CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When the Carolina Panthers can’t run the football, they lose. And the New Orleans Saints (2-8) figured that out during a brutal 17-7 loss for Carolina on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.

With Rico Dowdle finally proving to be human, as he faced consistent stacked boxes at home, the Panthers’ offense faltered, with quarterback Bryce Young unable to pick up the slack. Young had a forgettable afternoon, as he threw more interceptions (one) than touchdowns (zero) in what was a tight game throughout most of the afternoon.

Saints rookie QB Tyler Shough collected his first win as a pro, as he took advantage of major coverage breakdowns by the Carolina defense. While the unit mostly held Shough and the Saints’ offense in check, a trio of big passing plays — which accumulated 143 yards and two total touchdowns — made a huge difference in a low-scoring affair.

The Panthers (5-5) were favored heading into this NFC South battle. They seemingly played down to their competition, as coach Dave Canales failed to find answers in an abysmal upset loss.

And while Carolina would never call this a trap game, the Saints caged the Panthers’ offense with little conflict throughout the bulk of the battle.

Young has a day to forget

Young couldn’t steer the ship on Sunday. After a promising opening drive, Young was largely subdued in a game where the opposing defense was sold out on the run.

The QB’s brutal fourth-quarter interception throw to Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor put New Orleans in scoring position and led to a touchdown. Following the turnover and touchdown, the Panthers were down 10 points with 10:20 left to play. At that point, Young had 118 passing yards and a pick, as Carolina attempted to climb out of a two-score hole. Young and the offense couldn’t climb back after an opening series that featured a lot of potential.

Young led a 12-play, 67-yard touchdown drive to open the game. While he was bailed out of a poorly thrown interception by a roughing the passer penalty late in the series, Young’s arrow appeared to be pointing in the right direction.

Unfortunately for the offense, Young wasn’t able to capitalize on the Saints’ focus on the run game. While he had to overcome a couple of drops from his receivers, Young didn’t do much to elevate the passing product in the first half. The protection didn’t help matters, as the Saints sent extra men on several plays, which resulted in two first-half sacks for New Orleans.

Young was limited to just one scoring drive in the first half. He threw for 54 yards on a 61.5% completion percentage and 70.7 passer rating. The offense had just 83 first-half yards.

Young attempted to get back into the mix in the second half, but he frequently faltered when his number was called. He was bailed out by a few penalties throughout the game, but his fourth-quarter interception was a stain on the game and impacted Carolina’s comeback attempt. That giveaway followed another turnover in New Orleans territory, as Young and wideout Jimmy Horn Jr. botched a hand-off in the backfield on the previous drive.

Young didn’t produce a second-half scoring drive. He was limited to just 70 passing yards and an interception in the final two quarters.

Ultimately, Young produced 124 passing yards and an interception on a 68% completion percentage and a 62.8 passer rating. He lost his first start since Week 4 against the New England Patriots.

Dowdle is human

After a five-game stretch that saw Dowdle amass 652 rushing yards, 112 receiving yards and four total touchdowns, the new starting running back’s success took a back seat against New Orleans.

Dowdle faced stacked boxes often, as he was held to a 3.5 yards-per-carry average in the first half. Dowdle scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the game, but he only took 39 rushing yards (on 11 carries) to halftime. He added nine yards as a receiver off two catches.

It didn’t look like more of the same for Dowdle, as the Saints did everything they could to force the Panthers to pass. Predictably, Carolina didn’t answer back with successful aerial strikes.

Dowdle wasn’t much of a factor in the second half. He finished with 18 carries for 53 yards (2.9 yards per carry) and a touchdown. Chuba Hubbard finished with 14 rushing yards on three carries.

When the Panthers’ rushing offense doesn’t work, they can’t overcome mistakes in the passing game.

Scourton stands out, but defense gives up big passing plays

The Panthers’ second-round pick, outside linebacker Nic Scourton, was a force throughout the afternoon. The rookie pass rusher made a critical fourth-down sack at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but his impact was felt all game.

