Lafourche Booking Log – Jan. 8
January 9, 2018
Man arrested for armed robbery at Galliano store
January 9, 2018
It’s tough to beat a team three times in one season.
But not impossible.
Just ask the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints beat the Carolina Panthers 31-26 on Sunday in the Wild Card Round of the NFC Playoffs – the third time the Black and Gold trump their NFC South rivals in the 2017-18 season.
New Orleans led big early, but faded late, which opened the door for a late-game fight for the finish.
Carolina drove deep into Saints territory late in the game, but got stopped on a fourth down play, which sealed the win for New Orleans.
With the victory, the Saints will now travel and face No. 2 Minnesota in the Divisional Round on Sunday. Kickoff for that game is set for 3:40 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on FOX.
“This is obviously a hard-fought win,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “It came down to the final series. We knew going into this game that this was going to be a different type of game. But I thought our young players were up for the challenge.”
So was the team’s elder statesman, quarterback Drew Brees.
The Panthers sold out to stop the Saints’ two-headed monster at halfback and it worked.
Carolina completely took both Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara out of the game, limiting the duo to 19 carries for 45 yards and just two catches for 23 yards.
With the running backs out of play, Brees had a much-needed strong showing, completing 23-of-33 passes for 376 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
Brees said he saw early in the game that Carolina’s defensive alignment was run-stop heavy. He knew early he’d have to deliver, and he did.
“They have a great defense on their side and they did a lot of things to make it difficult on us,” Brees said. “But we had some guys stop up and make plays and it went a long way in allowing us the opportunity to have another game to prepare for next week.”
Both teams scored three times in the first half, but New Orleans had three touchdowns, compared to three Carolina field goals, which allowed the Saints to hold a 21-9 advantage at the half.
Brees opened the game with an 80-yard touchdown pass to former Panther Ted Ginn Jr. on a fly route, which made the score 7-0 late in the first quarter.
After a Carolina field goal, New Orleans added another touchdown – a 9-yard pass to Josh Hill, which stretched the lead to 14-3.
After another Panthers kick, little-used fullback Zack Line crossed the goal line from one-yard out, which put the Saints up 21-6 – an advantage that looked like it would last until halftime, but didn’t, because of a quick two-minute drive executed by Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, which ended in a long field goal and the 21-9 game.
The second half got a little crazy.
The teams traded field goals in the third quarter, which sent the game to the final quarter with New Orleans up 24-12.
In that quarter, Carolina started finding the end zone. They cut the lead to 24-19 early in the quarter on a 14-yard strike from Newton to tight end Greg Olsen with 12:47 left in the game.
New Orleans answered that drive with one of their own – a 62-yard trek capped with a 2-yard touchdown run from Kamara which put the Saints up 31-19 with five minutes to play.
But the Panthers stormed back furiously in the final minutes, getting a long pass from Newton to McCaffrey to cut the lead to 31-26, then forcing a fourth-down stop to give the ball back to Newton in the final minutes needing a touchdown to win.
It got dicey.
The Panthers quickly went down the field in a blur, getting to the Saints’ 21-yard-line with 41 seconds to play.
But they’d get no further, thanks to a questionable intentional grounding call, which aided the home team and put the Panthers against the sticks.
On fourth down and 23, Newton was sacked by rookie Von Bell, which sealed the win and sent the crowd into a frenzy.
“It was a wild atmosphere,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. “I’m proud of the way our team played in that type of venue. We just came up a little bit short in the end.”
With the win, the Saints move on to the next round of the playoffs where they’ll take on a familiar foe – the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings beat the Saints on the first night of their NFL season – a drumming on Monday Night Football that kick-started Minnesota on their magical 13-3 regular season run.
The Vikings have arguably the best defense in the entire NFL – a unit that’s allowed just 252 points in 2017-18 – easily the least in the NFC.
But they aren’t great offensively with backup quarterback Case Keenum playing for injured started Sam Bradford.
New Orleans saw Bradford on opening night and he sliced and diced the Saints’ defense.
Payton said he knows the Vikings are strong, but added he thinks his team has evolved, which he believes makes the second game much different than the first.
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