CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers — and their fans — can finally breathe a little.
The Panthers broke out of their year-long funk at home in a crowd-pleasing way Sunday, edging the New Orleans Saints, 22-14, behind a fine defensive performance and a late touchdown from a player playing his first-ever game for Carolina.
Laviska Shenault Jr. electrified the stadium when he took a five-yard pass from Baker Mayfield, sped through two would-be tacklers and went 67 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown. That TD helped short-circuit a possible Saints comeback, as did an acrobatic big-man interception from Derrick Brown on New Orleans’ next series.
Down 22-7, New Orleans made it interesting late, scoring again with 2:22 to go and cutting the lead to 22-14. The Saints then tried an onside kick, but DJ Moore grabbed the ball. Carolina ran the clock down to 0:27 before punting to New Orleans, which after a perfect Johnny Hekker punt put the ball at the New Orleans 1 with 0:17 to go. Jaycee Horn intercepted Jameis Winston’s desperation heave, and that was that.
Shenault was a revelation in this game. A healthy scratch in the Panthers’ first two contests, he was Carolina’s best receiver in Week 3, injecting a tepid passing offense with a jolt of muscular speed.
What does it all mean? Panther head coach Matt Rhule won’t have to hear as many calls for his head this week. The defense won’t have to hear that it hasn’t caused a turnover all season. And the team’s fans — who had suffered through nine consecutive losses dating back to 2021 — finally get to celebrate a win.
Carolina (1-2) hadn’t won a game at home in Charlotte in 371 days, since they played these same Saints in Week 2 of the 2021 season. That has made for a lot of unhappy crowds at Bank of America Stadium, where even now Rhule’s teams have only posted a 5-13 record since he took over the squad before the 2020 season.
This time, though, the Panthers grabbed a 13-0 halftime lead built on the strength of their defense and special teams and held on, even though the offensive performance was once again spotty behind inconsistent quarterback Baker Mayfield and a group of wide receivers that hardly ever seemed to create any separation (except for Shenault, who was acquired in a trade with Jacksonville in late August).
Neither team scored in the third quarter, which gave the Panthers that same 13-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
Then the Saints started marching, as Jameis Winston finally found his footing after three scoreless periods and completed seven consecutive passes over and through a Carolina defense that suddenly was getting no pressure. Mark Ingram’s 5-yard touchdown run capped an 89-yard drive and cut Carolina’s lead to 13-7 with 12:31 to go.
Just when it started getting dicey for Carolina, though, Shenault came to the rescue. He ran the ensuing kickoff back 36 yards. Two plays later, Shenault took Mayfield’s pass and — for one week anyway — helped save the Panthers’ season.
Before that, Carolina’s offense had looked awful. Mayfield opened the game by throwing his first three passes at least five yards away from their intended target, and he never got much better. Mayfield’s timing with perennial 1,000-yard wide receiver DJ Moore remains horrible, and running back Christian McCaffrey remains under-utilized in the passing game.
But the defense and special teams played well almost the entire day.
The Panthers hadn’t forced a turnover in five consecutive games entering Sunday. They were the only team in the NFL without a turnover caused this year, and in their final three games of 2021, they also forced no turnovers.
That changed in a big way in the first quarter, when Frankie Luvu stripped the ball away from Alvin Kamara. Marquis Haynes played “Look what I found” and picked the ball up, then showcased some impressive speed as he rolled 44 yards for a defensive TD.
In the meantime, the Panthers’ special teams also played well. Kicker Eddy Pineiro has begun to look like a keeper, making kicks from 45 and 48 yards in the second quarter. And veteran defensive end Henry Anderson, a recent acquisition, blocked a 30-yard field goal attempt by New Orleans’ Wil Lutz to keep the Saints off the scoreboard late in the first half.
Lutz would miss again in the third quarter, pushing a 48-yard attempt wide right after a Jeremy Chinn sack blew up the Saints’ possession.
