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The New Orleans Saints barely held on against the Carolina Panthers after a series of mistakes and penalties, but great performances from several key players helped get them win the day. At the same, a few weak links in the chain nearly cost the Saints a contest they were in control of for most of the game. Here’s our list of Studs and Duds for Week 12.

Studs

Let’s start with the game-winner himself. Wil Lutz came through in a big spot for the Saints on his win-sealing 33-yard field goal. It was just the second time New Orleans asked Lutz to go out and kick a field goal, and he was good on both tries (the first came from 41 yards out). Lutz has made a habit of drilling these last-second field goal tries, and it’s great to see Saints coach Sean Payton paired with a kicker he can trust in the game’s biggest moments.

A word has to be said for defensive end Marcus Davenport, who put a couple of quiet weeks behind him with the most important two-play sequence of the year. To start, Davenport ran a perfect arc around the Panthers left tackle to drop quarterback Kyle Allen for a loss of six yards — from New Orleans’ own 4-yard line, on third down. That set up Carolina kicker Joey Slye for a high-angled 28-yard field goal, but Davenport again impacted the play. The 6-foot-6 pass rusher jumped clean over the Panthers line to spook Slye into mistiming his kick, sending it spiraling away from the goal posts and setting up the Saints’ final, game-winning possession. “Two Firsts” Davenport should have received a game ball for this one.

It kind of feels like cheating to name Drew Brees among the best players of the game, but he put in a great day in the office. Brees completed 30 of his 39 attempts to gain 311 yards, and that’s with several unforgivable drops from his receivers. One of those was an admittedly greedy pass to Tre’Quan Smith over the middle that Panthers safety Tre Boston intercepted, but Smith has the build and skills set that the Saints expect he’d use to win in that situation. Still, at the end of the day, Brees closed the gap between his career touchdown passes total (531) and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (532) as each quarterback chases retired great Peyton Manning (539).

How good does it feel to have a reliable linebacker in Demario Davis? Even on a day when the Saints defense plays down to its level of competition, Davis continues to lead by example (putting up a team-best 11 tackles, 9 of them solo). He’s also continued to perform as one of the unit’s best blitzers, sacking Allen twice (losing one of them to a personal foul on Cameron Jordan) and hitting him on another down, while also deflecting a pass at the line of scrimmage.

Duds

What is wrong with Ted Ginn Jr.? The veteran wide receiver has twice let down Brees when targeted deep down the field, despite having had one of his years as a pro when paired with Brees back in 2017. He certainly hasn’t lost a step, remaining as fleet-footed as ever. But Ginn has been hit in the hands twice in two weeks by Brees on plays that should have resulted in touchdowns, and dropped the ball both times. That isn’t good enough when the Saints passing game is struggling to locate someone who can take pressure off of Michael Thomas.

Credit where it’s due: P.J. Williams has done his best in a big spot, filling in for Marshon Lattimorme out on the perimeter. But he’s simply not up to the task of playing there on a more permanent basis, as seen when Panthers wide receiver D.J. Moore roasted him repeatedly in Sunday’s game. Williams was a sieve in coverage who the Saints learned painfully could not be trusted to hold down his side of the field in one-on-one coverage. The silver lining is that Lattimore should return soon, putting Williams back into a position of strength in defending the slot.

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