Saints 20 Panthers 22 summary ^^^^^^^ The Saints lost a close one to Carolina despite keeping the visitors' offense out of the endzone. play-by-play ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Tyrone Hughes returned the opening kickoff to the NO 35, and on the first play from scrimmage Jim Everett hit Haywood Jeffires for 14. Two plays later the QB went to Hendrick Lusk for 11 on 3rd & 3. One play later Mario Bates broke a run outside for a 12 yd gain. A Jim Dombrowski clip backed the team up 15, but a Derek Brown run, a Bates screen, and a tough catch by Jeffires gave the Saints a 1st at the 9. On the next play Torrance Small ran a fade route for a TD. Wayne Martin threw Biakabutuka for a 3 yd loss on the Panthers' first play, but Collins found Walls for 16 on 3rd & 11. However, Carolina was unable to recover from a Martin sack on the following play. The punt was downed at the 4. A 3rd & 8 dump pass to Brown gained 18 and got the team out of the hole, but the O couldn't move the sticks a second time. Oliver took in Klaus Wilmsmeyer's punt and ran 83 yds down the sideline for a TD. The Saints struck back when Michael Haynes made a fine over-the-shoulder catch for 51 on the second play of the ensuing drive. Two plays later Jeffires streaked downfield and caught an Everett strike in the endzone for a 27 yd TD reception. A pair of false starts and a pair of Biakabutuka runs set up 3rd & inches, and Collins snuck for the necessary yardage. Martin registered another sack on the following play, but Walls caught a ball for 16 on 3rd & 8. A faceguarding call against Eric Allen gave the Panthers a 1st at the NO 22. A Brady Smith sack forced Kasay to kick from 51 yds out, but he made the FG anyway. Carolina got the ball right back when Everett was hit and fumbled on the next play from scrimmage. The Panthers were unable to gain a 1st, though, and settled for a 22 yd FG. A 17 yd Irv Smith catch on 3rd & 6 gave the Saints a 1st near midfield, but pressure forced Everett to throw incomplete two plays later on 3rd & 4. The Panthers took over at their 25 with 1:49 left before halftime, but the Saint D returned the ball to the O less than a minute later when Hughes fair-caught a punt at the NO 39. An inside handoff to Brown gave the Saints a 1st one yd deep into Carolina territory, but the RB made two bad plays after that- he dropped a sure gainer on 1st, then ran out of bounds short of the 1st down marker (eschewing the chance to gain yards) on 3rd & 10 (despite the fact that the team had a timeout left). There was too much time left to risk a non-punt (Carolina could've had a shot into the endzone if the Saints failed to gain a 1st), so Wilmsmeyer booted it away. The Saint lead at halftime was a single point. Michael Bates returned the second half kickoff to the Carolina 49, then a pass interference call on Winfred Tubbs moved the ball into Saint territory. On 4th & 1 from the 35 Collins snuck for the 1st. A major facemask tacked onto a Biakabutuka run put the line of scrimmage at the 11, but on 3rd & 6 Greg Jackson stuffed Oliver for a 3 yd loss. A 29 yd FG put the Panthers up by 2. The O failed to gain a 1st (and caught a break when a deflected-ball INT at the 1 yard line was negated by a Carolina offside penalty), so Wilmsmeyer booted the ball to the visitors. A 10 yd catch by Muhammad on 3rd & 8 put the Panthers across the 50, but on the next play Anthony Newman caught a pass deflected by Martin. Haynes made a fingertip grab along the sideline to gain 30 and put the O at the Carolina 33, but on the next play Lorenzo Neal fumbled after making a short catch. Carolina took over at their 27. The D held Carolina without a 1st, and on the punt the Panthers interfered with Hughes' attempt to fair-catch the ball, thus giving the O possession at the Carolina 33. Bates gained 8 on 1st, but runs on 2nd & 3rd both lost yardage. Doug Brien's 48 yd FG attempt was perfect. J.J. McCleskey made a great tackle on the ensuing kickoff, but on 1st down Collins hit Muhammad for 39 and a 1st at the NO 42. The D held Chimichanga gainless on 3rd & 1, so Kasay kicked another 51 yarder on the first play of the fourth quarter. After the teams traded 3 & punt series, the O finally started to move. On consecutive plays Jeffires caught a ball for 13, Lusk caught one for 5, and Bates reversed his field for a big 33 yd pickup. The team ran out of gas, though, so Brien came on to hit a solid 43 yarder. With 7:40 left, the Saints were up by a point. The Panthers fought back with quick hits on consecutive plays to Muhammad for 18, to Carrier for 14, to Carrier again for 13, and to Muhammad again for 5. Collins went down on the last throw with an apparent sprain of his left medial collateral ligament. Beuerlein entered the game and handed to Mosi Taputu until the Panthers got a 1st at the 1. TB was stopped for no gain on 1st, though, and on 2nd Renaldo Turnbull read a bootleg and created a 9 yd loss. Carolina settled for a 23 yd FG to go up 2 with 2:09 left. The O took over at the NO 24 sans timeouts with 1:59 left on the clock. On 1st down a forced throw was nearly picked off by Sam Mills. Everett's 2nd down throw was caught by Smith for 7, but his 3rd down throw fell incomplete. On 4th down, a throw across the middle wasn't close to being a completion. The Panthers kneeled the final 1:17 off the clock and dropped the Saints to 0-2. stats (from my notes, not official) ^^^^^ ....runnin'....../......throwin' & catchin'.... jim Everett 15- 69 mario Bates 2- 10 2- 1 Derek brown 3- 34 1- 3 ricky Whittle 1- (3) lorenzo Neal 1- 5 michael Haynes 2- 81 1- 9 torrance Small 2- 21-1 haywood Jeffires 4- 70-1 Irv smith 4- 21 hendrick Lusk 3- 27 incompletions 10 interceptions 0 19- 82 22-32-266-2-0 yardage histogram (player marks are as in stats above- B=Bates, etc.) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ BW <--runs BBD B DBBBBBBB B BS B B ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** I I BL B S LSJJ JID J H H W DN I LD <--passes comments ^^^^^^^^ * the Saints' defensive front seven played very well; the secondary was so-so * Bates had a few nice runs * this is the type of game we can't afford to lose * the crowd was dead throughout- even the boos were half-hearted ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu