Saints 13
Panthers 45
In the shadow of owner Tom Benson's "I'll do whatever is necessary" promise,
the Saints were blown out by Carolina.
For the second consecutive week, Jake Delhomme's first pass was intercepted,
this time because his arm was hit as he threw. The Panthers converted the
turnover into a 27 yd FG.
Following four punts, a Delhomme overthrow was intercepted and returned to
the NO 37. Carolina scored in three plays- Jeffers broke Brady Smith's
attempted backfield tackle to earn 23 on an end-around; Beuerlein hooked up
with Muhammad for back-to-back 7 yd completions, with the second one good
for a score.
Following a 3 & punt series, the home team drove 68 yds for another score,
which took the form of a 37 yd Walls TD catch. In the half's remaining
11:57, neither team scored, so Carolina went into the locker room up 17-0.
The Panthers started the third quarter with a 5-play, 64 yd TD drive, with
the score coming on a 15 yd Walls catch. After a couple of punts, the
Saints got inside the Carolina 40 for the first time, but lost possession
when a 4th & 8 play from the 28 gained only 3 yds. The Panthers scored in
four plays, with Jeffers' 40 yd catch making it 31-0 with 54 seconds left
in the third quarter.
An out-of-bounds kickoff gave the Saints good field position; a Delhomme
scramble set up a 3 yd Eddie Kennison TD catch. The Panthers restored
the point differential immediately, as Michael Bates reversed his field
to register a 94 yd kickoff return for TD.
Carolina regained possession in NO territory when a 4th & 14 pass to Ricky
Williams lost yardage. The Panthers extended their lead to 45-7 with a
32 yd Jeffers TD catch.
After three quick turnovers (Jake INT, Beuerlein fumble, Jake INT), the
Panthers failed on 4th & 10 from their 39. With :18 left, Delhomme scored
the team's last points of the season by scrambling in from 9 yds out (a
two-point pass fell incomplete). The Panthers recovered an onside kick
but did not score again.
stats (view with a fixed-width font, like Courier)
^^^^^
runnin'........../..........passin' & catchin'
8- 78-1 Jake Delhomme
14- 7 Ricky Williams 5- 5
1- 3 Aaron Craver
1- 3 Wilmont Perry
Eddie Kennison 6- 44-1
1- 14 Keith Poole 6-104
Andre Hastings 3- 50
Lawrence Dawsey 5- 32
P.J. Franklin 1- 8
25-105-1 TOTAL 26-243-1
inc 19
INT 4
runnin'........../..........passin' & catchin'
1- 4 Steve Beuerlein
8- 24 Tim Biakabutuka 4- 21
4- 16 Fred Lane
William Floyd 1- 3
1- 23 Patrick Jeffers 7-165-2
Muhsin Muhammad 6- 45-1
Wesley Walls 4- 88-2
14- 67 TOTAL 22-322-5
inc 19
INT 0
notes
^^^^^
* Wayne Martin has started every game for the past 9 seasons
* due to the Ricky Williams trade, the Saints will give the #2-overall pick
in the '00 draft to the Redskins
* Ditka's 15-33 record marks the worst 48-game streak by a single Saints coach
since the team's original helmsman, Tom Fears, went 13-34-2 over 3.5 seasons
* '00 home opponents: Broncos, Raiders, Eagles, Lions, NFC West
'00 road opponents: Chargers, Seahawks, Cardinals, Bears, NFC West
*******************************************************************************
Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu