After Carolina plays the New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon, Panthers safety Roman Harper would like to be part of the even smaller group that has been on two 12-0 teams.
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The NFL instituted a new rule change in 2015 that would allow defenses to score two points if they return a blocked extra-point attempt. At the beginning of the season, the Panthers had only thrown five touchdowns in a game one time.
The Saints’ third interception of the first half came when Brian Dixon forced a fumble that was recovered by Kenny Vaccaro.
Quarterback Cam Newton said, “We aren’t trying to get lured in by what others may think”.
“Oh, heck no, it’s not easy at all”, Carolina cornerback Josh Norman said.
Brock Osweiler threw a short touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas on the game’s opening drive, and Danny Trevathan intercepted a Philip Rivers pass and returned it 25 yards for a score to lead Denver past San Diego.
But that just set up Newton’s late-game heroics, his third game-winning drive in the fourth quarter this season.
Stewart scored on a 5-yard run shortly before halftime, but Graham Gano’s extra point kick was blocked by Kevin Williams and returned 82 yards by Anthony to give New Orleans a 16-13 lead.
Newton was checked by the league’s independent physician in the locker room instead of on the field because he had to go to the bathroom after completing a 13-yard touchdown pass to Ted Ginn Jr.to give Carolina a 20-16 lead. “Allen and (Browner) have a great relationship”.
” data-enhanced=”small” Payton indicated his displeasure with the officiating by emphasizing at the beginning of his post-game press conference that he wouldn’t discuss officiating”.
The Panthers took the lead back quickly on a 45-yard touchdown pass from Newton to Ginn.
The Saints sliced back and retook the lead on a pair of quick-strike drives; a four-play, 77-yard pop that ended on Bree’s 54-yard pass to Cooks, and a four-play, 72-yard flash that ended on Brees’ 24-yard pass to Coleman to claim a 31-27 advantage with 14:02 left.
Saints coach Sean Payton was visibly upset by several calls in which the Panthers seemed to have 12 men on the field. “And they’re getting that right (in high school games) on Friday nights”. Carolina has a solid defense but if Drew Brees gets protection, he could put up 30-plus points in a hurry. The dual-threat quarterback hasn’t been running as much lately, leaving that to running back Jonathan Stewart, but still has seven scoring runs this season.
The Saints came out of the gates with a point to prove, taking a quick 14-0 lead when Brees hit tight end Benjamin Watson for a 14-yard score.
Being undefeated is quite nice for the Carolina Panthers. They had given their defense the game to win with about a minute to go.
After the Saints’ feisty yet ultimately unsatisfying loss on Sunday, what will the next year bring? 500 (at 4-4), had a chance to do what we wanted to do, and we just haven’t gotten it done in the past four weeks. “We just have to keep playing our game, don’t worry about it, and when we get there, we get there”.
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Quarterback Drew Brees was taken aback in a recent interview by a series of questions from local beat writers saying, “You guys are asking me questions like the season is over…the season is not over”.
