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Week 5 Game Recap: Carolina Panthers 16, New Orleans Saints 13
What you need to know
| Carolina Panthers |
Carolina was unable to get any consistent offense going for most of the game. There first scoring drive was the result of an interception that was returned in to Saints territory and their second drive as aided by a long reception by Keary Colbert. The only long drive came after a blocked field goal and resulted in the tying touchdown. All but three of Carolina's points came off of Saints miscues; an interception, blocked field goal, and missed field goal.
DeShaun Foster was the workhorse of the offense, carrying the ball a total of 19 times, nine of them coming in the fourth quarter as Carolina was driving the length of the field for the game tying touchdown and on the final drive to set up the game winning field goal.
The Carolina receiving corps was well covered most of the day by the Saints defensive backs and had trouble getting open. David Carr and Matt Moore did not throw many catchable balls and made poor decisions by throwing into coverage.
| New Orleans Saints |
The Saints controlled the ball most of the game, mostly by using the short passing game coupled with inside runs by the running backs to keep the chains moving and the clock running. They had two drives that took over ten minutes off of the clock. The first one was in the second quarter and resulted in a field goal to tie the game and the second one came with a seven point lead in the third quarter. Unfortunately they were left with nothing to show for the second drive as Carolina blocked a chip shot field goal.
Drew Brees was hindered by his receivers dropping catchable passes and by his inability to consistently connect on deep passes.
Reggie Bush showed that he can be relied on as the focal point of the offense. He did not explode with big plays, but he was pretty effective gaining the hard yards inside and gaining yards on quick swing passes. Bush led the team in rushing and in receptions.
What you ought to know
| QB David Carr, Pass: 10 - 17 - 119 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 6 - 0 |
Carr was inconsistent in getting the ball to the Panthers receivers. He rarely attempted the deep ball, and when he did the passes were usually off target. He did display good touch on quick slants and out patterns where he did not have the time to wait in the pocket to find the open receiver. His only interception was on a play in the fourth quarter where he threw into double coverage as Carolina was starting a drive in great field position following an interception. He did miss one series when he was shaken up on a sack. The sack was the result of Carr holding on to the ball to long while waiting for a receiver to get open.
| QB Matt Moore, Pass: 1 - 2 - 43 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Moore came in when Carr left the game for a brief period after a sack. Moore completed his first pass on a deep throw to Keary Colbert, but his second attempt was an ill advised throw into double coverage.
| RB DeShaun Foster, Rush: 19 - 59 - 0 |
Foster showed that he is the workhorse of the Panthers offense by consistently gaining the tough yards and keeping scoring drives alive. He had little room to run through the first three quarters, but was able to break off some runs of over five yards on the lone touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. His best runs came between the tackles as the Saints were able to restrict plays designed to go outside to negative or short yardage.
| RB DeAngelo Williams, Rush: 7 - 23 - 0 |
Williams only saw action in the relief of DeShaun Foster.
| RB Brad Hoover, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
Hoover was the only running back involved in the passing game. His only reception came on the lone touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
| WR Keary Colbert, Rec: 4 - 74 - 0 (6 targets) |
Colbert's second catch came on the first pass attempt by Matt Moore, a deep ball that he caught while covered by a defender while going down the right sideline. He also was targeted on three other deep passes, one of which was on an overthrown pass in the end zone. He is becoming a reliable second receiver in the Carolina offense and his improvement will help take some of the pressure off of Steve Smith.
| WR Steve Smith, Rec: 4 - 47 - 1 (7 targets) |
Smith did not see the ball much until the second half when Carolina began their comeback. He only saw one pass in the first half, a catch off a designed roll out by David Carr. He saw most of his action in the fourth quarter. He had a 20 yard catch in Saints territory in the third quarter that was brought back by penalty. In the fourth quarter he scored the tying touchdown on a catch and run where he put a nice move on the defensive back and walked into the end zone. However, his most important reception was his last one, where he caught the ball on third and ten and willed his way to the first down marker for a key first down that would set up the game winning field goal.
| WR Drew Carter (2 targets) |
Carter was the target of two passes that were thrown into double coverage in the first half.
| TE Jeff King, Rec: 2 - 33 - 0 (3 targets) |
King was involved in the offense early, seeing two balls thrown his way on the second offensive possession. He caught one of the passes for a first down on the first scoring drive. His last reception resulted in a fumble that fortunately bounced right back to him.
| TE Christian Fauria (1 targets) |
Fauria was the intended receiver on the David Carr interception in the fourth quarter.
