1 of 3 | New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandon Coleman (16) snags a Drew Brees pass for 24 yards and a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Carolina Panthers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans December 6, 2015. Photo by AJ Sisco/UPI |
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What we learned about the Saints:
1. If cornerback Brandon Browner isn't the worst cornerback in the NFL, he can't be far behind. Browner is the NFL's most penalized player, and he had another performance that had Saints fans shaking their heads. The penalty blotter: facemask, personal foul for a late hit out of bounds and defensive holding on third-and-goal. The coverage blotter: allowed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Ted Ginn Jr., a play that drew the ire of Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, and a 13-yard scoring slant to Devin Funchess. Browner also was badly beaten on two other plays in which Carolina receivers dropped the ball, and another time trailed Ginn on a deep ball that Cam Newton overthrew. Of the sideline blowup with Allen, Sean Payton said: "It's going to be a competitive game. Dennis and he have a great relationship."
2. After going up 7-0, the Saints went five consecutive series without scoring, missing a 38-yard field goal and punting four times. Drew Brees finally got things going with a 54-yard TD pass to Brandin Cooks and a 24-yard strike to Brandon Coleman, but it wasn't enough against the league's lone undefeated team. "It tells you a lot about the parity in this league, and just how evenly matched everyone is, especially when you start talking about divisional opponents," Brees said. "(Our execution) is better, but it's not where we need to be, and it's not where I know we can be."
3. Even though the Saints defense forced Carolina into an uncharacteristic three turnovers, it wasn't enough as it allowed Cam Newton to take the Panthers 75 yards on 11 plays to win the game. A big play on the drive was a third-and-5 holding call against safety Jairus Byrd, who was flagged for grabbing Ted Ginn Jr. "I feel like penalties did hurt," Byrd said. "We certainly had a few that extended drives for them."
Etc.:
--WR Brandin Cooks, with WR Willie Snead injured, had one of his best games of the season, catching six passes for 104 yards (17.3 average) and a 54-yard TD. Cooks is really the Saints' only deep threat. "The corner he played against, Josh Norman, is fantastic, so we tried to move him around to free him up a little bit, and we had some success," said QB Drew Brees.
--CB Delvin Breaux, the Saints' best cover man, when went down with a right hamstring injury. Breaux intercepted a Cam Newton pass intended for Ted Ginn Jr. and returned it 22 yards to the Carolina 20, but the Saints failed to score when Kai Forbath missed a 38-yard field goal. "That hurt a lot," Saints coach Sean Payton said of Breaux's absence. "We are already short one corner (Keenan Lewis is on IR), but that's how it is."
--LB Stephone Anthony, one of two Saints' No. 1 picks in 2015, has continued to impress. He wrestled the ball away from Jonathan Stewart in a pile and raced 31 yards untouched for a touchdown that put New Orleans up 14-0. Then, he became the first NFL player to score two points on a blocked extra point when he scooped up the ball, which had been blocked by defensive tackle Kevin Williams, and ran 82 yards for the three-point swing. It put the Saints up 16-13 at halftime instead of the game being tied at 14. "It was good, but we still lost the game," Anthony said. "This one stings a little bit."
