GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NFL: NEW ORLEANS (4-6) at CAROLINA (4-6)

NFL: NEW ORLEANS at CAROLINA

<div class="pre">NFL
NEW ORLEANS 31
CAROLINA 6 6:17 LEFT, 4TH QTR

CAR BALL ON CAR 11 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: NEW ORLEANS at CAROLINA

<div class="pre">NFL
NEW ORLEANS 31
CAROLINA 6 3:08 LEFT, 4TH QTR

NOR BALL ON NOR 38 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: NEW ORLEANS at CAROLINA

<div class="pre">NFL TWO MINUTE WARNING, 2ND HALF

NEW ORLEANS 31
CAROLINA 6

NOR BALL AT MIDFIELD
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: NEW ORLEANS at CAROLINA

<div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
NEW ORLEANS 0 10 21 0 31
CAROLINA 3 3 0 0 6 FINAL

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER: CAR - FG, JOHN KASAY 45 YD, 10:36. Drive: 5
plays, 53 yards in 1:31. Key plays:
41-yard pass interference penalty
on Saint's David to New Orleans 33.
CAROLINA 3-0
2ND QUARTER: NOR - TD, LANCE MOORE 1 YD PASS FROM DREW
BREES (OLINDO MARE KICK), 7:27.
Drive: 13 plays, 67 yards in 7:10.
Key plays: Brees 17-yard pass to
Miller to Carolina 40; Brees
12-yard pass to Colston on
3rd-and-4 to Carolina 22; Brees
11-yard pass to Bush to Carolina
12. NEW ORLEANS 7-3
NOR - FG, OLINDO MARE 46 YD, 11:58. Drive: 6
plays, 21 yards in 2:37. Key plays:
Bullocks interception at Carolina
49. NEW ORLEANS 10-3
CAR - FG, JOHN KASAY 29 YD, 14:35. Drive: 11
plays, 55 yards in 2:37. Key plays:
Carr 6-yard pass to Smith on
3rd-and-2 to Carolina 48; Carr
14-yard pass to Smith to New
Orleans 38; Carr 24-yard pass to
Carter to New Orleans 7. NEW
ORLEANS 10-6
3RD QUARTER: NOR - TD, BILLY MILLER 1 YD PASS FROM DREW
BREES (OLINDO MARE KICK), 4:48.
Drive: 9 plays, 73 yards in 4:48.
Key plays: Brees 6-yard pass to
Miller on 3rd-and-1 to New Orleans
42; Brees 33-yard pass to Henderson
on 3rd-and-8 to Carolina 23; Brees
19-yard pass to Johnson to Carolina
4. NEW ORLEANS 17-6
NOR - TD, DREW BREES 8 YD RUN (OLINDO MARE
KICK), 8:46. Drive: 4 plays, 58
yards in 1:36. Key plays: Brees
45-yard pass to Colston to Carolina
13; Brees 10-yard pass to Moore to
Carolina 8. NEW ORLEANS 24-6
NOR - TD, MARQUES COLSTON 4 YD PASS FROM DREW
BREES (OLINDO MARE KICK), 14:13.
Drive: 10 plays, 42 yards in 5:07.
Key plays: W Smith recovery of
Foster fumble at Carolina 42; Brees
11-yard pass to Colston to Carolina
30; Brees 5-yard pass to Moore on
3rd-and-3 to Carolina 18; Brees
8-yard pass to Miller on 3rd-and-6
to Carolina 6. NEW ORLEANS 31-6
4TH QUARTER: NONE

ATT: 53,493</div>

 

NFL: NEW ORLEANS at CAROLINA

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NFL
NEW ORLEANS 31
CAROLINA 6 FINAL</div>

 

NFL: NEW ORLEANS at CAROLINA

<div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
NEW ORLEANS 0 10 21 0 31
CAROLINA 3 3 0 0 6 FINAL

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER:

10:36 CAR - FG, JOHN KASAY 45 YD.
Drive: 5 plays, 53 yards in 1:31.
Key plays: 41-yard pass interference penalty on Saint's David to New
Orleans 33. CAROLINA 3-0.

2ND QUARTER:

7:27 NOR - TD, LANCE MOORE 1 YD PASS FROM DREW BREES (OLINDO MARE KICK).
Drive: 13 plays, 67 yards in 7:10.
Key plays: Brees 17-yard pass to Miller to Carolina 40; Brees
12-yard pass to Colston on 3rd-and-4 to Carolina 22; Brees 11-yard pass to
Bush to Carolina 12. NEW ORLEANS 7-3.
11:58 NOR - FG, OLINDO MARE 46 YD.
Drive: 6 plays, 21 yards in 2:37.
Key plays: Bullocks interception at Carolina 49. NEW ORLEANS 10-3.
14:35 CAR - FG, JOHN KASAY 29 YD.
Drive: 11 plays, 55 yards in 2:37.
Key plays: Carr 6-yard pass to Smith on 3rd-and-2 to Carolina 48;
Carr 14-yard pass to Smith to New Orleans 38; Carr 24-yard pass to Carter
to New Orleans 7. NEW ORLEANS 10-6.

3RD QUARTER:

4:48 NOR - TD, BILLY MILLER 1 YD PASS FROM DREW BREES (OLINDO MARE KICK).
Drive: 9 plays, 73 yards in 4:48.
Key plays: Brees 6-yard pass to Miller on 3rd-and-1 to New Orleans
42; Brees 33-yard pass to Henderson on 3rd-and-8 to Carolina 23; