Make it two in a row for the Saints! The Saints came back from down 10 late in the 3rd quarter and beat the Carolina Panthers in the Superdome, 20-17. It’s the Saints’ fourth win in a rebuilding 2025 campaign. Down by a touchdown with 4:37 left in regulation and the Saints backed up at their own 22-yard line, Tyler Shough led the team down the field and capped the seven-play drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave. Head Coach Kellen Moore said after the game that Shough showed a lot of poise in that game-tying drive.
“There’s a lot of situational plays that came up towards the end of this game. And so for him to execute at that high of a level, I thought, credit to him, and really the entire offense. And defense, the big time stop. Obviously, special teams executing and Charlie finishing it off the way that it was,” Moore said.
The stop Moore alluded to was the ensuing drive, in which the Saints only allowed the Panthers to take 1:32 off the clock. The Saints got the ball back on their own nine-yard line with one timeout left and drove down the field to get into position for newly acquired Irish kicker Charlie Smyth to kick a game winning field goal.
The key play came with 12 seconds left and the Saints out of timeouts, when Shough ran it down the middle for four yards and slid. Panthers safety Lathan Ransom hit Shough as he was sliding, drawing a 15-yard penalty – putting Smyth in perfect position to kick a 47-yard field goal to win the game. Smyth said after the game he could not have imagined being in that position just a few short weeks ago.
“Just over 27 months or so, if you told me to be kind of gamer in the NFL, probably would allow for it. Even whatever thought I’ve had the chance of coming over here and I’m playing sport even in college or whatever, because I didn’t know what way the eligibility system worked. But just the way things ponder it, it’s been really a dream scenario,” Smyth said.
The Saints will try to make it three in a row next Sunday against the Jets in the Superdome. Kickoff is at noon.
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