The Saints were the better team in their 31-26 win over the Panthers on Sunday in New Orleans. But that doesn’t mean their game-winning defensive stand wasn’t aided by poor officiating.

The officiating crew, led by Tony Corrente, did not have a good showing on the final drive of the game and it could have been worse if the Saints sideline had not reminded assistant officials that a late intentional grounding call against the Panthers required a 10-second run-off, leaving Carolina with only 24 seconds to score.

But that near-error should have never happened. It appears Cam Newton was outside of the pocket before releasing the pass that was deemed intentional grounding. According to the NFL rulebook, the pocket extends from one offensive tackle to the other. Here’s a look at where the Panthers tackles lined up before the snap…

And here’s where Newton released the pass…

It’s close, but it looks like Newton cleared the pocket before releasing the pass. Decide for yourself…

Ron Rivera said he did not get an explanation from the officials…

Greg Olsen said assistant officials did not agree with the call…

The Saints caught another break from the refs before the drive even started when Mike Adams’ fourth-down interception wasn’t reviewed. It appeared Adams failed to complete the catch. If the play had been reviewed and overturned, Carolina’s drive would have started its potential game-winning drive from its own 47 instead of its own 31.

All turnovers are reviewed under two minutes, and the play was clearly close enough to warrant a second look but it never happened.

With all that said, the Panthers had plenty of opportunities to win the game and failed to cash in. They have nobody but themselves to blame for the loss.