For most of Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints, the Carolina Panthers’ defense limited quarterback Tyler Shough and receiver Chris Olave. Shough completed 11 of 14 passes for 110 yards and no touchdowns through three quarters, while Olave had just one catch for seven yards.
However, in the fourth quarter, the Saints mounted a comeback. Shough went 13-of-19 for 162 yards and a touchdown during that period, with Olave catching five passes for 78 yards and a score.
“Everything that could have went wrong went wrong in the 4th quarter, and they were just able to sneak away with it,” said Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn on Monday after the team’s 20-17 loss in New Orleans.
“I feel like that was a game that we had for three quarters. We were playing dominating football, defensively, and we just, in the last two drives, it got away from us, so we just got to do better at executing and communicating.”
On one of their final drives starting at their own 22-yard line with less than five minutes left, Shough completed four straight passes over ten yards—three to Olave—and then found Juwan Johnson to move into scoring position. A third-down pass to Olave resulted in a tying touchdown.
“They hit us with the tempo, and that was good on their part to catch us on our heels,” Horn said. “They were just going tempo, and they were catching us in the same call, damn near the whole drive… We were in zone.”
Before those last two drives by New Orleans, Carolina’s defense had only allowed four passes longer than fifteen yards all day. But when forced into a two-minute drill situation late in the game, Carolina stayed in its base defense without making adjustments.
“Basically, like you stay in base call just because the coach ain’t really got time to get a play call in… it just seemed like they knew what we were in because they were just going tempo,” Horn explained.
Mike Jackson added his perspective: “It ain’t got nothing to do with the tempo… It’s just us because there’s times where they tempo’d us the first game and we were on the same page…”
Head coach Dave Canales attributed part of the issue to communication breakdowns among defenders. “We were totally disjointed on the back end… It was completely disjointed,” Canales said Monday. “It was the communication that was disjointed and just guys not owning their landmarks.”
Jackson noted this kind of breakdown hadn’t been an ongoing problem: “This is the first time y’all really asking about it… It’s just one game.”
Horn clarified further: “They were just going tempo and catching us in the same call… so it wasn’t much me and Mike could really do on some of those dig and breaking routes.” He pointed out communication issues did arise later during New Orleans’ field goal drive.
“You just got to find a way to get on the same page and execute and get off the grass when they are going fast like that,” Horn said.
With twelve seconds remaining before overtime looked likely, Shough scrambled upfield before sliding; he drew an additional penalty which set up New Orleans’ winning field goal attempt.
“So when you’re seeing 12 catch digs… we playing heavy outside to try to keep them from getting out of bounds…” Horn explained regarding defensive strategy late.
Despite sacking Shough five times earlier in the contest—an effort by Carolina’s pass rush—the final plays shifted momentum decisively toward New Orleans after penalties helped put them within field goal range.
Reflecting afterward on what led up to defeat despite early success defensively throughout much of Sunday’s matchup against New Orleans:
“Really just those last two drives. I mean that’s really what it came down to,” Horn said. “And then … flags too that hurt us.”
Jackson concluded: “We just weren’t on the same page. That’s really it. We got to just be better next week…that’s life in the NFL, week-by-week.”
