Panthers vs. Saints, 41-38: Full highlights, final score and more

The Panthers stayed perfect with a gritty victory over the Saints in Week 13

The Carolina Panthers were clearly the better team when they went on the road in Week 13 to face an NFC South foe in the New Orleans Saints inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. However, the undefeated Panthers quickly figure out that they had a dogfight on their hands in this divisional matchup. The Saints struck first with a Drew Brees touchdown pass to Benjamin Watson and then a Jonathan Stewart fumble was returned for a touchdown to give New Orleans a 14-0 lead. However, you can only hold Cam Newton down for so long.

Newton responded by putting together two solid drives that resulted in touchdowns in the second quarter, but a blocked extra point returned for two points gave New Orleans a 16-13 lead at the half.

Newton came out firing again in the second half, though, throwing two touchdown passes for 14 unanswered points to give the Panthers back in the lead. However, Brees wouldn’t be put in the ground as he unloaded two beautiful touchdown passes to put the Saints back ahead. Then began a wild back-and-forth fourth quarter with Newton throwing a touchdown pass early in the quarter to Tedd Ginn Jr. and Mark Ingram answering with a nine-yard touchdown run.

The game ultimately came down to the Panthers having a drive late in the fourth quarter and Cam Newton came to play. Despite getting banged up from a couple of tackles and taking his fair share of bumps, the Panthers quarterback kept coming up with the big plays when it mattered most for Carolina. That drive culminated with a beautiful touchdown pass to the back of the end zone to Jerricho Cotchery.

The Saints got another shot with a minute left on the clock trailing by three points. After getting to midfield on the drive and looking like they might get into field goal range, it was down to a fourth-and-10 from the 50-yard line with 15 seconds on the clock and no timeouts remaining for New Orleans. Brees took a shot to the end zone, but it was incomplete. That gave Carolina the ball to take a knee and move to 12-0 on the season, staying perfect.

Three stars

Cam Newton continued to look like the league’s MVP in Week 13, leading his team through the fire. He finished the day with 331 yards passing, five touchdown passes, and 50 yards rushing to his credit as well.

Jonathan Stewart ran hard for Carolina against New Orleans as he has all season. He amassed 82 yards and a score on the ground to go along with three catches for 31 yards.

Drew Brees wasn’t out of this world on Sunday, but he undoubtedly was effective and put up solid numbers. He finished the day with 282 passing yards and three touchdowns through the air.

Highlights

Odds

The Panthers were 6.5-point favorites heading into this matchup, a spread that they failed to cover. The two teams combined to hit well over the 50-point O/U line.

Next Week

The Panthers will be back at Bank of America Stadium next week to take on the ailing Atlanta Falcons.

The Saints will go on the road next week for a divisional matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.