Saints 19 Panthers 14 Efficient, error-free football enabled the Saints to defeat another NFC West opponent. On the first play from scrimmage, Danny Wuerffel took off on a surprising 18 yd scramble. One play later, the QB hit Sean Dawkins on a quick slant, and the WR raced all the way in for a 64 yd TD. Less than a minute into the game, the Saints were up 7-0. Following two yardage-scarce possessions, the Panthers moved to the NO 27 in 4 plays- Lane 4 run, Lane 14 run, Walls 12 catch, Lane 12 run. The drive stalled there, however, and Kasay's 45 yd FG attempt stayed wide. A sack of Wuerffel on 3rd & 7 from the Carolina 48 prompted a punt back to the visitors, during which Je'Rod Cherry interfered with the returner, who had called for a fair catch. The penalty started the Panthers at their 25. They breached Saints territory with a 31 yd catch & run by Muhammad on 3rd & 6. A run each by Floyd and Lane moved the sticks, then on 3rd & 8 Collins went back to Muhammad for a 21 yd gain. One play later, Floyd dove into the endzone from 1 yd out. The PAT tied the score with 13:32 left before halftime. After two inconsequential possessions, the Saints began to drive. Wuerffel hit Dawkins for 13 on 3rd & 6, then went back to the tall WR a play later for a 16 yd pickup (with 15 more yds tacked on for an unnecessarily-rough tackle). A thirteen yd loss on a 3rd down sack made Doug Brien's job more difficult, but he was true from 46 yds. On the ensuing kickoff, the home team was robbed of a turnover when the refs incorrectly ruled that a fumble (recovered by Brien) was caused by the ground. A short while later, the team got its turnover- Tyronne Drakeford intercepted Collins at the NO 47. The O couldn't covert, however- Ditka elected to punt after failing to draw the Panthers offside on 4th & 2 from the Carolina 45. The visitors took possession of the ball at the 20 and expertly executed a 2-minute drill- Ismail 11 catch, Carrier 26 catch, Saints offside, Muhammad 15 catch, Muhammad 11 catch, all in only 42 seconds. A false start backed them up 5, but on the next play Muhammad found the pylon for a 17 yd TD. At halftime the Saints trailed by 4. On the second play of the second half, before the Dome fans had reclaimed their seats, Muhammad sliced through the D during a 59 yd catch & run to the NO 10. A huge momentum shift occurred one play later- Floyd took a pitch and rolled out to throw, but the Lamar Smith wannabe tossed an ill-advised ball that Chad Cota easily picked off in the endzone. Wuerffel was sacked on the next play, but he bounced back. He found Cameron Cleeland for 19 on 3rd & 11 (and was roughed on the play; the penalty yardage put the team across midfield). The O then faltered, though- from the Carolina 39, Smith was held for no gain on 3rd & 2, and Aaron Craver gained only a yard on a 4th down pass into the flat. After the D held Carolina without a 1st, the team took possession at its 11. DW got the sticks a-movin'- he threw to Dawkins for 7 on 3rd & 3, handed to Ray Zellars for 11 on 1st & 10, then called his own number for 8 on 2nd & 7 and 16 on 2nd & 9. Ditka asked Brien to match the 56 yd FG he converted in the third preseason game, and the kicker did so by rolling the ball over the crossbar for a career-long boot. It was 14-13 Panthers with 26 seconds left in the third quarter. The Panthers failed to reach Saints territory during the ensuing possession, so the O set sail once more. A 27 yd run by Smith got things moving; a 7 yd catch by Andre Hastings on 3rd & 5 advanced the chains. Smith tore off a 26 yd run on the next play; Zellars pounded it in from 15 yds out on the play after that. Dawkins couldn't control Wuerffel's throw for two, so the score remained 19-14 with 9:15 left. Carolina struck back by returning the kickoff to the NO 49. Collins hit Carrier for 6 on 3rd & 4; Lane ran 21 yds to the 21. On 3rd & 1 from the 12, Floyd was stuffed for no gain. With 4:26 remaining, the Panthers elected to go for it on 4th & 1. In a boneheaded move, Collins threw the ball away, apparently assuming that the flags thrown at the snap would negate the play (wrong- the Panthers had two men in motion; the Saints declined the penalty). The O was unable to gain a 1st, and Carolina regained possession at their 49. The D did its part- three incompletes preceded a 4th down play in which Joe Johnson knocked the ball loose from Collins' grasp. Wayne Martin fell on it at the NO 46. Once again the O went 3 & punt; Carolina had one last chance, needing to travel 80 yards in 61 seconds. The visitors never mounted a threat; the ball went back on downs with seven ticks left. Wuerffel kneeled to finalize a result much better than the shutouts suffered in his two 1997 starts. stats & yardage histograms (from my "le Stat" system, not official) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ note: this stuff is meant to be read using a fixed-width font, like Courier note: the capital letters in the stats are used in the histograms and the drive chart to identify the players ..runnin'......./.......throwin' & catchin'........ 3- 42 danny Wuerffel 15- 82-1 ray Zellars 1- 5 12- 79 Lamar smith 2- 0 Aaron craver 3- 0 3- 7 troy Davis 2- 3 Sean dawkins 5-109-1 andre Hastings 1- 7 cameron Cleeland 1- 19 incomplete 5 intercepted 0 35-210-1 13-18-143-1-0 D L L A Z AL ZD <--runs DL ZL ZW Z ZZLLZLZZLZZL Z Z ZW W LL ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** D AAA Z S S S S C S D H <--passes ..runnin'......./.......throwin' & catchin'............... 1- 16 Kerry collins 6- 20-1 william Floyd 18-100 fred Lane 1- 4 muhsin Muhammad 9-194-1 mark Carrier 2- 32 raghib Ismail 2- 11 wesley Walls 1- 12 incomplete 18 0 intercepted 1 1 25-136-1 15-34-253-1-1 0-1-0-0-1 F F F L F L <--runs LFL L L L LLLL LLLF L L K L L ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** I L C MMW MMMM M C M M I <--passes comments ^^^^^^^^ * Wuerffel threw no interceptions, but there were a couple of deflected jump balls he got lucky on * Lamar Smith was benched to start the game; his legs were fresh in the second half * silent until now, Dawkins' impact was welcome * in the second half, Turley shifted to RT when Clarence Jones was dinged (McCollum took over at LG) * Sammy Knight dislocated his shoulder * contrary to what the FOX announcers said, the Panthers didn't get a "5th down" during their final drive * I wonder if the two newest Saints made futile requests to wear the numbers they wore last year- in '97 Billy Joe Tolliver (now #11) wore #8 and Vinson Smith (now #52) wore #57 * in two weeks, we'll be the NFL's worst undefeated team ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu