Saints 7 Panthers 19 summary ^^^^^^^ Carolina completed a season sweep of the Saints by controlling the ball in the second half. play-by-play ^^^^^^^^^^^^ The Panthers had the initial possession but failed to get a 1st when tight coverage from Mark McMillan forced an incompletion on 3rd & 5. Mario Bates picked up 15 on a swing pass on the Saints' first offensive play, but the team didn't get another 1st. The D stopped a 3rd & 2 run a yard short of the marker, but Tyrone Hughes fumbled when hit during the punt return, thus giving the ball back to Carolina at the NO 40. A defensive holding call gave the Panthers 5 free yards, then two plays later Collins snuck for 2 on 3rd & inches. A Muhammad catch gave the home team 1st & goal from the 5, but two runs and a sneak came up inches short of the goal. The Panthers lined up to go for it on 4th down, but a false start ended that notion. The chip shot FG put the first points on the board. Lorenzo Neal broke some tackles to gain 16 yds on a pass and move the ball near midfield. The Saints went for it on 4th & 2 from the Carolina 45, but the ball fell incomplete when Jim Everett couldn't find an open receiver. The team got a gift when a quick whistle granted the Saints a sack for a 10 yd loss (the play would've been a no-gainer). A big opportunity was missed on 3rd & 20 when Joe Johnson knocked the ball from Collins but failed to fall on it (he had a good shot). A 5 yd Torrance Small catch and a 10 yd Ray Zellars run gave the team a 1st at their 45, but a 3rd & 3 throw fell incomplete. An 11 yd catch by Griffith was good for a Carolina 1st at their 41, then on 3rd & 8 Muhammad streched out and took in a ball at the NO 35. Three straight incompletions followed, however, and Kasay's 52 yd FG attempt was no good. The refs bailed out the team with a late defensive holding call on a 3rd down incompletion to put the ball just across the 50. Zellars soon caught a 12 yd throw and ran for 7, then Lee DeRamus caught a ball for 15. After two Zellars runs put the ball at the 1, the RB punched it in for the TD. With 6:38 left in the half, the Saints were up 7-3. The Panthers began their final possession of the first half at their 29 and moved the sticks with a sneak for 2 on 3rd & inches. Carrier caught a 13 yd ball on 3rd & 6, then Walls caught one for 22 on 3rd & 4 to put Carolina at the NO 14. A 5 yd loss on a reception and a holding call backed them up, though, and they wound up settling for a 40 yd FG with 50 seconds left before the break. The first play from scrimmage of the second half saw Torrance Small drop a short pass. A 3 yd Zellars run and a 5 yd Haywood Jeffires catch followed, so the visitors punted. On 3rd & 1 from the Carolina 29 the chains moved via a defensive interference call on Eric Allen (at this point the satellite feed started cutting in and out, so my notes are a bit spotty). Carrier caught a 25 yd pass to put the ball into Saints territory. The Panthers faced 3rd & 4 from the NO 30 when Collins was hit and fumbled. Fred Stokes recovered the ball, but the play was nullified by a defensive holding call on Mark Fields. Carolina wound up kicking a 26 yd FG to take the lead. A holding call on the ensuing kickoff put the team at the 11, and again the O failed to gain a 1st. Good coverage by Je'Rod Cherry put the Panthers at their 37. On 3rd & 1 Johnson gained 7 on the ground, and one play later the RB took a screen pass to the NO 15. On 3rd down Carrier caught a 13 yd TD. With 2:30 remaining in the third quarter, the Saints were down 9. After the O's third 3 & punt series in as many second half possessions, the Panthers took over at their 33. Stokes jumped offside on 2nd & inches, then Johnson ran for 11 to the NO 41. Carolina went for it on 4rd & 3 from the 34, but a throw was incomplete. The team's first 1st down of the second half came when Michael Haynes went up high to make a fine catch for 11 on 3rd & 9. On 3rd & 2 Ricky Whittle ran for 6. Two Zellars runs brought up 3rd & 1 from the Carolina 31, but the RB came up inches short on 3rd, and on 4th he was stuffed for a loss by Sam Mills. The Panthers ran the ball eight times in a row to drain the clock from 7:15 to 2:43 before kicking a 39 yarder. The final Saint possession ended with a 4th down INT at the NO 24, and Carolina kneeled the game away. stats (from my notes, not official) ^^^^^ ....runnin'....../......throwin' & catchin'.... jim Everett 1- 2 mario Bates 1- 15 2- 8 ricky Whittle 3- 8 16-59-1 ray Zellars 1- 12 lorenzo Neal 1- 16 michael Haynes 1- 11 torrance Small 2- 18 haywood Jeffires 2- 13 lee deRamus 1- 15 hendrick Lusk 2- 8 incompletions 14 interceptions 1 19-69-1 14-29-116-0-1 yardage histogram (player marks are as in stats above- B=Bates, etc.) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Z WZ <--runs Z ZBZZ Z ZZZZZWZZ ZZ ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** W LW SL JW HZS RN J B <--passes comments ^^^^^^^^ * the Panther secondary absolutely shut down our passing attack * the only QBs that have started more games for the Saints than Everett are Manning and Hebert * the last six games of the season are contests that we could/should win, but unfortunately we'll probably be 2-8 by then ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu