Following their first loss of the season, a disheartening 20-10 setback against the Tampa Bay Bucs last week, the New Orleans Saints (1-1) were back on the field and in the NFC South with a contest on the road against the 0-2 Carolina Panthers. Vying to go 2-1 in the division, the Saints had to deal with Baker Mayfield and old foe Christian McCaffrey, while the Panthers were trying to avoid a damaging 0-3 start to the season.
In the first half, the Saints displayed all the signs of a mediocre-to-bad team: a sputtering offense that could muster nothing save for penalties and missed plays.