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Saints vs. Panthers: Live From Twitter

With only three days to recover after beating the Green Bay Packers last Sunday night, the New Orleans Saints earned their first road-win of the 2014 season by defeating the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Here's how Twitter lived the 28-10 triumph.

By JR Ella
Saints and Brees have been flying high the last two weeks.
Saints and Brees have been flying high the last two weeks.
Streeter Lecka

Another intense night of angst, anger, elation and relief for Saints fans. Here's how the craziest social media of the moment, Twitter, reacted to every crucial moment of the NFC South showdown between the Saints and the Panthers.

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Minutes Before the Game

Our own Zip Code was at the game, and prior to kickoff he faked Panthers fans into thinking that they had a shot.

Tradition.

Some of us even got a little too excited. Maybe it was Crown Royal tweeting though.

Not Panthers fans apparently

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Freak Pick

The Saints offense started the game on fire, quickly driving deep into the Panthers' redzone, Brees then tried to find Kenny Stills for a pass that bounced off the Saints receiver's hands and got intercepted. The road woes seemed to continue and the Who Dat Nation went into full freak out mode.

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Defense Bows its Neck

Picking up where it left off in the second half on Sunday, the Saints defense rose to the challenge and kept the Panthers at bay. Maybe even more surprising was the ongoing resurgence of Saints cornerback Corey White who was making the plays to get Carolina off the field.

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You've Got to be Kidding Me!!!

On their very next offensive possession, the Saints started moving the ball again, with Jimmy Graham hurdling former teammate roman Harper and making Harper look foolish. Little did Saints fans know that this drive was about to materialize their worst fears.

Fullback Erik Lorig who fumbled last week against Green Bay, decided that he'd be the one causing a fumble this week. Bad thing was, it was against his own team, as Lorig accidentally knocked the ball out of a pressured Drew Brees. Nightmare in Charlotte!

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I Got Your Back

Once more, the Saints defense did its job, bailing the offense out and getting the Panthers off the field. Cam Newton chipped in, with inaccurate throws that he sailed over his receivers' hands.

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The Breakthrough is Coming

With the game scoreless after the first quarter, the impatience and frustration started rising in the Saints fans ranks. But a breakthrough was on the way.

Some great minds knew that New Orleans would eventually solve the Panthers riddle.

And then, there was that man again.

After the Saints offense had failed to score again, punter Thomas Morstead pinned the Panthers deep in the shadow of their own goal line. New Orleans' defense then produced the turnover that would lead to the Saints first touchdown.

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Putting Them in a Hole

With the Saints defense doing a number on the frail Panthers offensive line, New Orleans got the ball back with a little over a minute left in the first half. The Saints marched right down the field and scored a touchdown to go up 14-0. Elation in Who Dat Land.

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Can You Finish on the Road?

The big bugaboo for the Saints this season is that they hadn't won a game on the road yet. Worse, they had lost seven road-games in a row. Could they close the game out and not let Carolina back from the dead? The second half didn't start so well as the Panthers drove right down the field and close the gap with a Cam Newton touchdown run.

While Saints fans were starting to worry, Dave was calmly going all Tulane grad on us.

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We Got This!

Brees and the Saints offense, after sputtering a bit, finally put together a scoring drive in which the Saints quarterback did his patented "goal line leap" on fourth and goal to put New Orleans ahead 21-7.

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We love the D

The previously maligned Saints defense, which is seemingly really improving, showed up again after Carolina threatened to pull within seven points once more. The Panthers were held to only three points, and the Saints maintained a two-score lead at 21-10.

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Nail in the Coffin

Taking over with 12:57 left in the fourth quarter, the Saints went on a vintage, time-consuming, soul-crushing, bone-rattling, will-bending drive that took about 7:30 off the clock and resulted in Ingram's sealing the win with a rushing touchdown.

There was even a rare Robert Meachem sighting as a receiver, not just a blocker. No matter how much some criticize Meachem being active every game, he is a heck of a blocker in the running game.

And there it was

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First Again

Leading 28-10, the Saints close the game out. It took a while, but since they lost the division lead to the Panthers late in the 2013 season, the New Orleans Saints are once again sitting alone in first place in the NFC South. Quite incredible after their poor start of the 2014 season. But that's the 2014 NFC South for you. Enjoy, Who Dat Nation!

Even some Falcons fans were happy the Panthers lost. Just...cold.

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And it's a Wrap!

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