Published: Monday, Nov. 09, 2009 / Updated: Friday, Mar. 05, 2010 07:07 AM

Panthers squander early lead, chance to build momentum with upset

NEW ORLEANS -- For the last seven years, it was the small things that worked for the Carolina Panthers when they came to New Orleans.

Sunday, they all broke wrong, and that left them with more than one big problem.

The Panthers dropped a 30-20 decision at the Louisiana Superdome, blowing a 17-6 halftime lead, and perhaps in the process, their season.

They're now 3-5 at the halfway mark, and whatever slim margin of error they had coming in is now gone.

“We kind of gave that one away,” Panthers left tackle Jordan Gross said quietly, summing up the day.

There's a chance that the Panthers will have to move on without linebacker Thomas Davis, who left the game in the fourth quarter with a right knee injury and didn't return. He was scheduled to have tests upon returning to Charlotte, but the mood around him said everything.

As Davis sat helplessly on the training table watching the Panthers' lead go down the drain, players, coaches and other staff all walked by, offering pats on the head, hugs and whispered words.

Davis didn't talk to reporters in the locker room, but it didn't take much to realize he was expecting the worst.

The heavily wrapped right knee was the same one which cost him a month of preseason with a sprained MCL, and a repeat of that seemed the best-case scenario.

“We're hoping that it's better than he expects it is,” linebacker Na'il Diggs said. “Right now, we're just trying to encourage him, to keep it positive around him. ... That would be big, to lose one of our ace cards. He came in with real high expectations this season, and he was playing well.

“Right now, all we can do is stay optimistic; maybe it's just a couple of weeks with an MCL or whatever.”

But the Panthers' problems might be season-ending, a cruel twist of fate after what looked like one of their best games of a star-crossed year.

They roared to a 17-6 halftime lead based on some power running and a careful passing game. But they watched that lead wither and die in the second half, as the Saints (8-0) proved why many believe they're the best team in the NFL.

“The more you win games like this, the more confidence you gain,” Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. “You just feel like you're going to come back and you're going to do it.”

So many times, it was the Panthers talking that way upon leaving this venerable building with a win. They had taken victories in ways strange and unusual, on last-second field goals and games that took overtime. But seven times in a row, they had come to Louisiana and escaped.

On Sunday, every omen seemed to turn, and every break that looked good went bad.

They pushed every button they could think of to cover for the fact they entered the week with no fullbacks and just two tight ends. They tried running behind the world's smallest fullback (5-foot-8 rookie running back Tyrell Sutton) and the biggest (308-pound backup guard Mackenzy Bernardeau). At times, it looked like it just might work, but both ended up betraying the Panthers.

The Saints eventually ignored or blew out Sutton and slowed the run game enough to win, but the Panthers hung close. A first-and-goal from the Saints' 1-yard line unraveled when quarterback Jake Delhomme bumped into Bernardeau, losing 6 yards on the play and ultimately settling for a field goal.

“It was a first-time mistake,” Bernardeau said, shaking his head.

But it was one indicative of the Panthers' day.

Deep balls downfield in the second half seemed there, but Dwayne Jarrett let one go through his hands, and Steve Smith lost his chance in the Superdome ceiling. “I didn't see it until it hit the ground,” Smith said of a fourth-quarter chance gone awry.

Delhomme finished 17 of 30 for 201 yards, but those numbers were misleading, as 69 of the yards came on a futile last drive. More telling was Delhomme's line at halftime, a clean 4 of 5 for 30 yards.

That's OK when you're running, as Williams had 115 of the Panthers' 130 yards at the break. But the Saints eventually stiffened, limiting Carolina to 52 yards on 17 second-half rushes.