It had the makings of one of the season's biggest upsets. The up-and-down Panthers marched out to a 17-3 lead against the undefeated Saints Sunday in the Superdome, where New Orleans was 7-1 in its last eight games. The lone home loss over that span came to the Panthers in Week 17 last season.

Carolina collapsed this time, though, and was outscored 30-6 in the final three quarters after building a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. The Panthers' pass defense gave up big plays, RB DeAngelo Williams fumbled on Carolina's 1-yard line with 2:17 left in the game and it was recovered by DT Anthony Hargrove, who took it into the endzone, and questionable coaching decisions helped seal the club's fate, as its record fell to 3-5.

The PFW spin

A game that could have, briefly, given head coach John Fox an added dose of job security ended up only increasing doubt about his ability to resurrect the Panthers' season. Fox had his team prepared to play and he clearly came to New Orleans with a sound game plan, but he went way too conservative with his offense after building a double-digit lead against a Saints team that scores points in a hurry and is no stranger to battling back after falling behind.

It's understandable that Fox would be cautious about allowing QB Jake Delhomme — who still leads the league in interceptions with 13 despite not throwing one in his past two games — to throw the ball, but he took caution to a ridiculous extent, as Delhomme only attempted 12 passes in the first three quarters. The running game was having success vs. the Saints, but eventually it slowed down as the Saints didn't have to worry about the pass and focused on stopping Williams and Jonathan Stewart.

Then, in a confusing twist, Fox threw ultra-conservatism to the wind with the Panthers in easy field-goal range while trailing by 10 with 22 seconds to play. Instead of taking what would have been a chip shot field goal for John Kasay, trimming the lead to seven and then attempting an onside kick, Fox decided to let Delhomme throw on fourth down from the Saints' 2-yard line, and the pass to Williams fell incomplete. The Saints took over on downs and Drew Brees kneeled to end the game.

Fox has been pretty consistent about his coaching philosophy throughout his almost eight years with the Panthers, but he appeared to be wavering from a conservative decision that actually might have helped the team in his final decision of the game. Players have to be wondering if Fox is putting them in the best position to win games after the latest loss.