Beason: 'it's pretty disheartening'

NEW ORLEANS – Carolina Panthers middle linebacker Jon Beason was spare in his praise of the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

"You've got to give them credit," Beason said after the unbeaten Saints rallied to beat the Panthers 30-20 in the Super Dome. "They're a pretty good football team – I didn't say great.

"We showed we can play with them. We proved it for 3½ quarters. But you can't give them stuff and that's what we did late in the game."

Beason was referring to two long plays by the Saints offense in the third quarter that catapulted them back in the game. The Panthers' cause wasn't helped when weakside linebacker Thomas Davis hurt his right knee with 10 minutes, 40 seconds remaining.

Davis left the game and didn't return. Although the nature and severity of the injury wasn't known immediately after the game, Davis said in the locker room he thought he had hyper-extended his knee and that it hadn't happened by being hit. He wasn't on crutches nor was his knee in a brace afterward.

Davis missed most of the preseason with an injury to the same knee. He missed the Panthers' game against Buffalo on Oct. 25 with a pulled hamstring. Beason and Davis had helped set the game's tone in the first half, their speed a huge factor in tracking down Saints running back and receivers. Beason ended 11 tackles and a fumble recovery. Davis had six tackles, two for a loss, before he was hurt.

"Anytime you don't know what's wrong with a knee, it's definitely scary," said Beason. "Unfortunately, he's having a great season. Pro Bowl numbers. I can't think of any outside linebacker playing any better. You've just got to keep the faith. Hopefully everything works out and he'll be back next week."

Big plays by the Saints in the second half wiped out much of the good work that Beason, Davis and the rest of the Panthers defense had done for much of the game.

"It's pretty disheartening," Beason said. "That's on us. (We) missed tackles, had a blown assignment one time. It's something to build on, but you can't have it if you're going to win games. It's too tough in this league."

Trailing 17-6 at halftime, the Saints scored quickly in the third quarter, with a 63-yard pass from quarterback Drew Brees to Devery Henderson setting up a 10-yard touchdown run by Pierre Thomas.

Later in the quarter, Brees hit Robert Meachem on a 54-yard scoring pass down the right side, tying the game 20-20.

The Panthers came into the game with the NFL's top-ranked pass defense, but allowed Brees to throw for 330 yards. They limited New Orleans to 84 yards rushing.

"They've gotten to where they're running the ball better," said Beason. "It used to be that a lot of teams just sat on the pass. You can't be one dimensional in this league. We did a good job containing the run, but we blew some coverages."



(charlotteobserver.com)