“I just saw the ball on the ground, so I jumped on the ball,” Jordan said of his first life-time touchdown, much less NFL touchdown. “You just have to show up the same way every day, and respect your teammates that way. I do whatever I can for my team, and so I’m glad I could make the play.
“It’s a surreal moment. For my teammates and I, this was a great team win today. Everyone came together. Defense, all three phases. (Punter) Johnny Hekker flipping the field, the offense, we always talk about finishing, and we finished the job. Everyone buys into the culture that coach Wilks has provided and showed us.”
It took all of them, especially the ones no one expected to be heroes.
To even be in a position to change things, it took the Saints missing a 55-yard field goal with 1:20 left to play. Cornerback CJ Henderson — who took a lot of the blame for last week’s loss at Tampa, which cost the Panthers a chance at the playoffs after a 1-5 start — got a hand on that kick, the latest in a long line of guys who weren’t supposed to be celebrating at this moment.
Oh yeah, that includes quarterback Sam Darnold.
He hadn’t done much through the air all day — at least not much positive. He threw two interceptions and had a grand total of 22 yards passing heading into that final drive.
But if you were going to make one play all day, what a time to make it.
His 21-yard pass to Terrace Marshall Jr. was perfectly timed and put the Panthers in position for Eddy Piñeiro‘s game-winning field goal. If you were only going to make one play, that was the one to make.
“I knew things would eventually come to us,” Marshall said, despite the fact there was little reason to believe that would be the case. “Our identity, we always persevere. We always come through, it was just a matter of time, and it showed up right on time.
“Due to the experience, the things we went through this season, the way we’ve come up before. As a team, collectively, I just knew we’d pull through.”
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