| PK John Kasay 3 - 3 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 10 points |
Kasay was accurate on three field goals, including a 52 yard attempt as time expired to win the game.
| CAR Rush Defense |
The Panthers run defense played well in keeping Reggie Bush in check most of the game. Bush was only able to gain significant yardage on sweeps and runs to the outside. The Panthers were able to limit the yardage inside to short gains. However, the Saints were able to consistently gain enough yards on the ground to sustain two long drives and keep the Panther offense off the field.
| CAR Pass Defense |
The Saints were able to find open receivers downfield, but were victimized by drops of catchable balls. Most of the Saints yards came on screen passes and medium range balls. The first interception was the result of a bad pass by Brees and the second interception was off of a bobbled ball.
| QB Drew Brees, Pass: 29 - 47 - 252 - 0 TD / 2 INT |
Brees began the game by completing eight of his first ten passes; the only incompletions were on deep passes, one of which was intercepted. Brees threw for 252 yards, but that number could easily have been higher if the Saint receivers had managed to hang on to his throws. The Saints had two passing touchdowns taken off the board when they were called for an illegal formation penalty on the first one and when the officials ruled that the player went out of bounds at the two yard line. The passing game seemed to be most effective when Brees targeted the running backs on screen passes or receivers on short passes.
| RB Reggie Bush, Rush: 21 - 67 - 0, Rec: 9 - 52 - 0 (10 targets) |
Bush was heavily involved in the game plan, with 21 carries and nine receptions. Bush saw much of rushing yardage on runs designed to go outside, but he would run out of bounds rather that try to pick up extra yards. Where Bush was most impressive was on runs between the tackles, and he was able to consistently pick up the necessary yards to keep the two long drives alive. Bush did have one reception called back due to an offensive pass interference penalty.
| RB Aaron Stecker, Rush: 4 - 12 - 0, Rec: 3 - -3 - 0 (6 targets) |
Stecker saw action when Reggie Bush needed rest. He was involved in the passing game and did score one touchdown. However, it was nullified by an illegal formation penalty.
| RB Mike Karney, Rush: 1 - 2 - 1, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (2 targets) |
Karney was targeted twice in the first quarter, catching one ball on a screen pass. He fell down on a screen play on the other pass thrown his way. Karney scored on his only rushing attempt.
| RB Pierre Thomas, Rush: 1 - 3 - 0 |
Thomas only saw action when Reggie Bush went to the sidelines to have his knee examined.
| WR Devery Henderson, Rec: 4 - 101 - 0 (10 targets) |
Henderson was the number one target for Drew Brees in the second half. He did have an apparent touchdown called back in the third quarter when the officials ruled that he went out of bounds at the two yard line on a 54 yard completion. The Saints did score two plays later. Henderson also dropped two very catchable passes.
| WR Marques Colston, Rec: 4 - 31 - 0 (7 targets) |
Colston saw all of his action in the first half, and appeared to be replaced by Lance Moore. He did drop one pass that was catchable, and had a pass bounce off of his hands that was almost intercepted.
| WR Lance Moore, Rec: 3 - 32 - 0 (4 targets) |
Moore was used as the main target when the Saints needed a first down in the passing game. All three of his receptions resulted in Saint first downs. He was the intended receiver on the first Brees interception on a badly thrown deep pass in the first quarter.
| WR Terrance Copper (1 targets) |
Copper saw very little action.
| WR David Patten (2 targets) |
Patten dropped both passes thrown his way.
| TE Eric Johnson, Rec: 5 - 30 - 0 (8 targets) |
Johnson was the player Brees turned to in order to get the offense moving in the first half. He was the receiver on the first two attempts of the game and on a pass in the corner of the end zone when Brees had to throw the ball away due to coverage.
| PK Olindo Mare 2 - 4 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points |
Mare had a bad day. His only successful field goals were from less than 30 yards, and he had one attempt from 20 yards blocked. He did have a chance to redeem himself late in the game, but his 54 yard attempt went wide left.
| NO Rush Defense |
The Saints rush defense gave Panther backs little room to run. They were constantly in the backfield, or closing the holes before the backs had time to get through them.
| NO Pass Defense |
After being much maligned for the first three games the Saints defense rose to the occasion. Panther receivers were well covered all game, and the backs limited the receiver's ability to gain yards after the catch. The only Panther touchdown came when Steve Smith put a move on the cornerback, who fell down and was unable to make the tackle.
