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NEW ORLEANS – Carolina’s 20-point fourth-quarter lead was gone. New Orleans was ahead by a point.
Barely over three minutes remained. The Panthers had the ball at the Saints’ 18. The Superdome was super loud.
The NFC South title, first-round playoff bye and home playoff game the Panthers wanted so much was slipping from their grasp.
When quarterback Jake Delhomme walked into the huddle, his offensive teammates were quiet. His words were brief and to the point: “Alright, let’s go do this.”
Tackle Jordan Gross believed, but knew the odds – and the momentum – favored the Saints.
“We had our fingers crossed,” Gross said. “We’ve seen Jake do that a million times and we have all the faith in the world in (kicker) John Kasay, but that’s a long way to go.”
The Panthers covered most of the distance needed to get Kasay into field goal range on a single play – a heave of a pass from Delhomme to wide receiver Steve Smith, who jumped over Saints defender Jason David to catch the ball for a 39-yard gain.
Moments later, with six seconds remaining, Kasay came on the field to try a field goal to win the game.
He was in a similar position last week on the final play of regulation, but missed a 50-yarder in a game that Panthers eventually lost in overtime. The big difference between the two kicks, said Delhomme, was this one was indoors and not outside on a blustery northeast night.
“I’m very confident in John, but I was on that field in the third and fourth quarter (last week against the Giants),” said Delhomme. “That wind was blowing the exact same way (left) it pushed the football, so I knew it was going to be an extremely difficult kick.
“But this one, with no elements, I was just waiting on it to go through.”
Indeed, this Kasay kick split the uprights with one second left and the Panthers escaped with a thrilling 33-31 victory that seemed more difficult that it should have been.
“We’re the Panthers,” said Gross. “We’ve got to make it interesting.”
Said Kasay to reporters: “You guys dubbed us the Cardiac Cats a few years ago, right? Well, I think you can bring out the hats and the t-shirts and get ready for the ride.”
The win made the Panthers (12-4) champions of the NFC South and means they will play at Bank of America Stadium on Jan. 10 against Arizona (9-7), Atlanta (11-5) or Minnesota (10-6), depending on the outcome of next week’s first-round games.
Carolina has played all three teams this season and is a combined 3-2 against them.
One of the sweetest things about Sunday’s win for the Panthers was the bye that gives them next weekend off. If they’d lost to New Orleans, they would’ve had to travel to Arizona for a first-round game.
“We need the bye this week,” said Delhomme. “We really and truly do.”
The break will allow four injured Panthers’ linemen to heal. Starting defensive tackles Maake Kemoeatu (ankle) and Damione Lewis (shoulder) sat out Sunday’s game with injuries, and offensive line starters Geoff Hangartner (ankle) and Jeff Otah (toe) were hurt against the Saints.
If the Panthers had to play next week, it’s uncertain how many of those four players would be ready, but now there’s a good chance they’ll all be able to play in the second-round game.
Carolina started out hot against the Saints, leading 30-10 entering the fourth quarter, but New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees got red-hot and let his team back.
Brees threw three of his four touchdown passes in the final period to give the Saints (8-8) a 31-30 lead.
But Brees fell barely short in his attempt to break Dan Marino’s NFL single-season record for passing yards (5,084) in a season. Brees’ 386-yard performance left h im with 5,069.
Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams had another spectacular performance, rushing for 178 yards, tied for second most in a game in Carolina history. He also became the team’s single-season rusher leader with 1,515 yards, surpassing the record of 1,444 set by Stephen Davis in 2003.
In the end, however, the game came down to big plays in big moments by Smith and Kasay, who have developed a close friendship in recent years. Smith said he thrives on chaotic circumstances like Carolina faced when they took over at their 18, down by 1, with 3:06 remaining in the game. He said it reminded him of real-life situations he faced as a youth growing up on the streets of Los Angeles “with people yelling, hands flaring, people directing traffic, this and that.”
“You just kind of work through it a little bit, just navigate through the mist,” he said. “For some reason, God keeps allowing me to make these catches, so I’ll keep doing it.”
Delhomme’s pass was hardly a thing of beauty. It almost seemed like he was throwing the ball high and far, counting on Smith’s ability to go get it. “He and I might be a little unorthodox in some of the ways we do things, but I think we work well together,” Delhomme said of himself and Smith. “We’re just going to try to keep going.”
Smith said he was “ecstatic” that Kasay made the winning field goal.
“He’s my boy,” Smith said of Kasay. “If I’m going into a back alley, I’ll take John.”
Now, as Delhommed pointed out, the Panthers are assured of being in the final eight of the NFL playoffs. They’re one win away from the NFC Championship game and two victories shy of the Super Bowl.
But Smith refused to compare this team to the one that reached the Super Bowl five years ago.
“We lost,” he said of that team. “I don’t want to compare myself to a loser.”
Charles Chandler: (704) 358-5123.
