Saints' Ineptitude on Offense Leads to Disappointing Loss to Panthers

The Saints season is over after their regular season finale against the Panthers. They closed things out dropping a close one in a game they should have easily won.

NEW ORLEANS -- That's it for the New Orleans Saints this season. They finished out the year losing a close one to the Panthers in a game where they clearly should have won. Offensive ineptitude was a big problem, as they fell 10-7 in the Superdome and finished out 2022 at 7-10.

Game Recap

The Saints started out on offense after the Panthers elected to defer to the second half kickoff. New Orleans had a strong drive to start the game, as they went 75 yards in 8 plays and got into the end zone via a Chris Olave 25-yard reception from Andy Dalton to make it 7-0 with 11:01 in the first quarter. Big plays by Alvin Kamara and David Johnson helped the drive out. On the drive, Olave went over 1,000 yards, coincidentally on his touchdown grab.

The first defensive drive for New Orleans started out a little rocky, as D'Onta Foreman had a couple good runs to open the first Panthers drive. However, the team tightened up and ended up forcing a punt after shutting down the Panthers on three straight plays. The Saints got a one first down on their next drive on a 3rd-and-1 with Alvin Kamara, who was almost gone on the play. The drive would stall out, and they'd punt back to Carolina with 5:04 left in opening quarter.

New Orleans proceeded to put together a strong drive on their next possession, but it stalled out and led to a missed 44-yard field goal by Wil Lutz with 14:15 left in the second quarter. Big plays by Alvin Kamara and a facemask penalty on the Panthers were the biggest plays of the drive. On the 3rd-and-6 play from Carolina's 26-yard-line, Dalton didn't see a wide open Taysom Hill that would have went for a score.

The Panthers went three-and-out on their next series, only getting a single yard on their drive. The Saints had another good-looking drive going on their next possession, going 62 yards in 11 plays. They'd threaten inside Carolina's 20-yard-line and go for it on 4th-and-1, but Kamara was stuffed on the play and dropped for a loss to have the Panthers take over with 7:18 to play until the half. The Saints got several big plays from Rashid Shaheed, with Taysom Hill and Kamara being a big part of the drive.

Carolina ended up having their best drive of the game, moving the ball well on the ground with Chuba Hubbard and D'Onta Foreman. New Orleans had some chances with sacks, but couldn't come up with a stop. The Panthers moved the ball to the Saints' 29-yard-line, and were then turned away after Tyrann Mathieu came up with a pick near the goal line and had a good return. Just two plays later, New Orleans gave it right back to Carolina after Chris Olave caught a pass and fumbled right before the end of the half. The Saints defense would get a sack on the final play of the half from J.T. Gray and Demario Davis.

Second Half

The Panthers had a renewed sense coming into the third quarter, and it showed in a big way as they rattled off a 14-play, 82-yard drive that took 8:15 off the clock and resulted in their first touchdown of the drive on a weird sequence. Sam Darnold ended up running it in from 2 yards out, but fumbled as he was approaching the goal line. The ball was recovered by Michael Jordan in the end zone, as they tied things up at 7-7 with 6:45 left in the quarter. Their run attack continued to gash the Saints, and D'Onta Foreman and Marcus Davenport got ejected on the drive after getting into after a play.

The Saints went three-and-out on their first possession of the half following the long defensive drive. Thankfully, they countered defensively and recovered to force a three-and-out as well and got the ball back with 2:40 to play in the third. New Orleans had the ball for several minutes on their ensuing drive, but barely went anywhere due to a costly holding penalty on Adam Trautman. The Saints lined up to go for a 4th-and-1 from their own 47-yard-line and got the defense to jump offsides. They punted back to Carolina with 11:53 left in the game after Dalton was sacked on a 3rd-and-9 play.

Carolina ran off a short drive on their next series that took a few minutes off the clock, but stalled out after hitting a 3rd-and-4 and being unable to convert. New Orleans took over with 8:16 to play, but ended up running a quick three-and-out on their series to give Carolina back the ball with under 7 minutes to play. Thankfully, the Saints forced a three-and-out of their own on defense and got the ball back with under 5 minutes to go.

The Saints looked to threaten to at least on their next series, but ended up getting stuffed as they had the ball at the 49-yard-line and couldn't pick up a 3rd-and-4. They punted back to Carolina with 1:57 to play. It took one play, but Daniel Sorensen made a great read on a Darnold pass and picked him off with 1:36 to go to get the ball back for New Orleans at the Panthers' 35-yard-line. New Orleans would end up going backwards some and Dalton was way off-target on his deep pass for Olave. The ensuing 55-yard field goal attempt by Wil Lutz would get blocked.

As the Panthers took over with good field position, they crossed midfield quickly with under a minute to go. Sam Darnold had a good run on the final series and hit a pass over the middle to get Eddy Pineiro to hit the game-winning 43-yard field goal as time expired.

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