The Carolina Panthers didn’t seriously challenge the New Orleans Saints in the final week of the NFL regular season, getting brushed aside in an uneven 42-10 loss at home. While Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan is happy with that victory, he’s hardly ready to rest on his laurels.
“This is a statement game,” Jordan said during his postgame media availability. “I feel like we’re just about to peak. I feel like we still have room to improve in some of our game. The fact that they were able to put three points on the board that first half, and another seven points in the second half. There’s room for improvement.”
Jordan finished the season with 15.5 sacks, leading the team to its highest sack total (51) of the Sean Payton era. Even with injuries along the defensive front (former first-round picks Marcus Davenport and Sheldon Rankins both ended the year on injured reserve), New Orleans has invested in great depth up front, surrounding Jordan with a big free agent addition in Malcom Brown and home-grown talents like David Onyemata, Trey Hendrickson, Shy Tuttle, Taylor Stallworth, and Carl Granderson.
But like he said, Jordan’s defense still has time to improve. Their second-stringers allowed the rudderless Panthers to move the ball well in the second half, and a last-second Janoris Jenkins interception saved them from allowing another touchdown score. Sloppy end-of-half execution has dogged the Saints throughout the year (going as far back as Week 1 versus Deshaun Watson’s Houston Texans and Week 3 against Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks), and Jordan won’t be quick to forget it. Great as the Saints may be playing right now, they can’t afford to get complacent.
