CHARLOTTE — The first year Mike Jackson was in the league, he spent the entire season on the Dallas Cowboys practice squad. As a P-squad corner, he was tasked with giving Dallas receivers good looks so they could fine-tune their best moves, which meant he faced Cedrick Wilson Jr. day after day.

And day after day, Wilson worked on a specific move against press coverage.

Fast forward, five years later.

The Carolina Panthers are facing the New Orleans Saints in Week 9, and both teams are desperate for a win. It was fourth-and-4, with a minute to play, and the Saints were trailing by one point, so they had to have a conversion for any shot at a game-winning field goal.

Jackson drew the Wilson matchup and decided to do something he usually doesn't; he played press. Jackson hoped it would bait Saints quarterback Derek Carr into choosing that matchup.

Carr did, and Jackson was ready.

"Cedrick, I knew what release he was going to give me," Jackson admitted after the 23-22 win. "I knew he was going to give me shake-shake, inside–go outside. So, it was like just stay on top, play the ball."

The decision wasn't based on anything Wilson had done during the game or even on tape this season.

"Purely from Dallas," Jackson said. He trusted his gut, though, knowing "we changed teams, but at the same time, you're still going to be you."

Jadeveon Clowney, who had helped force a fourth-down after combining with Charles Harris for a sack on third-down, whipped his hand around during the pass on fourth down, admitting he was just thinking, "I hope Mike get his head around." Jackson did in fact turn his head just long enough to negate any possible pass-interference call.

The pass was a rainbow that would have put the Saints well within game-winning field goal range. As the ball sailed in front of the Carolina sideline, coach Dave Canales could feel the energy building. When Jackson broke up the pass, it exploded.

"Those are the things that we've talked about, playing our leverage," Canales said after the win. "Playing our assignments and then just making those plays when they come to you. So, a huge play for Mike. I'm so proud of him and, and also just the guys.

"The moment was special, in the moment to see the guys finish all the way through to the last play."

Jaycee Horn had a feeling in the fourth quarter it would come down to the last play. After the Saints took a five-point lead to start the final 15 minutes, the corner went up and down the sideline, telling the rest of the defense, "Get your mind right now, we're going to have to go win the game."

That Saints scoring possession as the clock ticked to the fourth quarter capped an 11-play drive that took more than five minutes off the clock. It followed a Saints 12-play drive, also lasting 5:40, that ended with a field goal to pull New Orleans within one. The two drives bookended a Panthers possession in which the offense went three-and-out.

That would have been a breaking point most weeks.

Instead, Clowney said the message was never to let the dam break.

"We just stayed together, (said), 'bend but don't break.' We got to develop them habits of bend but don't break," the veteran pass-rusher shared. "They might get down here, but we got to hold them to three because that's big, you can hold people to three points. And today, we did a good job of keeping them out of the end zone and holding them to three, and I think that made a difference."

The Saints went two of four in the red zone, settling for field goals twice in the first quarter. Following the touchdown in the fourth quarter, the second of the double-digit play drives, defensive lineman Shy Tuttle batted down Carr's 2-point pass attempt. The conversion failed, keeping two points off the board for the Saints in what finished as a one-point game.

At that point, Horn said the defense listened to Canales' message to trust the offense.

"We had a lot of trust in the offense to go down and put points on the board. They didn't do it the first drive; they got the ball back, but we knew the second one was going to get points, and I just kept telling the guys it's going to be on us."

Horn was right. It came down to the defense, a unit oft-maligned this season. But when the Panthers needed a play most, they delivered.

"We could have easily went in the tank," Jackson admitted. "But we're a good football team. We played like it today."