Monday, Nov. 09, 2009

Saints too strong for Panthers

NEW ORLEANS -- Exasperated, Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme put both hands on his helmet as he stood in the end zone and watched New Orleans defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove make the play that sank the Panthers' upset attempt of the unbeaten Saints.

Trailing by 3 points with less than three minutes remaining Sunday at the Superdome, the Panthers started the play and the possession at their 2-yard line.

Delhomme handed off to running back DeAngelo Williams, who'd already scored two touchdowns.

This time, the ball was knocked out of Williams' grasp, and Hargrove recovered it at the 1 and returned it for a touchdown.

"The first thing that went through my mind was, 'game over,'" said Delhomme. "I mean, we didn't have any timeouts left, and that was it."

The Panthers still managed another drive to the New Orleans 2 in the final minute but got no points out of that possession and lost 30-20.

The win upped the Saints' record to 8-0, best in franchise history and tied with Indianapolis for tops in the NFL at the midway point of the season. It was New Orleans' first home win over Carolina since 2001, ending the perfect record against the Saints in Louisiana for Delhomme and coach John Fox.

The Panthers fell to 3-5 and missed an opportunity to come away with what had the potential to be a season-turning victory.

"We had our chances, but we blew it," strong safety Chris Harris said.

Making the defeat even more costly was that one of the Panthers best players in the first half of the season, outside linebacker Thomas Davis, suffered a knee injury in the fourth quarter that may turn out to be season-threatening.

Davis declined comment after the game.

For much of the game, Carolina looked primed to pull off the upset.

The Panthers scored first, led by 11 points at halftime and didn't trail until late in the fourth quarter.

But just as the Saints did earlier this season when they overcame a 21-point halftime deficit to beat Miami, they rode their big-play offense to victory.

Three long pass plays made all the difference in this game, completions of 45, 63 and 54 yards to different receivers by Brees in a span of barely over a quarter.

The 45-yarder went to Marques Colston with 21 seconds left in the first half, moving the ball to the Carolina 7 and resulting in a touchdown at the end of the first half to cut Carolina's lead to 17-6.

Then, on the third play of the second half, Brees threw a medium-length pass to Devery Henderson that turned into a 63-yarder, setting up Pierre Thomas' 10-yard touchdown run.

Then, after Carolina drove for a field goal, Brees struck again with a 54-yard touchdown pass to Robert Meachem.

New Orleans went ahead for good on John Carney's 40-yard field goal with 4:45 remaining before Hargrove's score put the game out of reach.

"I'm excited for our players," New Orleans coach Sean Payton said. "Early on, it would have been real easy to get discouraged."