Saints dominated by Panthers in 33-24 defeat

It was a disappointing day at the Superdome as the New Orleans Saints came up short of setting a new all-time franchise mark for wins in a season.

There was nothing impressive about falling to the visiting Carolina Panthers, but News 25’s Jeff Haeger has at least some silver lining from the regular season finale.

Sunday’s week 17 loss to the Panthers was a lot like syllabus day on the first day of class. The guarantee of no homework, or in this case the guarantee of home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs and a first-round bye and the Saints played like it, resting Drew Brees and Alvin Kamara and failing to score until the fourth quarter. Head Coach Sean Payton said, “You can’t just turn it on and off and decide when you want to on your terms. It’s not like that. This game never has been and never will be. We can spin it any way we want to, we didn’t play well. So we can put our own little stamp on this and say well, listen, it starts with me and we’ll get the corrections made. But we didn’t play well.”

Defensive end Cameron Jordan said, “Exhibition, I don’t know whatever you’re going to label it. It was a game against an in-division opponent and we ended up losing that game. Not at a loss for words, I’m overly-irritated about it. This, again, is something that we try to make a statement game and that’s not the statement we definitely want released.”

On the bright side, Teddy Bridgewater played well in relief and the Saints avoided major injury, wrapping up with their 2018 regular season with their third mark of 13-3 in franchise history. “Honestly, I just wanted to get back into the rhythm of playing football. Just getting back into the rhythm of calling plays, looking those guys in the eyes and instilling that confidence into those guys and it was a fun feeling,” said Bridgewater.

Right guard Cameron Tom said, “Like you said, there’s a lot of positive and a lot of negative. Obviously, if there’s a game being played we want to win. And just didn’t make enough plays to do so. I know on offense so, obviously, just go back to the drawing board and improve on what the guys up or just keep improving.”

Wide receiver Michael Thomas said, “I’m not here to give out our formula but we will be prepared for the next opponent. We trust our coaching, we trust the guys in this locker room and we have the tools so now it’s just rest and get ready. And now it’s single-elimination, win or go home. So we don’t want to go home. I guess it’s kind of a good taste in your mouth before, and just get back on track.”

Now, for what it’s worth, losing to Carolina for the first time since 2016 isn’t all bad. The Black and Gold have now lost to the Buccaneers, Cowboys, and Panthers this season, the same three teams the Saints fell to during their regular season run to Super Bowl 44.