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    Joe Woods Press Conference - Week 14

    Live Updates From Panthers-Saints Week 14 Game

    Keep updated with all of the latest from the Superdome with the Panthers-Saints game in our weekly game thread.
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    New Orleans Saints
    New Orleans Saints

    NEW ORLEANS -- If this were baseball, then the Saints are down to their final strike. With five games left in their season, they have to figure out a way to win this week against the Panthers, and that's really all that matters for Sunday. Win and let's see where things are at next week. Welcome to our Week 14 game thread, which will give you realtime notes, observations, thoughts, and scoring from the Superdome.

    Pregame Notes

    • Not having Taysom Hill today will certainly put some more stress on the Saints offense. Buried from last week's game against the Lions was the fact the offense went 4/4 in the Red Zone. They're going to have to find a way.
    • Hill also won't be around for kick returns, so we'd think Lynn Bowden Jr. will handle that and punts today. Speaking of him, he also got some work with the running back group this week in practice.
    • I love this uniform combo. It's one of the elite ones around the league.
    • Crowd is going to be pretty light today, but no one should be surprised. You can get tickets on SeatGeek right now for $4. That's insane.
    • Newcomers Monty Rice and P.J. Mustipher not being active for this game should come as no shock, but it'll be interesting to see what they can do with just a handful of games left on the schedule. Some of these players could be back on reserve/future deals.
    • Pete Werner is back to his starting spot after missing last week's game. Nephi Sewell is also part of the 3-linebacker set. It's usually Zack Baun. We did see him work with the D-Line some this week.
    • Jordan Howden looks to get the start again alongside Tyrann Mathieu in place of Marcus Maye.
    • The Superdome is about as empty as you'd imagine. I mean, this is preseason game vibes, but there might have been more in attendance for some of those.
    • Jabari Greer was honored here today, as he's going into the Saints Hall of Fame. I hate how his career ended, but he was something special for the Saints run for a bit and they don't win a Super Bowl without him.
    • Saints introduced the defense today. Cool to see Nephi Sewell introduced as a starter. Tanoh Kpassagnon was as well.

    First Quarter - Saints 0, Panthers 0

    Scoring

    None

    Notes

    • Saints won the toss and elected to defer to the second half kickoff. Defense will be tested to start. Here's to hoping they have figured some things out and don't start slow.
    • Nice special teams work to start. Johnathan Abram and J.T. Gray were among those to stop the Panthers for a short return to start the game at their own 15-yard-line.
    • Zack Baun was used as a third-down pass-rush specialist. The pressure from the Saints helped force an incompletion and three-and-out.
    • Alvin Kamara and the pile just kept on going after it looked like it would be a 2-yard gain. It ended up going for 8.
    • Kamara had another run later that picked up 8 yards to set up a 3rd-and-1. Derek Carr connected with Chris Olave on the ensuing play to pick up another 8. The drive looks good so far, but have to finish.
    • Jamaal Williams also had some success running the ball early, with 2 carries for 17 yards to start. Saints are in the red zone and need six instead of three.
    • Pressure got to Carr on consecutive plays after being 1st-and-10 from the 11 and then ran with Jamaal Williams for no gain on the first play. 
    • Blake Grupe missed from 29 and the Saints come away with nothing on a promising drive. That's about as disheartening of a start as you'd imagine.
    • Saints got the ball back after a big defensive play in which Jordan Howden forced a Bryce Young pass up into the air to a waiting Pete Werner. Kyle Phillips actually had a shot at the sack, but slipped before getting there.
    • Offense blows a chance to get anything off the turnover after an ugly sequence on 2nd and 3rd Down after a nice play to Alvin Kamara to start. The offensive line needs to do a better job of protecting Derek Carr. Carr has been pressured a lot early. The 3rd-and-3 ended up being intentional grounding and New Orleans punted instead of trying a 57-yard field goal. The Lou Hedley punt went for a whopping 27 yards too.
    • If your QB is playing with fractured rib cartilage either protect him more or pull the trigger faster. Both can be true.
    • Nice defensive series for New Orleans. They're doing their job thus far. That was a nice pass breakup by Isaac Yiadom on Adam Thielen on the deep ball.
    • Saints have another good spot of field position following the Panthers punt and they need to put points up this time.
    • The run game is working with Alvin Kamara. Nice design bringing Lynn Bowden Jr. in motion for that 7-yard run. He followed it up with another 7-yard gain.
    • Jamaal Williams followed that up with a nice 12-yard gain. The run department is working well and the offensive line is opening up holes galore.

    Second Quarter - Saints 14, Panthers 3

    Scoring

    • Saints, 14:55 - Alvin Kamara 9-yard run. (6-44, 3:12)
    • Panthers, 9:16 - Eddy Piñeiro 47-yard field goal. (12-46, 5:39)
    • Saints, 4:37 - D'Marco Jackson 8-yard punt block (Nephi Sewell) return. 

