When it was determined last week that the Carolina Panthers would be facing the Saints in the NFC South Wild Card game, there were mixed emotions. The Saints beat the Panthers twice in the regular season. Many felt that it would be difficult to lose to the same team three times in one season. Others felt the Saints just simply have the Panthers number.
Despite settling for field goals on 5 trips to the Red Zone and missing one, the Panthers still had a really good chance at leaving NOLA with a victory. The Panthers drove to the Saints 26 yard line with a fresh set of downs. A couple plays later, Cam Newton was hit with an intentional grounding penalty that resulted in a loss of down and 10 seconds off the game clock per NFL rules.
Facing 3rd and 25 and only 24 seconds left to work with, Cam threw an incomplete pass to the endzone. On the next play, Cam was sacked on a safety blitz bringing the Panthers season to an end.
Following the game, Cam and Head Coach Ron Rivera addressed the press and discussed the controversial call. Rivera said that their chance to score was “taken away”. He felt Cam was out of the pocket and there was a receiver in the vicinity. He also says that the ref gave no explanation.
Flip the page to hear Coach Rivera and Cam address the call that some felt unfairly ended the Panthers season.