin completed 16 of 24 passes for 208 yards with one touchdown and one interception. A couple of drops by the Carolina defense could have made it a lot worse. Martin took a lot of shots in this game but to his credit he bounced back up each time. He made a great read and hit Devery Henderson down the middle for a 65 yard gain down to the Carolina seven yard line. On the next play Martin hit Branch in the flat for a touchdown.

QB Drew Brees, Pass: 4 - 5 - 46 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0

Brees started the game and drove the Saints right down the field. The drive was capped off with a Reggie Bush one yard touchdown run. Brees started the second drive and completed a pass on the first play. He then came out of the game since the Saints are not playing for anything. Brees finished four of five for 46 yards. He looked very good. Brees came out to a standing ovation and chants of M-V-P.

RB Jamaal Branch, Rush: 10 - 29 - 0, Rec: 5 - 14 - 1 (6 targets)

Branch was an NFL Europe prospect who has been on the New Orleans practice squad most of the year. He got his chance to play and can put a souvenir touchdown ball up on his mantle. He scored on a seven yard touchdown pass when he made a nice dive and hit the pylon with the ball as he was being forced out of bounds. After Bush had left, he got the bulk of the carries but only picked up 29 yards on 10 carries. He did catch five passes but they were all short for a total of 14 yards. It’s probably back to the practice squad now that the playoffs are about to begin.

RB Reggie Bush, Rush: 3 - 20 - 1, Rec: 2 - 13 - 0 (2 targets)

Bush scored the first touchdown of the game on a one yard run. With New Orleans already having their playoff spot locked up, Bush only played the first quarter. He carried just three times and also caught two passes.

RB Fred McAfee, Rush: 3 - 12 - 1

McAfee got the chance to carry the ball and he took advantage of it with a six yard touchdown run. He carried three times for 12 yards.

RB Mike Karney, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (3 targets)

Karney caught two passes for 14 yards. Two of his passes were on third down but neither one resulted in a first down.

RB Deuce McAllister

McAllister was listed as inactive for the game. It was just a chance for him to get some rest before the playoffs.

WR Jamal Jones, Rec: 3 - 69 - 0 (5 targets)

Jones saw action in this game. He caught three passes for 69 yards including a 41 yard catch. He was Martin’s deep threat. They tried hitting him deep on four of his five targets. All three of his catches were when the Saints were deep in their own territory so Jones never had much of a chance to score.

WR Devery Henderson, Rec: 2 - 71 - 0 (4 targets)

Henderson had two catches for 71 yards and a touchdown. He caught a nice pass down the middle from Martin and took it 65 yards down to the Panthers seven yard line. He might catch some junk from his teammates since he was caught by 32 year old Mike Minter. Henderson was the intended target when Martin got picked off by Gamble and it was returned for a touchdown. That was on Martin since it seemed like he didn’t quite put enough juice on the ball. Henderson’s other catch was on a fourth down play in the red zone. His first down allowed the Saints to score a touchdown on McAfee’s six yard run.

WR Marques Colston (1 targets)

Colston also left the game early on to rest for the playoffs. He had one target on a deep pass from Martin on the Saints’ second drive.

WR Terrance Copper

Copper was inactive for this game.

TE Billy Miller, Rec: 3 - 33 - 0 (3 targets)

Miller caught all three of the passes thrown his way for 33 yards. He had a 22 yard catch that looked like it was going to lead to a nice drive for New Orleans. Martin got sacked two plays later and fumbled. Carolina put the game out of reach shortly after.

TE John Owens, Rec: 3 - 40 - 0 (4 targets)

Owens caught three passes for 40 yards including a 25 yard pass down the middle from Brees on the opening series. He should have capped that drive with a touchdown but dropped a one yard pass from Brees in the end zone.

PK John Carney 0 - 0 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 3 points

Carney didn’t have any field goal tries but he did make all three of his extra points.

NO Rush Defense

The New Orleans rush defense gave up 106 yards on the ground. Carolina was able to punch in a touchdown on a fourth and one at the two yard line. New Orleans stopped Foster on the first attempt and looked like they might make the stand. They did have a nice goal line stand late in the game when Carolina had first and goal at their two yard line. They stopped Foster twice, including one for a loss and then forced Williams back after a two yard pass. Carolina had to settle for a field goal and it kept the Saints within ten points.

NO Pass Defense

Without a bunch of the regulars playing a full game, it’s tough to criticize the New Orleans defense too much especially with Carolina not doing the same. They played hard but the New Orleans pass defense was unable to keep Delhomme in check. He completed 23 of 27 passes and two touchdowns. They didn’t sack him or create any turnovers and the Panthers were able to pick up 12 first downs through the air. On Smith’s first touchdown catch, it was a perfectly thrown ball by Delhomme but the safety might have been able to make a play on it had he taken a better angle. On the second touchdown pass the defense bit on Delhomme’s pump fake and it was an easy pass and catch to Smith in the right corner of the end zone.