Panthers Solidify Playoff Spot

 
With a quick and effective final drive, the Carolina Panthers were able to clinch a win against the New Orleans Saints with a final score of 17-13. With this low-scoring victory against their NFC South Rivals, the 11-4 Panthers have earned themselves a playoffs spot.  They are now in control of the NFC South, though the Saints still have a chance to regain control if they win next week.

But make no mistake; The Panthers played a far from perfect game. Carolina’s offense struggled for nearly the entire game. They looked scattered and out of sync when controlling the ball. This was partly due to Cam Newton, who was clearly struggling all game. Yet, Newton was able to redeem himself in an outstanding final drive. But before that drive, the Panthers only had 157 total offensive yards.

With the offense struggling, it was up to the Panthers’ defense to keep the team’s hopes for a win alive. And as usual, the defense delivered. They held the Saints to only 3 scoring drives, 2 of which were field goals. They were able to contain Drew Brees and his receivers, and sacked Brees 6 times.

The fourth quarter held most of the action in the game.

The Saints scored early in the fourth, with Brees passing to Jimmy Graham to make the score 13-10. And later on with 2 minutes left, the Saints were still up and in control of the ball. But the Panthers defense pulled through again to regulate the saints to only gaining 2 yards on the drive.

The Panthers received the ball at the 35 after the punt. And with 55 seconds left of play time, Cam Newton and the Panthers put together a game clenching drive. Newton made a 37 yard pass to Ted Ginn, then a 14 yard pass to Greg Olsen to advance to New Orlean’s  14 yard line. After spiking the ball to preserve time, Newton then made one final pass to Domenik Hixon for the TD. In total, the drive took only 32 seconds. And at 17-13, the game was over.

It was a hard victory, but a crucial one.