Bryce Young leads late TD push as Panthers hand Saints seventh straight loss: Key takeaways

By Joe Person, Larry Holder and Amos Morale III

The Carolina Panthers handed the New Orleans Saints their seventh straight loss with a 23-22 win on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium. The Panthers' victory ended their five-game losing streak.

While the Panthers (2-7) picked up their second win of the year, they may have put more pressure on Saints coach Dennis Allen's (2-7) seat.

Panthers quarterback Bryce Young led a game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter. The 2023 No. 1 pick threw for 171 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Tailback Chuba Hubbard rushed for two touchdowns, including the game-winner with 2:18 left in the fourth quarter.

However, it wasn't due to a lack of production from the Saints' Alvin Kamara, who racked up 215 yards of total offense in the loss.

Young argues

Young drove the Panthers 64 yards in five plays, scoring the first game-winning touchdown drive of his career. Last year's No. 1 pick had some really good plays on the game-winning drive that involved both rookies. He hit first-round pick Xavier Legette over the middle for a 26-yard gain to convert a third-and-10, then threw a ball to tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders on the next play for a 22- Yard pass interference penalty drew Demario Davis.

Hubbard tied it with a 16-yard touchdown run. A costly delay of game penalty – the Panthers' third in the last two games – gave them a five-yard lead on the two-point conversion, but that failed when Young was sacked. That gave Carolina a 23-22 lead with 2:18 to go and put the game in the hands of the defense. Young has probably done enough to earn another starting spot next week in Munich against the New York Giants. — Joe Person, Panthers beat author

Carolina's defense gets going

The Panthers defense had bent over backwards all afternoon, but for the most part couldn't break. And Ejiro Evero's group came up big in the Saints' final series. On second-and-10, Charles Harris and Jadeveon Clowney combined for the Panthers' first sack of the game, dropping Derek Carr for a 6-yard loss. A completion to Kamara gave the Saints a fourth-and-4. Carr looked for Cedrick Wilson deep down the left sideline, but cornerback Mike Jackson released the ball and sealed the ball. With the win, the Panthers matched last year's win total and will bring positivity across the Atlantic for next week's game in Germany. — person

This is a devastating loss for Allen

I'm not sure how many people take the Saints seriously these days considering they've lost their last six games in a row. But at least the Saints faced an unhappy Panthers squad, and Carr returned to the lineup. Surely the Saints would end their losing streak on Sunday, right? No!

This is rock bottom for the Saints.

New Orleans is now on a seven-game losing streak and I'm not sure how anyone in the locker room will take Allen seriously with eight games remaining in the 2024 season.

Go deeper

Saints WR Chris Olave is out with a concussion against the Panthers

They let a lead slip away in the fourth quarter. There were too many moments of incompetence in time management due to the offense in both halves. Chris Olave was hit hard again and suffered another concussion (thankfully he is healthy enough to fly home with the team).

This whole situation is extremely dangerous for Allen right now. Are the Saints willing to endure a few more months of this cloud hanging over the franchise? — Larry Holder, senior NFL writer

We just lost to the Panthers…I love you all. New Orleans really had higher expectations and the best hopes for us, you all deserve it.

— Cam Jordan (@camjordan94) November 3, 2024

Required reading

(Photo: Matt Kelley/Getty Images)