The Panthers beat the Saints 34-24 on Saturday in the NFL regular season. It was their first win in a while, and here's the thing — they'd been going through a rough patch. By then, the mood in the locker room must have been heavy.
Both sides came into this game on the back of defeats. The Panthers had lost their last four matches, including two heavy defeats against the Oilers. The Saints weren't faring much better, having gone four games without a victory either. To be fair, neither team looked comfortable lately.
What changed on the day was difficult to pin down to a single moment. The Panthers simply came from the dead when it mattered. They scored 34 points — something that hadn't happened in their recent outings — while holding the Saints to 24. The game wasn't pretty, but it was enough.
The result shifts something in the standings, though not dramatically. The Panthers remain mid-table, but they've ended a barren spell. The Saints, meanwhile, stay where they are — nowhere near the top, and nowhere near out of danger either.
Football doesn't always reward the team that plays better. Sometimes it rewards the team that refuses to fold. The Panthers showed that tonight, even if it took four straight losses to find it.
