The Saints had won both regular-season games, and Zach Line's touchdown in the wildcard game placed New Orleans up 21 to 6. The Panthers roared back, but towards the end, Mike Thomas was flexing and the Saints had won by five points, and they beat the Panthers three times that season. Four key lessons from Sunday's wildcard victory.
1. Keep Winning Games When It Doesn't Matter How Many Points You Score - In the first half, Carolina dominated time of possession (38:17 vs. 27:21) and yards per play (6.5 vs. 3.7). But the Saints outscored the Panthers 14-3 in the second half while keeping Carolina off balance with their run-pass option attack.
2. Takeaways Are Important - New Orleans has been strong on defense this year, but it's also good on special teams. After scoring no touchdowns on specials during the regular season, the Saints have two in the playoffs so far. One thing that helps on special teams is giving up big plays rarely happens for New Orleans. The longest drive of the day lasted only nine plays before ending in an Eric Weisfield punt.
3. Don't Let Up - Even when you're down by 21 points, there's always hope for a comeback.
Three years ago, they played Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers for the third time that season in the wildcard round. But then Carolina went on a late comeback, scoring three times in the fourth quarter to win 27-21.
Newton finished with 251 yards passing and two touchdowns, but also threw an interception that led to a New Orleans field goal. The Saints' defense allowed over 600 yards for the first time since 2009, when it gave up 614 to Brett Favre and the Vikings.
Since then, the Saints have lost every game by at least 20 points. Last year against Carolina, they were held to just 3 points by rookie quarterback Drew Brees and the Falcons in the second half of their playoff game. Atlanta scored 31 straight points after halftime to win by a score of 64-3.
The Saints haven't beaten the Panthers since December 2008, and they've lost nine straight overall against NFC South opponents. They're 1-5 against the division this season.
The last time the Saints beat the Panthers was in January 2011. Mark Sanchez was the quarterback for Carolina at the time, and he replaced an injured Jake Delhomme.
That year, the Saints won the division and advanced to their first NFC Championship Game, where they were defeated by the Chicago Bears. Three years later, the Saints finished 13-3 and defeated the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. Their Super Bowl triumph is seen as a great success story for New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The game was played at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The 2005 NFL season was the first without any of the original members of the Cowboys dynasty of the 1990s. It was also the first time that the Steelers had not appeared in the championship game since 1974. The Saints entered the season as heavy favorites to win their second straight title. They started out strong, winning their first nine games before losing to the Eagles in Philadelphia on December 24th. The loss ended their season at 10-6. It was also enough to put them out of reach of the playoffs since they already had locked up a spot with their record.
In January 2006, eight months after the hurricane, it was reported that New Orleans was still recovering financially from the disaster. Over one million people were left homeless by the hurricane and its flooding aftermath. There were also issues with health care delivery as well as concerns about crime in the city. It was also reported that many businesses had relocated outside of New Orleans rather than reopen their offices or store locations in the city center.
However, the city has made significant progress in recovery over the last few years.
The Saints have a 16-22 record on the road versus the Rams, including an 11-15 record in Los Angeles, the site of this afternoon's game. On September 17, 1967, the Saints played their debut game as a club against the Los Angeles Rams at Tulane Stadium. The Rams defeated New Orleans 3-0 that day.
In addition to today's game, the Rams have won two out of three meetings with the Saints during the Sean McVay era. They will look to continue that trend when they travel to New Orleans for a 1:00 p.m. CT kickoff on CBS.
Los Angeles has won five straight games overall and nine of their last ten games overall. The Saints are looking to end their two-game losing streak. They will need to be careful not to get caught up in all the momentum surrounding McVay and the Rams offense since they rarely score less than 20 points during these contests.
Los Angeles is led by quarterback Jared Goff who has thrown for 2,891 yards this season. He has 21 touchdowns to 13 interceptions and has a rating of 110.3. Running back Todd Gurley II has been outstanding during the past two weeks scoring 14 touchdowns in that time span. Wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods have also helped contribute to L.A.'s success this year.
On Sunday night, Tampa Bay defeated New Orleans 30-20 in the divisional round of the playoffs. Short throws to Mike Evans and Leonard Fournette resulted in two of the touchdowns. Doug Martin had 122 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. He will need more help from Winston if the Bucs are to continue their run this season.
In the first quarter, Martin scored on a 1-yard plunge to make it 7-0 Tampa Bay. In the second quarter, Winston threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Evans to extend the lead to 14-0. In the third quarter, Martin had another touchdown on an 11-yard run to make it 21-0 Tampa Bay. The last score came in the fourth quarter when Fournette threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to bring New Orleans back within 21-10. But with just over a minute left, Winston found Evans for another 80-yard touchdown strike to finish off the game 30-20 win for Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers outgained New Orleans 459-219 and held the ball for nearly 40 minutes. They also had six sacks against Drew Brees and company.
Tampa Bay's defense has been one of the best in the league this year, but they still have plenty of flaws that opponents can attack.
The Saints scored five straight touchdowns in a 35-29 triumph over the Lions. Drew Brees tossed two touchdown passes to Tre'Quan Smith in the second quarter, 2:19 apart, to help the New Orleans Saints overcome a 14-point hole and defeat the Detroit Lions 35-29 on Sunday. It was the first time in franchise history that the Saints have come from behind to win by at least 10 points.
Brees threw for 226 yards and three scores while also rushing for 44 yards on eight carries. He became the third quarterback in NFL history with at least 3,000 passing yards and 8,000 total yards. The other two are Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.
In their first game under new head coach Matt Patricia, the Lions fell to 1-3 after losing to the previously winless Chicago Bears (0-4) earlier this year. They've now lost four consecutive games for the first time since 2009. This is also the first time since 2007 that the Lions have started 0-4.
Here are the final results of the NFL team stats this week: New Orleans 30, Detroit 29.
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