New Orleans, LA —New Orleans look very sharp coming off their bye off. New Orleans has something to prove this season.
Drew Brees threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns without two top receivers and the Saints quarterback rushed for another score to lead New Orleans to a 27-24 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
With the win today, New Orleans’ all-time record against the Panthers improves to 26-25 in the regular season and 13-13 in regular season home games. New Orleans has now won three consecutive games against Carolina.
Brees’ touchdown passes went 4 yards to Jared Cook, who completed the catch in very tight coverage, and 4 yards to Deonte Harris 2 seconds before the break.
The victory is Payton’s 50th regular season NFC South win of his career and improves his record in division games to 50-30. During Payton’s tenure, former Panthers and current Washington HC Ron Rivera is next with 26 NFC South victories.
Offensively, New Orleans amassed over 400 total yards for the third time this season, finishing with 415 total yards on 277 yards passing and 138 yards rushing. New Orleans possessed the ball for 34:31 and have had at least 34 minutes time of possession in each of their last three games.
Carolina had driven across midfield in the final minutes when Marcus Davenport’s sack of Teddy Bridgewater led coach Matt Rhule to send out kicker Joey Slye for a 65-yard field goal on fourth-and-19. The kick fell just short of the crossbar and New Orleans Saints were able to run out the final 1:55 on the clock while the Panthers lost their second straight game.
Teddy Bridgewater was 23 of 28 for 254 yards and two touchdowns, including a 74-yarder to DJ Moore, who also had a 7-yard catch-and run for a score. Curtis Samuel ran for a 5-yard touchdown that knotted the game at 24 at the end of the third frame.
Saints running back Alvin Kamara gained 148 yards from scrimmage, with 83 coming on 14 rushes.
Defensively, the Saints held Carolina to a season-low 283 yards, including 246 passing yards and 37 yards on the ground. 37 is the fewest rushing yards New Orleans has allowed since holding Tampa Bay to 36 yards on eight rushing attempts on November 17, 2019. The Saints also extended its league-leading streak to 48 games without surrendering 100 rushing yards to a single player.
QB Drew Brees became the first player in NFL history to reach 7,000 career completions and also became the first player in NFL history to eclipse 79,000 yards passing in his career.
The Saints extend their streak to 294 regular season games without being shut out, the longest such running streak in the NFL and fourth longest all-time. The streak dates back to September 6, 2002 when New Orleans defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-20 at Raymond James Stadium.
“It’s a tough one to let get away from you. That was a good football team we played against and we were a few plays away, but in this league being a few plays away can get you beat. We’ve got a short week, so we’ve got to hurry up and put this game to bed. We’ll get an opportunity to play the Saints again at the end of the season, but it’s a short week like I said; we’ve got to get ready for Atlanta.” Panthers quarterback Bridgewater said.
New Orleans returns to action on Sunday, November 1 when they take on the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Kickoff is set for 3:25 p.m. CT on Fox.
