Mike Jackson called his shot: Inside the Panthers’ redemptive defensive stand vs. Saints

Mike Jackson had a feeling.

There the Carolina Panthers cornerback stood, in press coverage, his mouthguard in place, his arms hanging relaxed but attentive. A former teammate of his in Cedrick Wilson Jr. stood opposite from him. The Saints were facing a fourth-and-4, down one, on their own 46 — about 20 yards away from setting up a game-winning field goal.

They needed to make a play.

Jackson knew where they’d go to do it.

“I decided to go up and press him,” Jackson said postgame. “And Cedrick, I knew what release he was going to give me just because I was with him in Dallas, I was practice squad. So I knew he was going to give me shake-shake inside and go outside. And it was just like, ‘Stay on top, go get the ball.’ That’s it.”

He added: “I was in press. And I rarely ever press. And so I knew (Saints quarterback Derek) Carr had seen that. So I was expecting him to go at me.”

In many ways, this was Jackson calling his shot. It didn’t hold the same power, didn’t have the same risk, as Babe Ruth resting a bat on his shoulder and pointing to the stars. But in its own way, it was daring. Jackson knew he was stranded on his own island, betting that he’d prevail should a cavalry come to challenge him.

The cavalry eventually came in the form of a Carr pass along the sideline, one that was placed well enough for Wilson to grab it but also within reach of Jackson, whose active hands broke the ball free.

In other words, Jackson was right.

Everyone saw it.

“As they lined, we were in press,” Woods said. The veteran safety expected the Saints to “throw a go-ball, hoping to get a catch or a flag. He basically put it down on us, on the DBs, to go and press. And we held up.”

He added of Jackson specifically: “Great play. Biggest play yet.”

The play ultimately ended the Saints’ comeback chances and cemented the Panthers’ 23-22 win. Sunday marked the Panthers’ second win of the season and first home win in 322 days. It was the kind of win Carolina fans have waited two years for. There were explosive moments. Their No. 1 overall pick of a quarterback managed the game with aplomb. There was a fourth-quarter lead earned, a fourth-quarter lead lost, and a fourth-quarter lead found again — all in front of a lower bowl of fans that stood on their feet through all of that final period.

But no matter how much memory will be attached to the offense, it was the Panthers’ defense that solidified the win.

It was the defense — despite coming into Sunday giving up a league-worst 33.9 points per game and league-second-worst 387.5 yards per game — that came up big.

It was the defense — despite giving up 230 passing yards and 197 rushing yards to the Saints on Sunday, which are scores ahead of the Panthers’ metrics in the same categories — that came up strong.

It was the defense, in a redemptive effort, that called its shot.

Plays were littered all over the field. Take their efforts through the first half. The defense, despite Saints star Alvin Kamara giving up 9.8 yards a carry on their first drive and eclipsing 93 rushing yards by the first half, only allowed 13 points through two quarters. They bent but didn’t break. As head coach Dave Canales said of those early drives: “The guys ended up forcing some critical field goals, which ended up winning us the game.”

The real money, of course, was made in the final quarter. The Saints’ final three possessions went punt, then punt, then turnover on downs. On that third down prior to the Jackson pass breakup, outside linebackers Charles Harris and Jadeveon Clowney got involved on a sack.

“In that situation, two minutes left, that’s when great players show up,” Clowney told reporters. “Big- time situations. And I was just trying to do what I could do to help the team win.”

The rest of the defense got in on the fun. Lonnie Johnson, going against his old team, was the player who broke down the postgame locker room huddle. Jaycee Horn responded to a Cam Jordan tweet lamenting how the Saints could lose to the struggling Panthers — and the Panthers DB laughed and said, “Don’t we have the same record?”

Woods answered questions to his unnecessary roughness call in the first half — one that led to a hit and a scary scene with Chris Olave lying motionless for minutes on the turf before eventually getting movement in his extremities. Woods now has the most unnecessary roughness penalties called on him among any player dating back to 2017, per ESPN. Part of his response to that situation: “My ratio of my flags to fine is low,” he said. “I always get the flag but not always the fine. … I haven’t seen (a replay) so I can’t speak on it. I mean, every time I go to deliver one of those hits, it’s always me aiming low, for the chest area. … I’m always trying to be clean.”

But Woods, like everyone else, also answered to the defense’s strengths.

When Jackson was asked about his unit’s performance, he said unprompted that “Bryce played his ass off today.”

“He had our back,” Jackson said.

And the defense, when it mattered most, had his.