NFL: Despite Cam-Show!

For the New Orleans Saints (11-5) the dream of Super Bowl continues – the Carolina Panthers (11-5) season ends with the third defeat in the third duel against Division rivals! At 26:31, the Panthers lose in the final wildcard game at the Saints, who now have to go to Minnesota for the Vikings in the Divisional round. Despite a gala performance by Cam Newton, Carolina had defensively defensive answers to New Orleans’ passing offense too seldom.

Although Carolina’s front line dominated against the run from the beginning, there were always gaps in the secondary. The Saints specifically attacked advantageous matchups in Zone Coverage and dictated the duels according to their preferences. Nevertheless, Carolina should have taken the lead: Cam Newton (24/40,349 YDS, 2 TD; 8 ATT, 37 YDS) led the offense almost unilaterally down the field, but his supposed touchdown pass ended in a clay drop.

This should quickly take revenge, because now the passing-game of the hosts around Drew Brees (23/33,376 YDS, 2 TD, INT) suddenly exploded. We started with an 80-yard touchdown pass on Ted Ginn, who took advantage of a coverage gap in the deep middle of the field. While Carolina could only answer with Field Goals, the Saints moved further away: A touchdown pass to Hill against a Panthers coverage bust followed by a great Brees-Drive, which Zach Line from a yard ended with the TD run.

New Orleans dominated the first half so completely, with one blemish: O-Liner Andrus Peat had to leave early injured, after first diagnosis a fracture of the fibula is expected. After the half-time break Carolina did not change very much, Carolina could not finish Drives, while New Orleans could always take time off the clock with solid Drives. It took Carolina all the way to the last quarter before Carolina finally found the final zone in the fourth Red Zone attempt: a laser from Newton over the middle to Greg Olsen brought Carolina back to 19:24.

That’s how a shootout developed. The Saints responded a little later with a great drive, completed by a short TD run by Alvin Kamara. The Panthers stayed in the game with a 56-yard touchdown by Christian McCaffrey, but not without controversy: After a hard hit, Newton was obviously shaky on his feet, but after an extremely short check for a concussion, he was allowed back on the court. Because he stumbled on the pitch, the regulations actually stipulate that he must be examined in the cabin.

Instead, there was a thrilling closing phase: New Orleans played a 4th&2 right after the 2-minute warning just behind the centerline – and Brees’ Pass was caught by Mike Adams! Newton, with an outstanding game overall, led the Panthers to the 21-yard line of the Saints, where a dubious pass interference penalty provided for 3rd&23. Funchess then missed the chance to win the game, and at Fourth Down the Saints ended the game with a bag of lightning. New Orleans enters the divisional round, Panthers have an uncertain future ahead of them: the team is now officially up for sale.

New Orleans Saints (11-5) – Carolina Panthers (11-5)31:26 (7:0,14:9,3:3,7:14) BOXSCORE

Cam Jordan (Defensive End Saints):”We wanted it more than they did. They had their Super Bowl appearance, they can move back to the Super Bowl next year. Now we want our run. We were at 0-2, everyone doubted us.”

In the last quarter in particular, things were going too far back and forth to make a clear stumbling block. But how aggressive the Saints-Defense was in the end, even when Carolina won the game with a touchdown, was impressive and resulted in the pressure that led to Newton’s intentional grounding penalty and in the bag at Fourth Down, who ended the match.

Not a good game of the Panthers-Line at all. Newton saved some plays on his own, but he also had some violent hits. In the Base-Run-Game – i. e. outside of Newton with the “regular” Running Plays – Carolina once again could not get enough and the Panthers-O-Line was clearly inferior to the possibly weakest Defensive Line in the NFC-Playoffs with their outstanding line-up. Without pressure, Newton installed 21 of 33 passes for 296 yards and both touchdowns.

Great idea of Brees. While the Saints in the Regular Season mostly built their game plans around the Run Game, they went the other way against Carolina’s strong front – and that worked out excellently: Brees picked up the zone coverage of the guests with some spectacular passes, distributed the ball very well and showed why he is the best quarterback in the NFC playoffs – and that he can still carry the team when the NFC playoffs are over. Also worth mentioning: Michael Thomas, who in turn delivered an outstanding game.

It was clear in the run-up that Carolina would need an elite Newtonian game to survive in New Orleans – and it was the quarterback that brought the Panthers season to an end. Newton left a few passes behind, but fired good passes from the most difficult corners and gave his team a chance to keep pace with the Saints just in time. But expensive drops and receiver errors came at a price Carolina had to pay – even at the end. All in all, Newton had a great game, his receivers and the line didn’t have enough support.