CHARLOTTE An examination of the Carolina Panthers’ Week 9 victory over the New Orleans Saints, which ended in a 23–22 victory.
With the second quarter, quarterback Bryce Young completed an eight-play, 40-yard drive that culminated with rookie receiver Xavier Legette’s fourth score of the season on a 3-yard throw. Legette had four catches for 33 yards and one score at the end of the day.
Legette is presently tied for first in receiving touchdowns since Week Four and third overall among all rookies. In terms of touchdowns, he tops all Panthers pass catchers.
Against the Saints, quarterback Bryce Young completed 16 of 26 passes for 171 yards and one score. The 15th overall score of his career came via a 3-yard throw to Legette in the second quarter.
Young led the Panthers to their third game-winning drive and their first game-winning touchdown drive of the NFL season with less than four minutes remaining in the game (3:26).
Young has completed 40 of 63 throws for 395 yards and three touchdowns in his previous two games. season and his sixth overall.
Xavier Legette discusses his relationship with Bryce Young.
Young’s 46-yard connection to rookie tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders in the third quarter set up a Panthers scoring drive. Sanders’ career’s longest catch was this one. He had four catches for a career-high 87 yards at the end of the day. He led the Panthers in receiving yards for the second time this season.
Sanders is second in receiving yards (245) and receptions (24), and he is tied for best among rookie tight ends in yards per reception (10.2).
Against the Saints in Week 9, Sanders caught four of his five targets for 87 yards. Sanders has produced the most receiving yards beyond expectations in a game this season by a rookie tight end (+50), according Next Gen Stats. Sanders has the second-most yards by a rookie tight end this season with 62 yards after the catch and +38 yards over expectations.
Running back Chuba Hubbard completed a nine-play, 86-yard touchdown in the third quarter (5:05) with a 1-yard rush. Late in the fourth quarter, he scored his second touchdown of the day, his fifth of the season, and the game-winning touchdown. He completed a four-play, 64-yard drive (1:08) with a 16-yard rush. Hubbard has never scored a touchdown in the last three minutes of a game before.
With 15 carries for 72 yards and two touchdowns, Hubbard concluded the game against the Saints. He scored double touchdowns for the first time this season and for the second time in his career (versus Tampa Bay, Week 13, 2023). Hubbard ties a career-high for a single season (2021) and leads the Panthers in total touchdowns this season with six.
The Panthers led the way for 80 running yards against the Saints and gave up just one sack despite starting a fresh offensive line for the second straight game. The Panthers have ran for 149 yards behind the offensive line in the past two games.
Cornerback Mike Jackson reached seven for the season after defending his game-winning throw. In addition, he had three tackles, two of which were solo, and his first tackle for loss of the season.
Safety Demani Richardson led the Panthers with 12 tackles (eight solo) in his second start of the season. In addition, he recorded his first-ever pass defense. Richardson has lead in tackles for the second consecutive week.
Linebacker Trevin Wallace is currently tied for third place in Panthers history in terms of total tackles in a player’s first five starts after recording five tackles (two solo) against the Saints. In addition, he recorded his first tackle for loss in his career.
Charles Harris, an outside linebacker, tackled Derek Carr for a sack on the Saints’ last drive. He led all Panthers defenders with this, his third of the season. In addition, Harris recorded two quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, and six tackles—five of which were solo—setting season highs.
In addition to Richardson and Harris, career-high tackle totals were recorded by defensive end LaBryan Ray (five total, two solo), outside linebacker Cam Gill (five total, one solo), and defensive lineman Nick Thurman (six total, one solo).
After Graham Gano’s 41 consecutive conversions (2016–18), kicker Eddy Piñeiro’s run of home field goals reached 36, the second-longest in Panthers history. Additionally, it is the longest ongoing run for an NFL kicker at their home stadium. Piñeiro ended the day with two-for-two PATs, one-for-one field goals, and a 48-yard shot in the second quarter.
Against the Saints, punter Johnny Hekker had three of his wagers land inside the 20 for the season. With 367 punts inside the 20th, he is ranked 12th in NFL history.
Counts of Snaps
Examine the Panthers’ playing % and snap totals versus the Saints in Week 9 of the regular season.
It’s helpful to have someone to rely on during a period when wide receiver consistency is scarce due to the loss of a veteran and the injury of another. That would be David Moore, the Panthers’ herd guardian. Since Moore has more experience than the other receivers on the roster, it seems sense that he played more snaps than any other player. The only wideouts who played more than half the snaps were Moore and Xavier Legette.
The starting five offensive lineman played every snap together in yet another successful week. Brady Christensen’s return to left tackle and Cade Mays’ replacement at center deserve praise. This is one of those “greater than the sum of the parts” situations they’ve created by creating a full offensive line, even if they acquired some costly guard components this summer.
Raheem Blackshear’s two snaps—despite having just five offensive snaps in the first eight games—are the snap counts’ hidden jewel. Additionally, there were two extremely particular shots. On intentionally, he was in the rear of the victorious formation. They do it that way, according to Chuba Hubbard, and they have no intention of changing their regimen. Blackshear is tough and reliable, which are two qualities you want in that circumstance.
Player
Defensive Snaps
Special Teams Snaps
Mike Jackson
79 (100%)
4 (14%)
Xavier Woods
79 (100%)
Josey Jewell
79 (100%)
Jaycee Horn
79 (100%)
Demani Richardson
79 (100%)
Trevin Wallace
69 (87%)
6 (21%)
Charles Harris
62 (78%)
4 (14%)
Jadeveon Clowney
58 (73%)
A’Shawn Robinson
50 (63%)
4 (14%)
Shy Tuttle
43 (54%)
4 (14%)
LaBryan Ray
39 (49%)
4 (14%)
Cam Gill
34 (43%)
17 (59%)
Nick Thurman
25 (32%)
Jonathan Harris
25 (32%)
DeShawn Williams
22 (28%)
2 (7%)
Dane Jackson
22 (28%)
Chau Smith-Wade
13 (16%)
15 (52%)
Caleb Farley
10 (13%)
8 (28%)
Sam Franklin
1 (1%)
26 (90%)
Lonnie Johnson
1 (1%)
23 (79%)
On defense, Sam Franklin Jr. and Lonnie Johnson both had one snap, speaking of extremely precise counts. At the end of the first half, New Orleans made their final Hail Mary-like/whatever effort, and both of their stalwarts on special teams—who share a lot of the same personality traits and skills to provoke opponents—were on the field. That play required special team players to be confident tacklers in space.
However, inside linebacker/play-caller Josey Jewell and the entire starting secondary played every snap. Mike Jackson has shown to be dependable for a player who was traded to Seattle just before the regular season, while Demani Richardson has filled in and performed admirably as a rookie.
Jackson’s reliability actually restricts the workload for other players, such as rookie nickel Chau Smith-Wade, who played 13, former Titans first-round pick Caleb Farley, who played 10, and expected starter Dane Jackson, who played just 22 plays.
Only three of the six players the Panthers grabbed off waivers the day after cuts to 53 remain, and none of them have contributed as much as Jon Rhattigan. He can play almost every down in the globe and do it effectively, making him a regular on special teams.
Despite punting more than they started, they managed to stay on the wrong side of the Johnny Hekker-Eddy Piñeiro line this week. However, there were several aspects of this game that did not statistically indicate victory, but nobody was willing to return it.
