NEW ORLEANS — The 2024 Carolina Panthers season got off to a disastrous start with a demoralizing 47-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
New Orleans led 30-3 by halftime and the Panthers never threatened to win the game. Carolina’s first score did not come until Eddy Piñeiro scored a field goal to close the second quarter. The Panthers failed to score in nine straight quarters stretching back to the back-to-back shutouts that closed the 2023 season.
Quarterback Bryce Young threw for 161 yards passing with two interceptions in the first game of his sophomore season. Miles Sanders led the Panthers on the ground with just 22 yards rushing.
In the 245 days since the Panthers ended with an NFL-worst 2-15 record, the team added head coach Dave Canales, general manager Dan Morgan, and revamped the roster to improve the product.
All of the positive rhetoric about this season hit a brick wall when the Saints took a 10-0 lead in the game's first five minutes.
Dereck Carr scored on a 59-yard touchdown pass to Rashid Shaheed for the Saints' first score on the game’s opening drive.
Young’s first pass of the season was intercepted by Will Harris, putting the Saints in Panther territory once again. New Orleans added a field goal on the ensuing drive.
After another Saints touchdown and a field goal, the Panthers suffered another turnover when Jonathan Mingo fumbled the ball during a running play.
Two more scores put New Orleans up 30-0 in the second quarter. Young orchestrated a decent drive with one minute remaining in the half to mercifully put the Panthers in position for their first score. Piñeiro made a 43-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 27 points.
Just in case fans thought the Panthers would pull off a miraculous comeback, Young made sure to quash those thoughts with an interception on the second-half's opening drive.
Carolina finally found its way to the New Orleans 3-yard line late in the third quarter. It took four tries from that spot and an overturned review for the Panthers to score their first touchdown of 2024. Young ran in for the score to make the score 37-10.
New Orleans tacked on one more touchdown to win 47-10. The 37-point margin is the fourth-worst loss in Panthers history.