Saints score hat trick on Panthers
Brees leads team to third win this year against Carolina
The Who Dats do love to mock.
Who dat say gonna beat dem Saints is the traditional chant of New Orleans football fans and because of it, they’ve simply become known as Who Dats. On Sunday, it was louder than ever.
The Who Dats have had plenty of reason to cheer for the last six playoff games played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, as no visitors have been able to beat dem Saints. For the third time this season, the Carolina Panthers couldn’t beat dem Saints either.
Led by the steady hand of quarterback Drew Brees, New Orleans was able to withstand a late push to defeat the Panthers 31-26. The victory puts the Saints into a NFC divisional game Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium, which will also be the site of next month’s Super Bowl.
Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes while completing 23 of 33 passes for 376 yards. He was also intercepted on a fourth-andtwo gamble when the Saints tried to seal the victory but instead gave the Panthers one last gasp.
But a Saints defence which bent in the fourth quarter put the finishing touches on quarterback Cam Newton and the Panthers.
“Obviously, it was a hard-fought win,” Saints head coach Sean Payton said. “It came down to the final series. We knew going into this game it was going to be a different type of game. I thought the early portion of the game where we were able to hold them to field goals proved most valuable.”
The 12 points from kicker Graham Gano was all the Panthers could muster until Greg Olson pulled in a 24-yard TD pass from Newton with 12:47 left to make the score 24-19.
Only minutes later, Newton was crushed by Saints lineman David Onyemata. He was checked for a concussion and, after missing a series, came back to lead another scoring drive, this time connecting with Christian McCaffery on a 56-yard touchdown.
Newton completed 24 of 40 passes for 349 yards, but on the final series, with his last five snaps, he threw three incompletions, was charged for intentionally grounding the ball and was sacked.
It was testament to a defence that was aided all day by the Who Dats. Newton moved the chains on his first snap of the day, then had to call a time out before his second.
The rest of the game he had the noise meter pushed up.
“I wish we could bring like 10 fans right in the middle of the field and have them hear what happens,” Payton said. “We’ll experience it now, going to Minnesota.” Brees echoed the sentiment. “We’ve got the best fans in the world,” he said. “I know everybody says that, but we really do.”