SmashMouth

It wasn't pretty. At times, it was downright frustrating. But the New Orleans Saints will take it.

They ground out a workmanlike 12-9 win against the Carolina Panthers on Monday night (Dec. 17) at Bank of America Stadium.

It wasn't what we've grown accustomed to seeing from the high-flying Saints this season, but it will look just as pretty in the win-loss standings. The Saints are 12-2 and now return home for a pair of games in the Superdome and a chance to close out the season with the best record in club history.



Here are my takeaways from the game:

1. The defense won this one
The Saints defense can't play much better than it did Monday night. It produced four sacks, five tackles for loss, five passes defensed and two huge red-zone takeaways. In a tight, white-knuckle affair, they gave no quarter. They held Carolina's running game in check, limited the big plays and made Christian McCaffrey work for every yard he gained. The performance was the latest in a string of strong efforts by the defense. Other than the trick-play touchdown the Saints surrendered nothing.

2. Emotions ran high on both sidelines all night.
As you would expect from these two longtime division rivals, emotions ran high on both sides. Trash talk was rampant and players from both teams engaged in several post-play skirmishes. The chippiness was not reserved for any particular unit, either. On special teams, Craig Robertson engaged in a game-long back-and-forth with David Mayo. Even the normally mild-mannered Taysom Hill got into the act. The Panthers said they felt “disrespected” by the Saints during New Orleans’ three-game sweep last season, and they clearly used the perceived slight as motivational fuel for Monday night’s game.

3. It was a tough night for the passing attack
Drew Brees wasn't his usual dominant self. HIs final numbers -- 203 passing yards, 69.1 passer efficiency rating -- reflected his struggles and were definitely un-Brees-like. He struggled to find a rhythm in part because of Carolina's stingy defense and in part because of some untimely drops by his receivers. The Panthers did a solid job of disrupting the timing of the Saints offense and bracketing Michael Thomas and making Brees call on other options in the passing attack. Brees' second-quarter interception came on a tip-drill play that should have been caught by Dan Arnold. The interception he threw on the two-point conversion attempt was on him, though. He tried to force a throw into tight coverage and Donte Jackson made him pay for it. It was the third consecutive so-so game for Brees, whose MVP candidacy might be losing momentum at the wrong time.


4. Eli Apple continued to shine
Eli Apple is coming on. He enjoyed a second consecutive strong game with an interception and two passes defensed. The third-year cornerback from Ohio State made the biggest defensive play of the game when he picked off Cam Newton in the end zone in the final seconds of the first half. He displayed textbook coverage technique, finding Devin Funchess with his hand while turning for the ball just as it arrived. The interception was Apple’s second as a Saint and thwarted a prime Carolina scoring opportunity.

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