On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the gulf coast of the United States, devastating everything in its path, including the city of New Orleans, where 80% of the city was submerged under water.
One of the city’s greatest symbols, the Louisiana Superdome, home of the Saints, suffered damage in the storm as it was used as a shelter for New Orleans residents who did not or could not evacuate from the hurricane.
While all this chaos was happening in their hometown, the Saints were on the other side of the country in San Jose, California preparing for a preseason game with the Oakland Raiders.
After the game with the Raiders was played on September 1st, the Saints set up a temporary headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, unable to go home and see what kind of damage Katrina had done to their homes.
With all these madness, it seemed impossible for the Saints to get ready for their season opener in Charlotte on September 11 to play their division rival the Carolina Panthers.
New Orleans was coming off a 8-8 season and was hoping to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2000, where head coach Jim Haslett and quarterback Aaron Brooks lead the Saints to their first playoff victory in franchise history.
But with all these madness, it seemed impossible for the Saints to get ready for their season opener in Charlotte on September 11 to play their division rival the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers had played in the Super Bowl 18 months earlier where they lost to the New England Patriots 32-29 on a 41-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri with four seconds left.
Carolina suffered a Super Bowl hangover the following season as they went 1-7 over the first half of the season as they lost star wide receiver Steve Smith in the opening game of the season as they finished with a 7-9 record.
With Smith back healthy and quarterback Jake Delhomme at the helm, the Panthers were poised to make another run to the Super Bowl.
Even though the Saints got a warm reception as they entered Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, the team expected to get no sympathy from the Panthers as it had been New Orleans who had defeated Carolina in the final week of the regular season, eliminating the Panthers from a spot in the playoffs.
The Saints got the ball to start the game and put together a 15-play, 80-yard drive that took up nearly 9 ½ minutes as Brooks completed all seven of his pass attempts for 55 yards, setting up Deuce McAllister’s four-yard touchdown run to put New Orleans ahead 7-0.
Deuce McAllister only ran for 64 yards on 26 carries but scored both of the Saints' touchdowns.
The bad pitch on the fumble return appeared to be costly for the Saints as Delhomme found Smith for a 27-yard touchdown pass on the very next play, only to have the touchdown be called back because Smith went out of bounds before he caught the pass, making him an ineligible receiver and resulting a 10-yard penalty.
Delhomme tried one more pass toward the end zone fell incomplete to end the first half with the Saints in the lead 14-7.
The Panthers got the ball to start the second half but on the very first play from scrimmage, Delhomme was picked off by McKenzie who returned the pick 25 yards to the Carolina’ 14-yard-line, giving the Saints an excellent opportunity.
After five straight runs by McAllister gained 13 yards, the Saints decided to pass on a 3rd-and-goal at the one-yard-line, only to have Brooks be sacked and lose the football, which was recovered by Panthers defensive back Ricky Manning Jr., denying the Saints any points off the turnover.
But the Saints would intercept Delhomme again on the Panthers’ ensuing possession, this time by Jason Craft, giving New Orleans the ball at the Carolina 27-yard-line.
This time, the Saints would convert the turnover into points as John Carney kicked a 29-yard field goal, which was set up by a 17-yard pass from Brooks to tight end Ernie Conwell on 3rd-and-14 at the 31-yard-line, to push New Orleans’ lead to double digits, 17-7 with 4:31 remaining in the third quarter.
Carolina would strike back on its next possession thanks to their running back Stephen Davis whose 39-yard run on 3rd-and-2 gave the Panthers a 1st-and-goal at the Saints’ six-yard-line.
Then after tight end Kris Mangum drew a pass interference penalty on Saints linebacker Courtney Watson to give Carolina on 3rd-and-goal, Davis punched it in for a one-yard touchdown to cut the Saints’ lead to three points, 17-14 as the third quarter came to a close.
The Saints took over at their own 21-yard-line on their next drive and quickly drove to the Panthers’ 35-yard-line, thanks to a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Carolina’s Marlon McCree after a helmet-to-helmet hit on Conwell, which broke the tight end’s jaw, and a 29-yard pass to Donte Stallworth.
The Saints stuck to the ground on the next three plays and gained nine yards setting up a 4th-and-inches at the 26-yard-line.
