Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen was asked if the team hit “rock bottom” with Sunday’s 28-6 loss to the Saints and his response summed things up pretty well for the 1-12 team.
Thielen said “we’ve been at rock bottom for a while,” but Sunday’s performance still jumped out as a low point for rookie quarterback Bryce Young and the offense. Young completed 36 percent of his passes and posted his worst passer rating of the season while failing to lead the Panthers to a touchdown. That poor performance unfolded while the team ran for 204 yards and the defense played well enough to keep Carolina within a score until a couple of late touchdowns in the fourth quarter broke things open for the Saints.
“Again, lack of execution, especially for myself,” Young said, via the team’s website. “I missed a lot of things. I thought we played well on the perimeter, played well up front. But I’ve got to continue to get better. . . . I mean, we’re all sick of it. We’re all tired of it, but that doesn’t entitle us to anything. It’s on us, ultimately, why we’re there. And we have to do a better job to prevent that. So no matter how tired we are, you know, we’ve got to be better.”
Thielen said the team has “a lot of confidence” in Young and that he believes these tough times will make Young better in the long run, but the fact that things haven’t gotten better over the course of the season makes it hard to buy into the idea that those better days are right around the corner.
Saints quarterback Derek Carr and center Erik McCoy downplayed a yelling match the two had during the second half of Sunday’s game.
Of course, everyone is happy after a win, and the Saints won 28-6.
McCoy said in the postgame locker room that he “lost his cool” and apologized publicly for the spat caught by Fox cameras.
“Me and Erik have no issue,” Carr said, via Katherine Terrell of ESPN. “In the moment, something happened. The reason doesn’t matter. Everybody wants to know the why. It doesn’t matter. We were both right; we were both wrong. At the same time, we both were like ‘My bad,’ . . . and that was it. And I’ve done that with my two older brothers probably 50 times in my life, and it happens. When it’s in a frustrating moment and that kind of happens, it is intensified, as I’ve learned. Because people want to know ‘Oh no, what’s wrong?’ There really is nothing wrong. We had a moment. I’ve had moments in my 10 years a lot of times, with a coach, a teammate, somebody . . . and I always learned you circle back, you make it right and you keep going.”
Carr was sacked on third-and-two with 3:43 left in the third quarter, with Carr saying something to McCoy that sparked an argument. Offensive lineman James Hurst stepped between his teammates and placed a hand on McCoy’s arm as the players walked off the field.
McCoy slammed down his helmet.
After giving McCoy time to cool down, Carr eventually walked over to McCoy and sat next to him for a conversation. Carr would not elaborate on what prompted the argument.
“I think if you’re ever in a highly competitive environment, and things aren’t going the way that you want it to go, yeah, there’s sometimes that you get frustrated,” head coach Dennis Allen said. “You lash out a little bit. I’m glad that both of them have the balls to at least stand up and fight, you know what I mean? . . . My wife and I argue. It happens. So let’s don’t make too much of it.”
At least two other times this season, Carr has expressed his frustration during a game. . He had an animated conversation with offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael in a Week 6 loss to the Texans, and in Week 7, Carr yelled toward receiver Chris Olave.
“I have been showing my emotions a little too much on my sleeve,” Carr said. “I have got to kind of chill out, and that’s me holding myself accountable because that’s not going to help anything.”
The Falcons had a chance to take a tighter grip on the NFC South on Sunday, but their lead in the division wound up slipping through their fingers.
Baker Mayfield’s touchdown pass to Cade Otton with 31 seconds left to play in the game gave the Buccaneers a 29-25 road win over the Falcons. The loss came after the Falcons came back to score 15 fourth quarter points and take a three-point lead over the visitors, but they couldn’t get the final stop they needed to seal the win.
As a result of that result and the Saints win, all three teams are now 6-7 — the Bucs hold the tiebreaker edge at present — with four games left to play. Falcons head coach Arthur Smith focused on how tight things are in the division rather than lamenting Sunday’s result when he spoke to reporters after the game.
“We didn’t get it done today, but our spirit is not broken,” Smith said, via the team’s website. “We’re still in it. It’ll be a wild adventure through the end of this season. Things change so much from week to week. . . . Down the stretch, we have to win games.”
The schedule offers the Falcons some help in that department. They’ll be in Carolina to face the 1-12 Panthers next weekend.
The Saints had 207 total yards. They missed a 29-yard field goal.
It didn’t matter.
New Orleans handled the Panthers 28-6. It improved the Saints to 6-7, with three teams now tied atop the NFC South, while the Panthers dropped to 1-12.
The Panthers had seven drives cross midfield but could manage only Eddy Pineiro field goals of 47 and 29. The kicker missed a 41-yarder.
Bryce Young went 13-of-36 for 137 yards. He also lost a fumble, taking four sacks and rushing for 40 yards on three carries. The Panthers, though, rushed for 204 yards, with Chuba Hubbard gaining 87 yards on 23 carries and Miles Sanders getting 74 on 10 carries.
Saints quarterback Derek Carr, who originally was questionable to play, went 18-of-26 for only 119 yards without many of his top weapons. But he threw two touchdowns, with an interception. Jimmy Graham and Chris Olave scored on Carr passes.
Alvin Kamara had 12 carries for 56 yards and a touchdown, and Jamaal Williams got 43 yards on 11 carries.
The Saints returned a blocked punt for a touchdown late in the first half when Nephi Sewell got through cleanly and nearly took the ball off punter Johnny Hekker’s foot. D’Marco Jackson scored it up and returned it 8 yards for a touchdown with 4:37 remaining in the second quarter.
The Saints gained only 115 yards in the first half. They lead 14-3.
Alvin Kamara scored on a 9-yard touchdown run with 14:55 left until halftime, giving the Saints a 7-0 lead. It was his third rushing touchdown in two weeks.
The Saints returned a blocked punt for a touchdown late in the first half when Nephi Sewell got through cleanly and nearly took the ball off punter Johnny Hekker’s foot. D’Marco Jackson scored it up and returned it 8 yards for a touchdown with 4:37 remaining in the second quarter.
They could lead by more but Blake Grupe had a terrible 29-yard missed field goal try and the Saints moved backward after Pete Werner’s interception of Bryce Young at the Carolina 36.
Derek Carr, who originally was questionable to play, is 10-of-15 for 41 yards and an interception. Kamara has eight carries for 45 yards.
Young has had a tough day, completing 3 of 15 passes for 29 yards with an interception. He has run for 32 yards on two carries.
The Panthers have 123 yards.
