The Panthers fell just short again as you will read in my review of the New Orleans at Carolina game. Cam Newton’s first pass was an interception in Carolina territory but then settled down to have another good game. The Saints defeated the Panthers 30 to 27.

Against the Saints Cam Newton completed 16 of 31 for 224 yards, two touchdowns and the pick.Newton also rushed seven times for 27 yards and a touchdown. Newton's early bomb to Steve Smith sparked one of at least three scuffles between the Saints and Panthers.

DeAngelo Williams was the star for the Carolina Panthers with a 69 yard touchdown run off an option play and 115 yards rushing for the day. However the failure to run out the clock with at the end of the game led to Drew Brees drive to win the game for the Saints.Carolina opted to throw deep on third and two and the pass fell incomplete. I expect Ron Rivera will regret a timeout that gave John Kasay a field goal after time appeared to run out in the first half. John Kasay went three for three on both field goal and extra point attempts against his old team.

Steve Smith dealt with double coverage most of the game and ended up with three catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. Naanee came up nice after being questioned by fans and media during the week. Naanee caught four balls for 63 yards and blocked well on running plays. Greg Olsen and Jeremy Shockey had almost identical stats with three catches for 21 yards with a long of nine, each. Olsen added a touchdown reception though.

Sherrod Martin had a great game for the Panthers defense with an interception and five tackles. Charles Godfrey had nine tackles and Captain Munnerlyn had five. The problem is you don’t want your secondary making that many tackles. James Anderson had another solid game with five solo and five assisted tackles. One of James Anderson’s tackles was a great one on Darren Sproles for a loss in the Saints backfield.

The Panthers run defense looked much improved against the Saints as Darren Sproles was the rushing leader with 51 yards. Tight end Graham was the Panther killer today with eight catches for 130 yards, often when the Saints really needed a catch. Drew Brees was just too good today but the Panthers played well in the loss.