After he hit Chris Olave for a 12-yard touchdown with 2:29 left in the game, the Saints’ defense stopped Bryce Young and gave him another chance.
And he drove them for the game-winning field goal by international kicker Charlie Smyth, whose 47-yarder with 0:02 left gave the Saints the winning margin.
Shough set it up by offering himself up, running up the middle and into an unnecessary roughness penalty on rookie safety Lathan Ransom, buying Smyth an extra 15 yards. That one was the last of a season-high 11 penalties for 103 yards for the Panthers, and the most painful.
That spoiled a day that began so promising for the Panthers, with Bryce Young throwing it downfield in a way he hadn’t in the first meeting, and running it enough to maintain some kind of pace.
But the defensive lapses late will haunt them, at least until they move onto a future that includes three games with playoff implications.
