Drew Brees and the Saints completed next weekend’s NFL playoff picture with a 31-26 win over the Panthers,
Saints QB tosses two TDs while Panthers D focuses on stopping running game
NEW ORLEANS— New Orleans Saints made the most of their return to the NFL playoffs Sunday as quarterback Drew Brees celebrated with a turnback-the-clock performance. Brees’s prolific-once-more passing carried the Saints to a 31-26 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in an NFC firstround game.
The fourth-seeded Saints beat the Panthers for the third time this season, knocking Carolina quarterback Cam Newton from the game temporarily on a fourth-quarter hit and then holding on late, and moved a step closer to a possible Super Bowl return for Brees. They will play at Minnesota against the second-seeded Vikings next weekend in a conference semifinal.
The Panthers essentially dared Brees to beat them, taking a defen- sive approach that focused on stopping the New Orleans running game. And that’s precisely what Brees did, throwing for 376 yards and two touchdowns.
“If a team’s going to do that, then obviously I feel like with the matchups we have outside, there should be opportunities,” Brees said. “You still have to have a level of patience and take advantage of them when they do come around. I think what we’ve shown offensively is we have a lot of ways to be effective, a lot of weapons to spread the ball around.”
The balance of the Saints’ offence that was on display during the regular season gave way to Brees being the centrepiece in a pass-first approach Sunday. The Saints had only 41rushing yards. But they sprinted to a lead while their defence limited the fifth-seeded Panthers to field goals instead of touchdowns until the fourth quarter.
Newton had a superb performance in which he threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 37 yards. But the Panthers simply could not get into the end zone to finish drives until Newton threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Greg Olsen with just less than 13 minutes remaining. That pulled the Panthers to within 24-19.
But on Carolina’s next drive, Newton was hit in the helmet by Saints defensive tackle David Onyemata on a sack. Newton got up and tried to reach the Panthers’ sideline but fell to his knees on the way there. He was taken from the game and was replaced by backup Derek Anderson.
The Saints upped their lead to 31-19 on a touchdown run by tailback Alvin Kamara. Newton returned to the game and threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to running back Christian McCaffrey. Brees threw a fourthdown interception on a gamble by the Saints. But the Panthers’ lastgasp drive stalled after reaching New Orleans territory, in part because of an intentional grounding penalty on Newton. Newton was sacked on fourth down with five seconds left to seal the outcome. The Panthers’ once-promising season comes to an abrupt end, and now they face an off-season of uncertainty in which owner Jerry Richardson has said he will sell the franchise while he is investigated by the NFL for alleged workplace misconduct.
It was a day that belonged to the Saints, who never trailed. They did suffer a loss to the offensive line that safeguards Brees when guard Andrus Peat was taken from the field on a cart, reportedly after suffering a fractured fibula. But they gave a spirited, cohesive effort.
“That’s an experienced team that’s been in the playoffs — seasoned, ready,” Saints Coach Sean Payton said of the Panthers. “Clearly we knew coming in that they were going to be a tough out. It wasn’t going to be like the first game we played them or the second game. We knew it was going to be a challenge. . . . We knew coming in this would be completely different.”