Carolina Dominates Stats, but Saints Lead Panthers 17-13 at Halftime

With not much to play for in this final game of the season, the Saints and Panthers have treated us to both a boring and exciting game so far, and the Saints took a 17-13 lead into halftime.

After sleepwalking for much of the first half while the Panthers slow-rolled to a 10-0 lead, the Saints offense and defense scored two touchdowns just 43 seconds apart late to shock the Panthers and the dozing Superdome crowd.

Drew Brees hooked up with Marques Colston for 7-yard TD on 4th down to open this scoring blast, and place them tied for 8th in league history with 57 TD connections. This was followed by a Pick-6 of Cam Newton by linebacker Jonathan Vilma.

The Panthers countered with a long drive that stalled in the red zone, leading to a short FG and leaving enough time on the clock for the Saints to add a 53-yard FG of their own as the clock zeroed out.

In other record-setting news, the Saints defense ended all the suspense by going ahead and allowing 287 yards in the first half, setting a new NFL record for yards given up in a season, surpassing the 1981 Baltimore Colts. Glad they put that one to bed so we don't have to worry about it anymore.

Check out the stats below and then join us for lively chat as the second half of the game unfolds. And hey! The Saints get the KO to start the second half, so that's something!!

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