    Notes

    • Kamara got into the end zone on a beautiful run from 9 yards out. Just stick with what works and get out with a win.
    • Chuba Hubbard is also finding some success on the ground today. He had a brief scare getting hurt after a play and was looked at by trainers, but he popped back up and trotted to the sideline and had a brief stay in the medical tent. He's back in.
    • There's that quarterback running for yards nonsense after not getting pressure home. Bryce Young picked up 21 on 3rd-and-9 to get into Saints territory.
    • Nice pass breakup by Demario Davis on the ensuing play when Young wanted Thielen on a quick pass.
    • Nice hit by Bryan Bresee on Bryce Young on the 3rd Down play, really good coverage on D.J. Chark by Isaac Yiadom, who got the pass breakup.
    • Carr's stats are jumping off the screen, but the last two have hit for 7 yards a piece connecting with Foster Moreau and Lynn Bowden Jr.
    • At some point, Carr has to pull the trigger instead of holding onto the ball.
    • Alan Eck said, "Punter made a rugby style kick, therefore there is no running into the kicker," on Lou Hedley's punt. Meanwhile, Lonnie Johnson made a nice special teams play.
    • They credited Jordan Howden with a sack and a forced fumble for that play on Bryce Young. Pete Werner recovered.
    • Isaac Yiadom made another great play getting a pass breakup on a Young pass intended for Jonathan Mingo on 3rd-and-2.
    • Saints get a blocked punt from Nephi Sewell that resulted in a scoop-and-score for D'Marco Jackson. You need those breaks sometimes. Johnny Hekker got hurt on the play and remains in the injury tent. Oh by the way, Steve Gleason is in the house and the Superdome just showed him on the big screen that got a big cheer from the crowd. Jamaal Williams was also going wild on 'Choppa Style' that got some love too. It's been a minute since fans have been able to enjoy a lead like this.
    • Bryce Young made some really nice moves to start the drive for Carolina to get some yards with his legs. I really wonder what his future will hold with a new coach.
    • Really nice tackle by Jordan Howden in space on Chuba Hubbard for that 3rd-and-8 play. If he doesn't make that stop, Hubbard has a lot more yards. 
    • Alontae Taylor made a real nice play for a pass breakup on D.J. Chark. I'm not really a fan of going out of shotgun and throwing deep on 4th-and-1 either.
    • Horrible time to draw up a screen play and it was just an ugly sequence for New Orleans in the two-minute offense. It led to a pass breakup by Derrick Brown who ended up making the pick on the same play after it bounced off Cesar Ruiz's shoulder.
    • Panthers are trying some deep stuff. Saints have been fortunate they've been off the mark.

    Third Quarter - Saints 14, Panthers 6

    Scoring

    • Panthers, 4:57 - Eddy Piñeiro 29-yard field goal. (12-75, 6:16)

    Notes

    • Pretty good return by Lynn Bowden Jr. to start the second half. He gave the Saints some decent field position. Unfortunately, three runs weren't enough to produce a first down. Former Saints lineman Shy Tuttle jumped on 4th-and-1 to give them new life.
    • Carr dialed up a long ball to Chris Olave after getting into 3rd-and-14. That was a good defensive play by Jaycee Horn.
    • Jordan Howden is having himself a game. He's leading the way in tackles and that play was followed up by an excellent tackle in the flats by Demario Davis on Tommy Tremble.
    • The scoring play from the blocked punt was changed to just a fumble recovery by D'Marco Jackson. 
    • That big run by Miles Sanders for 48 yards saw a good bit of missed tackles. Panthers in goal-to-go situation after he took it inside the 5.
    • Demario Davis turned in a really big sack on the 2nd Down play to force a loss of 9.
    • Good pressure by Zack Baun to force the incompletion following the Davis sack.
    • Saints ran another three-and-out, and the sack on Carr produced a really interesting sequence with Erik McCoy and Derek Carr, as they were jawing at each other after the play. McCoy had to be calmed down some, but was clearly unhappy.
    • Starting to see some sloppier tackling in the second half by the Saints defense. They really can't afford to bust with the offense struggling.

    Fourth Quarter - Saints 28, Panthers 6 

    Scoring

    • Saints, 5:59 - Chris Olave 7-yard reception from Derek Carr. (5-63, 2:13)
    • Saints, 4:29 - Jimmy Graham 4-yard reception from Derek Carr. (4-24, 0:58)

    Notes

    • Very nice run defense by Alontae Taylor to start the final frame. That was followed up by a sack from Carl Granderson that lost 6 yards. Carl Granderson picked up a sack on the following play and Eddy Piñeiro missed the ensuing field goal attempt from 41 yards out.
    • Saints ran another three-and-out, and their offense is just stuck in the mud right now. There was a 'We Want Jameis' chant you could hear in the Superdome.
    • Panthers offense is lingering around and that's not a good sign for the Saints. This type of performance isn't good whatsoever. Derek Carr is 13/20 for 37 yards and has a 47.9 rating.
    • Saints defense has had its opportunity in the tackling department today, but they got another turnover on downs on a 4th-and-1 play with the Panthers with almost 8 minutes to go. They need to just do what makes sense and get out of here with a win.
    • Carr came out firing and picked up more on one pass than he had all game with a 43-yard deep ball to A.T. Perry.
    • Carr, under duress, tried to throw a pass to Andrus Peat. He didn't catch it and no flag was thrown. That could have been disastrous.
    • Carr found Jimmy Graham on 3rd-and-9 for 12 yards. Just throw it to your big guy and let him get it.
    • Carr connected with Chris Olave on a short pass for the 7-yard score. New Orleans needed that badly, but goodness, it's been struggle bus today.
    • Zack Baun is making an impact in rush packages today. Saints take over again on downs.
    • This quick pass game hasn't worked much today, but when it does it looks good. Lynn Bowden Jr. had a nice catch and run to get inside the 5.
    • All Jimmy Graham does is make plays. Why haven't we seen him more is now a legitimate question.
    • Panthers ran the ball to start their drive down 22. I'm not sure why when they went no-huddle. They might get something before the end of the game, but it's too little, too late.
    • Jordan Howden with a nice PBU in the end zone following the two-minute warning.
    • Bryan Bresee got hurt on that tackle effort for the 4th-and-13. Something to monitor. He was looked at by trainers.

    Week 14 Saints-Panthers Coverage
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