Panthers-Saints Capsule

CAROLINA (11-5) at NEW ORLEANS (11-5)

Sunday, 4:40 p.m. ET, Fox

OPENING LINE – Saints by 5+

RECORD VS. SPREAD – Carolina 9-7, New Orleans 8-8

SERIES RECORD – Panthers lead 24-22

LAST MEETING – Saints beat Panthers 31-21, Dec. 3, 2017

LAST WEEK – Panthers lost to Falcons 22-10; Saints lost to Buccaneers 31-24

AP PRO32 RANKING – Panthers No. 7, Saints No. 6

PANTHERS OFFENSE – OVERALL (19), RUSH (4), PASS (28)

PANTHERS DEFENSE – OVERALL (7), RUSH (3), PASS (18)

SAINTS OFFENSE – OVERALL (2), RUSH (5), PASS (5)

SAINTS DEFENSE – OVERALL (17), RUSH (16), PASS (15)

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES – NFC South rivals meeting in playoffs for first time. … Teams had 12 games against common opponents, with Carolina going 10-2 and Saints 8-4. … Panthers in playoffs for fourth time in five seasons. Lost in Super Bowl to Broncos two seasons ago. Missed playoffs last season. … Ron Rivera is first Panthers coach with four playoff appearances. … Carolina ranked third in NFL in sacks with 50 and was only team in NFC with two players getting 10-plus sacks each. DEs Mario Addison and Julius Peppers each had 11 sacks during regular season. … Panthers TE Greg Olsen will play vs. Saints for first time this season after missing previous meetings with foot injury. … Panthers QB Cam Newton has 10 TDs (eight passing, two rushing) in six career playoff games. … Newton led NFL QBs with career-high 754 yards rushing, tied for league lead among QBs with six TDs rushing. He has three seasons with 700-plus rush yards, tied with Michael Vick for most by QB in NFL history. … RB Christian McCaffrey ranked second among NFL rookies with 80 receptions, fourth most all-time by rookie RB. Ranked fourth among NFL rookies with 1,086 scrimmage yards. Set franchise rookie records in scrimmage yards and catches with 80. … WR Devin Funchess led team with career-high 840 yards receiving, eight TD catches. … LB Luke Kuechly was only Panther voted to Pro Bowl. Kuechly led team with 125 tackles, his sixth season with 100-plus, tied with LB Thomas Davis for most in team history. … Saints are NFC South champions for first time since 2011, making first playoff appearance since 2013 season. … Saints held tiebreaker over Panthers by winning both regular-season meetings. … Saints in playoffs for sixth time since Sean Payton became coach in 2006. … Saints were 7-1 at home this season, have won five straight home playoff games. … QB Drew Brees completed 72 percent of passes, setting single-season NFL record. He ranked fourth in NFL with 4,334 yards passing, his NFL-record 12th straight season with 4,000-plus yards. … RB Mark Ingram set career highs in yards rushing with 1,124 and scrimmage yards with 1,540. … RB Alvin Kamara ranked second in NFL with 14 total TDs. Kamara was second among NFL rookies with 1,554 scrimmage yards. One of only two rookies in NFL history with five-plus TDs rushing, five-plus TDs receiving and at least one kick return TD. Other was Gale Sayers in 1965. … WR Michael Thomas ranked third in NFL with 104 catches. He has 196 career receptions, most by player in first two seasons in NFL history. … WR Ted Ginn spent three of previous four seasons with Carolina. … DE Cameron Jordan tied for fourth in NFL with career-high 13 sacks. Jordan was only NFL DL with 10-plus passes defensed, including INT for TD. … CB Marshon Lattimore leads Saints and all NFL rookies with five INTs.

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