Scourton has been a terrific run stopper throughout his first campaign, but the regular pressure he provided against the Saints helped keep the New Orleans offense off-balance. His effort was part of the reason why the Panthers were able to stay in the game with a lame offensive outing.

It was an up and down opening half for the Panthers. While the unit gave up 10 points in the first half, it was only burned by a couple of big plays in coverage.

Shough was able to evade pressure on a broken play and hit tight end Juwan Johnson for a 51-yard catch-and-run play after coverage broke down following a scramble drill. That play set up a chip-shot field goal for the Saints after the defense held tight at 3-yard line on third down.

Later, in the second quarter, Shough connected with wideout Chris Olave on a 62-yard strike for a touchdown. Olave got past a falling Jaycee Horn to haul in the ball on a “go” route. Horn appeared to signal to the referees that Olave pushed off for a potential offensive pass interference penalty. However, the referees never threw a flag, and the connection between Shough-Olave stood for points.

Other than those two big passing plays, the defense was mostly fine in the first half. The defense allowed 194 passing yards and a touchdown to Shough, but the rushing attack only picked up 50 yards on 14 carries (3.6 yards per carry). The two explosive plays by Johnson and Olave made up for 58.2% of Shough’s passing yards in the first half.

The Panthers’ defense clamped down on the Saints throughout much of the first half, holding New Orleans to seven points. Scourton’s previously mentioned fourth-down sack played a huge factor in that point total, as it forced the Saints off the field in scoring range.

A blown coverage in the fourth quarter, with multiple Panthers defenders on the ground, led to a 30-yard touchdown connection between Shough and Johnson to put the Saints up by 10 with 10:20 left in the game.

Shough finished with 19 completions on 27 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns. His top target, Olave, collected 104 yards and a touchdown. Johnson chipped in four catches for 92 yards and a touchdown.

The Panthers held New Orleans to 122 rushing yards (3.3 yards per carry). Scourton finished with four tackles, two QB hits and a sack.

Martin excels early

Punter Sam Martin rarely gets his due, but Sunday’s spectacular outing can’t go unnoticed. Martin legitimately pinned the Saints’ offense on almost every drive in the first half, keeping the game close, even with New Orleans leading at halftime.

Martin punted four times in the first two quarters for 201 yards. He averaged 51 yards per attempt and had two attempts downed within the 20-yard line. His highlight — and really, the Panthers’ big highlight — of the first half came on an attempt that legitimately flipped the field, as Martin had a 51-yard boot pop out of bounds at the New Orleans 2-yard line.

He didn’t punt in the second half.

Adding to Martin’s standout effort on special teams was rookie running back Trevor Etienne. He had a 30-yard kick return in the first half and averaged 7.5 yards per punt return on two attempts. He set the Panthers up with solid field position all game, even if the offense couldn’t take advantage of it often.

Kicker Ryan Fitzgerald had a blocked field-goal attempt in the third quarter, but other than that blunder, the special teams unit was pretty strong all afternoon. In fact, that blocked field goal was actually recovered by the Panthers and gave Carolina a new set of downs.

Lack of deep-ball prowess becoming evident

Young’s performance aside, the Panthers’ lack of vertical prowess is becoming apparent on a weekly basis. Young has rarely tested defenses deep, and when he has, the offense has typically failed to take advantage.

While Tetairoa McMillan picked up five catches for 60 yards in the game, he was rarely targeted down the field. Xavier Legette had a downfield target to the end zone in the third quarter, but he was unable to find the ball. The 2024 first-round pick was a complete non-factor all afternoon.

Canales’s offense isn’t particularly dynamic. When the unit is running the ball, the play-calling thrives. When it can’t pick up ground with Dowdle or Hubbard, the passing game does little to compensate.

The Saints were smart to focus on the run against Carolina. The Panthers rarely had an answer in the pass game, outside of taking what the defense gave them. They never really tried to test coverage deep for big gains, and the Saints benefited from that lack of danger down the field.

Perhaps this is the best way to beat Carolina, and New Orleans just wrote the script for everyone else. But if you’ve been paying attention all season, you probably figured out that was the case.

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