2007 Redux: Panthers 14, Saints 13

by Dave Cariello on Jul 14, 2008 3:00 PM CDT

More heartbreak at home for New Orleans fans. During the real season this game was very disappointing, Mare missing field goals and the Panthers making last second ones. The 2007 redux version is no better. If I knew it was gonna go as poorly as the real season, I wouldn't have put us all through this misery yet again.

Trying to regroup after the bye, the Saints are on the wrong end of yet another tight, low scoring loss. Even worse, a divisional opponent. This offense is just not the powerhouse that everyone was expecting. Fortunately, our defense has been playing great and keeping us in these games.

I kept Deuce on the roster because at the time I did this, the vote tally was in favor of keeping him. Sorry to the majority of you who wanted otherwise, but he did have the Saints only TD on the day. Drew Brees, as in the beginning of the real season, is disappointing to say the least. A paltry 102 yards? He also now has 5 interceptions in the last two games. I still can't believe how similar these seasons are turning out to be. Steve Smith did his best Joey Galloway impression and had a ridiculous 12 catches for 146 yards while David Carr completed 22/32, though he also through 2 interceptions. The Saints defense forced three turnovers but the offense couldn't do much with their opportunities. Colston led all receivers with 44 yards. McKenzie was all over the field with 10 tackles and Will Smith notched a sack. Unlike the real game, Mare actually went 2/2 and played well.

This now drops the Saints to a dismal 1-4 and in the NFC South basement. Ironically enough, Atlanta is looking very good, thanks to their law-abiding, poster child quarterback Michael Vick. The good news is that technically we are still better off than we were in the real season. Next up is Seattle and hopefully, like the real 2007 season, this is where we start to turn it around. Aaron Stecker sprained his ankle and will be out for 2 weeks.

Scoring Summary

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	Final
Panthers	0	7	7	0	-	14
Saints	0	10	3	0	-	13

Game Stats

Stat	Saints	Panthers
Score	13	14
Total Offense	188	372
Rushing Yards	88	139
Passing Yards	100	233
First Downs	12	22
PR Yards	35	13
KR Yards	44	55
Possession	23:22	36:38
Turnovers	2	3
3rd Down Conv.	5/12	7/15
Red Zone Offense	66%	100%
Penalty Yards	84	74