New Orleans Saints (7-10) – Carolina Panthers (7-10) : 7-10
7-10. This is the final score of a tasteless match, but also the final balance sheet of the 2022 season for the Panthers and the Saints. Apart from the fans of these two teams, there is little chance that anyone deliberately watched this meeting, and that’s good. The level of the two formations, in particular on the offensive level, was not happy, so that on certain sequences, one might wonder if certain players were not doing everything to lose the match.
2. The number of field goals missed by Saints kicker Wil Lutz. While they had many opportunities to win, the New Orleans players scuttled themselves through the latter, whose foot never stopped shaking, the last time unless ‘1 minute 30 of the term. Andy Dalton (15/25, 171 yards, 1 TD), he has done what he has done since the start of his career, namely not to make mistakes without being transcendent. Only player rather scoring offensively: Alvin Kamara, author of more than 100 yards in the race.
5. This is the tiny number of passes completed by Sam Darnold (5/15, 43 yards, 2 INT). He, who had shown encouraging signs in recent weeks, this time completely missed out on his match. Only his last drive saves his performance slightly, but not enough to forget the hell he went through. His kicker, Eddy Pineiro, did not shake him when he hit the winning field goal at the buzzer at 42 yards. Darnold was nevertheless close to scoring the Panthers’ only touchdown of the game, but he had the ball snatched from his hands on a run by Tyrann Mathieu, the ball which was miraculously covered in the end zone by his guard Michael Jordan (not the true, the other).
Punters are people too
5.7. This is the number of yards per carry of D’Onta Foreman, Carolina’s running back. 68 yards in 12 carries, a good average but a game that stopped dead at the start of the 3rd quarter when the latter was sent off with Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport for punches exchanged. To say that this moment was the most interesting of the meeting might seem daring, but it is not far from being the case.
#Panthers RB D’Onta Foreman and #Saints DE Marcus Davenport were ejected for throwing punches.
And yes, both players were wearing helmets. pic.twitter.com/kS4lHBJHFw
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 8, 2023
11. 6 for Johnny Hekker (Panthers), 5 for Blake Gillikin (Saints). This is the number of punts that have been hit in this game. Yep, you got him right, the Carolina punter cleared the ball more times than Sam Darnold completed passes. This is to say the level of the former third draft pick. The only positive point to take away from this information: you now know the names of the punters of these two teams.
0. Ultimately, that’s the number of teams that actually emerged as the winners of the game, even though the Panthers celebrated their victory as if they had won the Super Bowl. Bad publicity for football, certainly in a match without stake, but in front of spectators who had still paid their ticket. Fortunately, we will not see these two teams once more this season, both eliminated from the race for the playoffs. These two franchises are going to have a lot of work in the offseason to raise the bar and make their fans smile in 2023.
