New Orleans Saints Specialist Taysom Hill answers a question during a press conference after the NFL Football game against the Rams on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022 at the Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans, La. (Hunter Dawkins/The Gazebo Gazette via AP)

by Hunter Dawkins, Owner/Publisher – editor@thegazebogazette.com or hdawkins@supertalk.fm

NEW ORLEANS (GG) — With the opportunity to be NFC South spoiler for a second consecutive week, the New Orleans Saints (4-10) delivered with a 20-17 upset over the Carolina Panthers (7-7) after a 47-yard field goal by Charle Smyth with two seconds to play Sunday, December 14 at the Caesar’s Superdome. The home win at New Orleans was their second consecutive while the loss dropped Carolina to a tie with Tampa in the NFC South Division, which the Saints upset last week.

The Saints have won the last three meetings between the teams in New Orleans. New Orleans has a 16-13 record against Carolina in the Superdome.  

Scoring Summary
The Panthers scored first on a 4-yard run by Rico Dowdle on the team’s opening possession and led until the Saints scored their first touchdown on a 4-yard run by Devin Nealwith 3:32 left in the second quarter. It capped an epic 17-play, 95-yard drive that took 11:22.  
Following a 9-play drive to end the half, Carolina took the halftime lead at 10-7 with a 40-yard field goal from Kicker Ryan Fitzgerald.
 
Coming out of the gates, the Panthers went on an 8-play drive that ended in a 32-yard touchdown pass from Bryce Young to Jalen Coker with 9:54 left in the third quarter.  Fortunately for New Orleans, this was the last score from the Panthers.
Placekicker Smyth made a 42-yard field goal with 1:56 to play in the third quarter to make it 17-10. The 3-pointer came after another long drive, this one 14 plays for 48 yards in 7:58. A big stop by the defense then set up a seven-play drive where Quarterback Tyler Shough hit Chris Olave with a 9-yard touchdown pass to tie the score at 17.
  
With the score tied at 17, New Orleans took over with 57 seconds to play at the 8-yard line and Shough led a seven-play scoring drive for the winning points by Smyth, the kicker from Northern Ireland.
 
The Numbers Never Lie
As the Saints surpassed Carolina in total offense (337-281) and first downs (27-15), sacks (5) and penalties (9) caused problems. Shough was 24 of 32 for 272 yards with one touchdown for New Orleans and won the third time in six starts. Olave had six catches for 85 yards while tight end Juwan Johnson added four catches for 30 yards.
A Saints-Panthers game has been decided by eight or fewer points 31 times with New Orleans winning 16 of those. Receiver Devaughn Vele(shoulder), right guard Cesar Ruiz (ankle), and Neal (hamstring) left the game in the second half with injuries. Vele had five catches for 69 yards.
 
Carolina’s Bryce Young threw for 163 yards on 15-24 passing with a touchdown.  New Orleans Defensive End Chase Young led the team with 6 tackles, had the only sack and two tackles for loss.
 
Next Up
The Saints will play host to the New York Jets (3-11) on Sunday, Dec. 21 at the Caesars Superdome in the final home game of the 2025 season.
(Front Photo by Associated Press)