Apparently, Coach Payton didn’t read my preview and he definitely didn’t adhere to my keys to the game. Glad he didn’t. The Saints pulled out of Bank of America Stadium with an impressive 28 to 14 victory over the Panthers.

Never mind that interception on the first possession or the fumble on the second. Whatever miscues the Saints made in the first quarter, before halftime the Saints made themselves good and damn comfortable in Carolina.  Perhaps,

Rob Ryan and his troops challenged the Panthers offense. If Carolina got anything going, it would have to be on the heels of Superman, Cam Newton. It was a defensive struggle throughout the first quarter. Both teams swapped possessions and remained scoreless. But the Saints defense won that battle in the second quarter. Just minutes before the half, Junior Galette sacked Newton forcing a fumble and the Saints recovered deep in Panthers’ territory. The offense, did the rest. Drew Brees and company scored two touchdowns. The first, on the back of Mark Ingram and the second, a score by Jimmy Graham. The Graham score set up by Meachem blatantly interfered with in the endzone. The Graham score set up by pass interference. In the third, Cam Newton gave the home crowd something to cheer about. With all his options shot, he ran for 10-yards and took a dive into the endzone making the score 14 to 7. But the Saints offense responded with a drive of their own. Sean Payton’s aggressive play calling led to a Brees 4^th down dive for a score. The Saints left the home team trailing 21 to 7 heading into the fourth. That stellar defense that was missing for much of the first half of this season, held the Panthers to a just a field goal in the fourth. And for the first time this season, the Saints closed out with a victory on the road, after running back Mark Ingram put an exclamation on the night with his second touchdown. The final score, 28 to 10.

 

And now, a round for my guys……. A toast

 To:

Mark Ingram,

Corey White, Raphael Bush, Junior Galette, Akiem Hicks, Cam Jordan.

 

Up Next, San Francisco 49ers.                                                                      Cheers,

                                                                                                                               SC