Panthers 26-31 Saints: Drew Brees stars as New Orleans progress
Monday 8 January 2018 10:49, UK
Drew Brees passed for 376 yards and two touchdowns as the New Orleans Saints edged out the Carolina Panthers 31-26 in their NFC Wild Card meeting on Sunday.
The Saints managed to hold off Carolina's late comeback bid, with Cam Newton sacked on the penultimate play of the game as he looked for a late game-winning TD.
The Panthers had a first down on the Saints 26-yard line with 58 seconds left, but an intentional grounding penalty on Newton ended up costing Carolina, pushing them back 15 yards before a sack on fourth down ended the game.
Brees' two touchdowns for New Orleans - an 80-yarder to Ted Ginn and a nine-yard strike to Josh Hill - helped the Saints stretch out into a 14-3 lead in the second quarter.
Carolina, meanwhile, failed to find the endzone until the fourth quarter, with Graham Gano's four field goals their only points their only points until then. Gano missed with his first attempt, early in the game.
Saints fullback Zach Line and running back Alvin Kamara each ran in for short touchdowns, but two fourth-quarter scores for the Panthers brought them back into the contest.
Tight end Greg Olsen caught a 14-yard TD and running back Christian McCaffrey went off to the races for a 56-yard catch and run that pulled the Panthers to within five points.
Newton finished the game 24 of 40 passing for 349 yards, but he was also sacked four times and was at one point checked for a concussion, missing one play before returning to the game.
Still, the Panthers were in striking distance of the win late one after a failed gamble by Saints head coach Sean Payton, who elected to keep the offense on the field on fourth-and-short with two minutes remaining, hoping for a first down and to run out the clock.
It backfired, as Brees' pass was intercepted, giving Carolina the ball at its own 31-yard line with just under two minutes left in the game.
But, Newton and the Panthers offense couldn't find a game-winning score, seeing the Saints sweep all three of their meetings with Carolina this season. They next travel to Minnesota to play the Vikings in the divisional round next Sunday.
