CHARLOTTE — One second away from throwing a victory party, the Carolina Panthers instead wound up throwing their helmets in a muddled, maddened mix of frustration, anger and despair.
What would have been one of the shining moments in franchise history turned into the Panthers’ darkest hour. A classic comeback from a 17-point deficit became a gut-wrenching setback when the New Orleans Saints spirited away a 27-25 victory.
“We had a good team in a vulnerable spot,” said Panthers coach George Seifert. “We just can’t seem to make a knockout punch. The devastating part is that this would have been a glorious win.”
Would have been. Could have been. Perhaps should have been. Distraught Panthers will replay the final moments of this one in their minds for — depending upon which head-in-hands athlete you talked to — weeks, months or years.
“I guess,” said Panthers rookie quarterback Chris Weinke, in a halting voice, “there’s good that might come out of this somewhere down the road. But right now, anything good is pretty hard to comprehend.”
After Steve Smith’s electric 70-yard punt return with 1:48 remaining gave Carolina its first lead at 25-20, the Panthers (1-4) appeared to be home free. Things looked even brighter when the Panthers got excellent coverage on the ensuing kickoff, pinning the Saints, already down to a single timeout, at their 18-yard line.
To that point, New Orleans’ offense had accomplished little on its own merit, despite the imposing battering-ram presence of 240-pound former Piedmont Boll Weevil left fielder Ricky Williams in the backfield. The Saints had built their substantial lead solely on the foundation of a first-half turnover spree by Weinke.
Now, with time running down, the Saints faced the grim prospect of negotiating 82 yards of Ericsson Stadium real estate against an aroused Panthers defense. And they faced it with an inexperienced quarterback (Aaron Brooks) who was battling a case of the flu.
“We’ve got them backed up and we’ve just got to stop them,” said Seifert. “We had two opportunities to get off that field with a victory.”
Actually, the Panthers had at least three chances.
With 1:10 left, Brooks hit Panther cornerback Doug Evans in the numbers with a desperate pass. Evans, who had already produced an interception for the fourth straight game, dropped it.
“I’m a veteran and I’ve got to cradle that one in,” said a whispering Evans. “I saw open field and was trying to run before I caught it.”
Next, the Panthers allowed Brooks to complete a fourth-and-10, over-the-middle toss to Willie Jackson at the Saints 45. As Jackson made that catch, the Saints used their final timeout. There were 45 seconds left.
A frantic scramble by Brooks yielded a first down. Next came his 22-yard completion to Joe Horn and two penalties on the Panthers. Now the ball was at the Carolina 1 with six seconds left.
A harried Brooks fired incomplete as Panther fans went crazy, certain the game was over. It wasn’t. One solitary second remained.
Confusion reigned on the Panthers defense as the Saints came to the line for a final play. Some Panthers said they were playing pass. Others said they were in a blitz. Still others expected Brooks to keep the ball on a sneak or bootleg.
Seifert said he fully expected the Saints to do exactly what they did, put the ball in the mitts of their best player — Williams.
Williams took a pitch from Brooks and circled like a shark in a wide arc toward the left corner. Most Panthers were bunched in the middle. Others were sealed off. Only end Michael Rucker had any shot to cut him off and Williams proved swifter than the lunging lineman. He steamed across the goal untouched and the Panthers were losers for the fourth straight time.
“It was just a case of fastest man to the corner wins and Ricky was faster,” said safety Mike Minter.
Rucker, who answered questions long into the afternoon, compared that final play to a basketball game.
“They had the ball and they were going to get the last shot off,” he said. “Unfortunately, they made the bucket.”
In the first quarter, buckets of rain fell and Weinke made his team as uncomfortable as the drenched fans by fumbling a snap, losing the handle while being hit and tossing an interception. Those miscues staked opportunistic New Orleans (3-1) to that 17-0 lead.
Two John Kasay field goals pared the gap to 17-6 by halftime. The sun came out for the second half and so did the Panthers offense. A revitalized Weinke hit Donald Hayes and Wesley Walls for TDs as Carolina closed to within 20-18 with 3:42 left in the game.
Moments later Smith’s punt return put the Panthers in position to pull one out against a team that boasts one of the league’s best defenses. But the math didn’t work for the Panthers. One play, one yard and one second somehow added up to six Saints points. And here’s more ugly math. The Panthers haven’t exactly been getting whipped, but they’re 0-3 against teams in their division. They’ll have to produce a minimum of eight wins in their last 11 games to have even a prayer of making the playoffs.
“I feel sad,” said Minter. “Sad for everyone. Sad for Smith. Sad for Weinke. Mostly, I feel sad for our defense. We let ’em go 80 yards at the end.
“This one hits home. Man, we’ve just gotta find a way to win this one.”
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