However the drive stalled and the Saints were forced to settle for a field goal, which Carney made from 48 yards out to push the New Orleans lead to 20-14 with under 12 minutes to go in the 4th quarter.
Steve Smith(89) caught eight passes for 138 yards and scored a touchdown in his first game back from a broken leg.
On their ensuing drive, the Panthers would take over at their own 11-yard-line but were at midfield after just two plays as Delhomme and Smith connected on back-to-back pass completions.
Then after the Saints’ Charles Grant drew a defensive holding penalty on 3rd-and-5 at the New Orleans 45-yard-line, Deshaun Foster ran for 19 yards to put Carolina at the 21-yard-line, which was followed by another defensive holding penalty on the Saints, which put the Panthers at the 11-yard-line with a 1st-and-10.
But the Panthers shot themselves in the foot as Smith was called for pass interference and an illegal formation call pushed Carolina back 15 yards, killing the drive as they would only gain six more yards and had to settle for a 39-yard field goal by John Kasay to cut the six-point deficit in half, making it 20-17 with 6:25 left in regulation.
The Saints began their next drive at their 14-yard-line but were able to get a 1st down as Brooks scrambled for 22 yards on 3rd down, which was followed by a 10-yard run by McAllister for another 1st down, putting New Orleans at the Panthers’ 44-yard-line with 3:21 left and a chance to run out the clock.
However, after McAllister gained only two yards on 1st down, Brooks threw two incomplete passes and the Saints were forced to punt the ball back to the Panthers, who took over at their nine-yard-line with 2:59 to go in regulation.
The drive began with another big pass play from Delhomme to Smith, this time for 25 yards, which was followed two plays later by a pass interference penalty on Jason Craft, putting the Panthers at the Saints’ 45-yard-line.
A 11-yard pass to fullback Nick Goings got the Panthers to the 34-yard-line as the two-minute warning hit, but the Panthers could gain only five more yards on the next three plays, forcing Kasay to come on and try a 46-yard field goal that would tie the game.
Kasay’s kick was true and the game was tied 20-20 with 1:04 left in regulation, though the Saints would still have a chance to win the game as they took over at their 22-yard-line with 59 seconds left and two timeouts in their pocket.
The drive began with Brooks hitting Joe Horn for 11 yards and a 1st down, then was followed by an illegal contact penalty on Panthers cornerback Chris Gamble for another five yards and automatic 1st down.
Then after an incomplete pass to Az-Zahir Hakim, Brooks found Horn again, this time for 25 yards that put the Saints at the Panthers’ 37-yard-line with 19 seconds left as New Orleans called timeout with 19 seconds to go.
Still needing a few more yards to feel comfortable for a potential game-winning field goal, Brooks found Stallworth for five yards, who stepped out of bounds with 14 seconds to go, which was followed by a three-yard run by McAllister up the middle as the Saints called their final timeout with seven seconds left.
That is when Haslett decided to call on Carney and attempt the game-winning field goal from 47 yards out.
With the pressure of the entire gulf coast on his foot, Carney drilled the 47-yarder, giving the Saints a 23-20 lead with three seconds left.
Carney and the Saints had to kick the ball off to the Panthers one more time but once Fred Thomas recovered one of the Panthers’ laterals, the game was over and the Saints had given their city, the state of Louisiana, and everyone that had been affected by Hurricane Katrina an emotional 23-20 victory.
The Panthers would recover from the opening day loss as they would go on to a 11-5 record to clinch a playoff berth, thanks to Smith who caught 103 passes for 1,503 yards and scored 12 touchdowns, as he would help lead the Panthers to wins over the New York Giants and the Chicago Bears, before falling to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game.
As for the Saints, their win over Carolina would be the highlight of a truly nightmare season.
They were the “home team” the following week, even though they were playing the New York Giants at Giants Stadium as they lost 27-10.
The Saints would split their remaining seven games between the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas and Tiger Stadium, home of the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, as New Orleans would win only two more games to finish with the league’s second worst record at 3-13, resulting in the firing of Haslett at head coach after six seasons.
Haslett would be replaced by Sean Payton and in the offseason the team signed Drew Brees to be their new quarterback as the Saints returned to New Orleans and put together one of the greatest turnarounds in NFL history as they made all the way to the NFC Championship Game that season and three years later, would win their first NFL title as they defeated the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.
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