Sept. 27, 2015 Charlotte, NC This the game where the Panthers came real close to losing to Saints back-up QB Luke McCown. Going into the game we thought we would roll the Saints sans Drew Brees. McCown ripped the Panther secondary for 310 yards on 31 for 38 passing. He was very good at taking what the Panthers gave him on this day.
So with 1:46 on the clock, inside the red zone on 3rd and 6 and a chance to take the lead McCown finally made a mistake. His next pass attempt was one of the stepping stones to the arrival of Josh Norman:
Recap: Panthers 27, Saints 22
"I know the things they like to do in that area of the field, and I just had a bead on it," said Norman, still catching his breath after having the wind knocked out of him when he landed. "I saw ball and got ball. I went to go get it."
Click through to watch the highlights and then come back here to discuss...I’ll wait.
Okay, that has to be one of the best INTs I’ve ever seen. Certainly one of the best in Norman’s highlight reel, and he has a decent size reel these days.
The Panthers opened their scoring with one of those Greg Olsen seam routes LBs have a tough time covering. He makes it look easy in this one. Olsen is also very fired up in this game, throwing down some passion to spark a Panthers rally from a 10-0 deficit.
Newton completes the Panthers scoring with a TD on a naked bootleg for 13 yards. Newton was so fast back then. Newton then gave the ball to a kid who was super excited. That never gets old for the kids and as a parent I like seeing their reaction.
The defense stepped up as well. Watch the clip of LB Thomas Davis laying the wood to RB Khiry Robinson to force 4th down. Davis would later also force a fumble that stopped a Saints drive.
Here’s a couple interesting things of note, at least to me:
After failing to get much of a pass rush against the Saints (1 sack, 1 QBH) they traded for DE Jared Allen a day later.
Carolina Panthers trade for defensive end Jared Allen - Cat Scratch Reader
This was a very good trade for the Panthers. They were in dire need of help on the line before Charles Johnson's injury, and the pass rush was in dire straights when he left the game vs. New Orleans in Week 3. Allen has two more years remaining on a four year contract he signed in 2014, and thankfully it was a front-loaded deal that could allow the team to keep their cap solvency, should they choose to keep Allen beyond this season.
Now while Allen didn’t log much in the stat box (2 sacks) on Sunday he played smart and with the kind of energy that can be infectious on a defense. I still think he was worth that 6th rounder.
Another interesting tidbit is this is the game where Cam Newton alleged Ed Hochuli told he was ‘too young to get calls like that’ after a borderline late hit by a Saints player. Hochuli later denied it. I think the video supports Newton’s version as he obviously reacts to something Hochuli says. Fortunately the Newton v Hochuli dispute ended there. I certainly do not desire a pissing contest against the zebra with the big guns.
The final take away is that this team got down early and fought their way back to take a 5 point lead. Then with their backs to the wall the defense made several key plays. This win gave the team a real shot in the arm.