Despite valiant comeback effort, Michigan Panthers fall short in 24-20 loss to New Orleans

The Michigan Panthers traveled to Birmingham, Alabama on Sunday to play *checks notes* the New Orleans Breakers? We know, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

The Panthers fell short in an epic 21-point comeback effort, losing 24-20 to New Orleans, their first loss of the year away from Ford Field (the Panthers had four straight games in Detroit and lost them all).

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Both offenses struggled to score early, with the first quarter ending 0-0 after a fumble, multiple punts and a missed field goal.

However, early in the second quarter, the Breakers opened the scoring with a punch-in touchdown from the 1-yard line by Wes Hills that was set up by an impressive play by wide receiver Jonathan Adams.

Scoring the first touchdown proved to be a jump start for the Breakers’ offense and their quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, as they scored touchdowns on their next two drives, systematically picking apart the Panthers’ defense with 11-play and 4-play drives.

Just when all looked lost, the Panthers got some breaks. With under two minutes to go in the first half, Panthers tight end Marcus Baugh caught a pass and miraculously stayed on his feet as two defenders crashed into him at the same time, eventually walking into the endzone and making it 21-7.

Seconds later, Panthers safety Warren Saba perfectly read the eyes of Bethel-Thompson and intercepted a pass over the middle of the field, completely flipping the momentum. The Panthers finished the drive with a field goal, making it 21-10.

Before the interception leading up to halftime, the Breakers’ offense looked unstoppable. But things change quickly. In the Breakers’ first drive of the second half, Bethel-Thompson threw another interception, a tipped pass that was thrown too high. On the first play after the interception, Panthers quarterback Josh Love took a shot at the endzone and delivered a beautiful pass to Trey Quinn, making it 21-17.

The Breakers responded after the back-to-back costly errors and put together a 14-play drive, but when it mattered most, the Panthers’ defense toughened up and forced a field goal, making it 24-17.

The Panthers responded with a field goal drive of their own, but when they rushed up to the line on fourth-and-1, the Breakers didn’t jump and they had to call their final timeout with 11:06 remaining, which ended up being key.

On the next possession, the Panthers got another short-yardage stop on defense and they got the ball back near the 50-yard line. But after picking up some chunk plays, the Breakers decided to start bringing the heat with some blitzes, forcing a sack, a fumble and eventually a punt.

The Breakers got the ball back with 4:01 to play and picked up one first down. The Panthers didn’t have any timeouts, so even though the Breakers had to punt, they were able to milk the clock and the Panthers got the ball back with 31 seconds left.

On the first play of the last-ditch drive, Love threw a check-down pass and AJ Richardson was tackled in bounds. A hail mary attempt was unsuccessful, and the Panthers fell 24-20, despite the valiant effort.

With the loss, the Panthers fell to 3-5 and are a game behind the Philadelphia Stars in the North Division. Next up, the Panthers will head back to Canton, Ohio to take on the Pittsburgh Maulers in the penultimate game of the season.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Panthers lose, 24-20, after big comeback against New Orleans