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NEW ORLEANS -- Exasperated, Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme put both hands on his helmet as he stood in the end zone and watched New Orleans defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove make the play that sunk the Panthers' upset attempt of the unbeaten Saints.
Trailing by three points with less than three minutes remaining Sunday at the Superdome, the Panthers started the play and the possession at their 2. Though they were 98 yards from a touchdown, there was hope of at least driving for a game-tying field goal.
Delhomme handed off to running back DeAngelo Williams, who had already scored two touchdowns.
This time, the ball was knocked out of Williams' grasp and Hargrove recovered it at the 1 and returned it for a touchdown.
"The first thing that went through my mind was, 'game over,'" said Delhomme.
"I mean, we didn't have any timeouts left and that was it."
The Panthers still managed another drive to the New Orleans 2 in the final minute, but got no points out of that possession and lost 30-20.
The win upped the Saints' record to 8-0, best in franchise history and tied with Indianapolis for tops in the NFL. It was New Orleans' first home win against Carolina since 2001, ending the perfect record against the Saints in Louisiana for Delhomme and coach John Fox.
The Panthers fell to 3-5 and missed an opportunity to come away with what had the potential to be a season-turning victory.
"We had our chances, but we blew it," said strong safety Chris Harris.
Making the defeat even more costly was the fact that arguably the Panthers' best player in the first half of the season, outside linebacker Thomas Davis, suffered a knee injury in the fourth quarter.
For much of the game, Carolina looked primed to pull off the upset.
The Panthers scored first, led by 11 points at halftime and didn't trail until late in the fourth quarter.
But just as the Saints did earlier this season when they overcame a 21-point halftime deficit to beat Miami, they rode their big-play offense to victory.
Three long pass plays made all the difference in this game, completions of 45, 63 and 54 yards to different receivers by Drew Brees in a span of a little more than a quarter.
The 45-yarder went to Marques Colston with 21 seconds left in the first half, moving the ball to the Carolina 7 and resulting in a touchdown at the end of the first half to cut Carolina's lead to 17-6.
Then, on the third play of the second half, Brees threw a medium-length pass to Devery Henderson that turned into a 63-yarder, setting up Pierre Thomas' 10-yard touchdown run.
Then, after Carolina drove for a field goal, Brees struck again with a 54-yard touchdown pass to Robert Meachem.
New Orleans went ahead for good on John Carney's 40-yard field goal with 4:45 remaining before Hargrove's score put the game out of reach.
After trailing 17-6 at halftime, the Saints outscored the Panthers 24-3 in the second half.
"I'm excited for our players," said New Orleans coach Sean Payton. "Early on, it would have been real easy to get discouraged."
The Panthers could hardly have started better than they did.
Williams bolted 66 yards for a touchdown on the game's second play, then scored again on a 7-yard run after linebacker Jon Beason recovered a Brees fumble caused by Tyler Brayton at the New Orleans 11.
With barely over eight minutes elapsed in the game, Carolina led 14-0, but the Saints cut the margin to 17-6 by halftime.
Even after New Orleans scored on its opening possession of the third period to pull to within 17-13, the Panthers still were in position to keep control of the game until a bungled play forced them to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown.
On first-and-goal from the 1, the Panthers were a yard away from taking a 24-13 lead.
However, it was then and there, in Fox's words, that the Panthers lack of a healthy fullback "came back to haunt us."
With starting fullback Brad Hoover out with an ankle injury, backup Tony Fiammetta out with a concussion, and third option Dante Rosario out with an injured knee, the Panthers had guard Mackenzy Bernadeau lined up as the lead blocker for Jonathan Stewart.
The play called for Delhomme to hand the ball off to Stewart, but it never got there because Bernadeau bumped into Delhomme. That caused Delhomme to bobble the ball and get dropped for a 6-yard loss.
"It was a first-time mistake," said Bernadeau. "I guarantee you it will never happen again. It was just something that happened (that) I've got to adjust to. I'll know the next time to get further back from the ball. It's unfortunate because I felt like it would have worked (and the running lane to the end zone) was open."
The play got the home crowd excited and pumped up the volume of the sound in the Superdome. The Panthers gained only 1 more yard and settled for a 25-yard field goal by John Kasay instead of a touchdown.
That put the Panthers ahead 20-13, but the margin wasn't nearly enough to hold off Brees and the Saints, who roared back to win.
Fox's message to his team afterward was that he still believes the Panthers are a good team despite their record, an opinion seconded by defensive end Julius Peppers and others in the locker room.
However, the reality they faced as they flew back to Charlotte was that there is a massive difference between being 3-5 and the 4-4 record they could have had if they'd held on to win.
"It's still a long season" yet to play, said defensive tackle Hollis Thomas. "You can't let this ruin your season."
