Posted by The Times-Picayune October 19, 2008 3:02PM

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.The New Orleans Saints came into the game against Carolina needing a win, needing to play well, needing a good beginning of 42 days away from the Superdome, needing a good send off for a trip to London.

They got none of those.

Instead, the Saints were sloppy and ineffective and were blasted by their NFC South rivals 30-7.
Reggie Bush left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury and did not return. We’ll update his status as we get it.

Drew Brees was 21-of-39 for 231 yards and an interception. Brees looked out of sorts at times and didn’t have his best stuff.

The Panthers took advantage of a couple of Saints turnovers and a solid ground game to methodically put the game away.

Jonathan Stewart had 68 yards and a touchdown and D’Angelo Williams had 66 yards. Jake Delhomme was 14-of-22 for 195 and two touchdowns and Saints killer Steve Smith caught six passes for 122 yards and a touchdown.

The Saints will leave from Charlotte and head to London for the game against the San Diego Chargers next Sunday.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 19th, 2008 at 5:16 pm and is filed under Saints News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.