Cats Put up a Fight Against Drew Brees’ Saints

From the Carolina Panthers’ view at halftime yesterday, beating the undefeated New Orleans Saints was a perfectly plausible feat. The Panthers were up 17-6 on the Saints after the first half of the Week 9 matchup, and this fired-up Carolina team was hot from the get-go, with DeAngelo Williams taking a pass in the first minute of the game to a 66-yard touchdown. At the end of the day, however, the Panthers ran out of steam, allowing the Saints to rally late in the game and outscore Carolina 24-3 in the second half of the game as New Orleans steadily pounded out a 30-20 win over the Panthers.

Perhaps the most important development of yesterday’s Carolina-New Orleans game was not a good thing for the Panthers: linebacker Thomas Davis, who exited the game early in the fourth quarter with a leg injury, was later announced to have torn his ACL, meaning this crucial part of the Panthers’ defense will most certainly be out for the rest of the season. Before the announcement, coach John Fox spoke of Davis’ injury, saying, “I feel bad for the young man because he’s put a lot into it. He was playing at a high level. It’s unfortunate, and I feel bad for him and his family. On that particular play where he went down, they were able to get out of the end zone. It was unfortunate that he got hurt and it was unfortunate he got hurt in the middle of that play.”

While the Panthers mourn the absence of Thomas Davis in the aftermath of yesterday’s tornado of a game, they have to start rebuilding for next week, and this will most likely start with Landon Johnson, who’s expected to start in the place of Davis at linebacker.

To get Carolina Panthers tickets, go to StubHub.