The Carolina Panthers piled up a whopping 11 penalties in Sunday’s 20-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints. But no flag, arguably, was more damaging than the one drawn by an emerging rookie defender.
Safety Lathan Ransom, one game removed from the best performance of his young pro career, committed quite a mental lapse near the end of the crushing outing. With 12 seconds remaining in what was a tied game, Ransom dove in an attempt to stop a running and sliding Tyler Shough—New Orleans’ quarterback.
And we all know what happens when you do that to a quarterback.
Ransom was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty on Shough, gifting the Saints an extra 15 yards. That foul would help set up a go-ahead 47-yard field goal from kicker Charlie Smyth, sending Carolina to a heartbreaking defeat.
Shough got smoked😭😭😭😭 that flop on the ground was hilarious tho pic.twitter.com/rCCHN0ZkG7
— 🜲 🜲 🜲 (@fsh733) December 15, 2025
The 2025 fourth-round pick talked about the play following the loss . . .
Lathan Ransom on his penalty that preceded the Saints’ game-winning field goal. pic.twitter.com/CqJvjLEoAv
— Joe Person (@josephperson) December 15, 2025
He was also asked what he thinks he could’ve done differently . . .
#Panthers rookie S Lathan Ransom on what he could’ve done differently on the personal foul penalty that put the Saints in FG range.
“Not hit him.” pic.twitter.com/DwumHEIgTl
— Sheena Quick (@Sheena_Marie3) December 15, 2025
A win would’ve left the Panthers just one more victory away from their first NFC South title since 2015.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers S Lathan Ransom explains his costly penalty in loss to Saints
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