"The cutback was there.

That's what people kept telling Carolina running back DeAngelo Williams on the sideline as the game against the New Orleans Saints unfolded, and he could see it was true. And so on two of the most critical plays of the Panthers' 16-14 loss to New Orleans, Williams tried to cut back against the grain and break off a big play.

"They were overflowing," Williams said of the Saints, speaking of the tendency of New Orleans defenders to try to guess the likely destination of all Panther running plays and get there first.

So in the third quarter, with Carolina down 10-7, Williams gambled and cut back left. "They kind of all flowed to one side - the right side," Williams said. "The rest was just running."

Williams veered left, burst through a seam and scored his first rushing touchdown of the season - a 39-yard lightning strike that pushed the Panthers to a 14-10 lead.

Late in the fourth quarter, Williams tried it again - with a very different result.

On second-and-8 from the New Orleans 36 with 1:35 left in the game and Carolina trailing 16-14, Williams got a handoff and went right again.

Panther head coach John Fox knew that kicker John Kasay figured he could make a field goal indoors at the Superdome if the Panthers advanced the ball at least to the 35. That would be a 52-yard attempt. So the Panthers needed at least one more yard.

Williams thought he could get far more. He again cut back left on his own, living dangerously several yards back from the line of scrimmage. "It was very similar to what I did on the touchdown," Williams said.

This time, however, Williams was dragged down by safety Usama Young for a four-yard loss. If he had beaten Young, would Williams have scored? It certainly looked like a possibility."