The Panthers got on the board midway through the second quarter against the Saints and those remained the only points of the first half in New Orleans.
Chuba Hubbard’s two-yard touchdown run has the Panthers up 7-0 in the matchup of NFC South teams. Hubbard had 12 carries for 63 yards in the first 30 minutes, which made him the offensive standout for both teams through two quarters of play.
The Saints started their first possesion on their own 40 after the Carolina kickoff went out of bounds and they moved into Panthers territory before going for it on fourth down. Quarterback Tyler Shough’s pass to Chris Olave on that play was deflected by Panthers corner Marco Wilson into the hands of linebacker Devin Lloyd and Lloyd returned the ball inside the New Orleans 25-yard-line. The Panthers moved the ball inside the 5, but quarterback Bryce Young was tripped up short of the end zone on Carolina’s own fourth-down try.
Panthers kicker Ryan Fitzgerald missed a field goal early in the second quarter and the Panthers hurt themselves with several penalties, but the Saints had another turnover to set up Hubbard’s score. Shough and Audric Estime failed to connect on a handoff and Panthers linebacker Jaelan Phillips fell on the ball to set the Panthers up near midfield.
It was the 10th lost fumble of the season for New Orleans and they had another drive end in Carolina territory when Estime was stuffed behind the line on a fourth down. They wound up with 107 yards on 27 plays overall and they’ll need to be much more productive after the break to get a leg up on their divisional rivals.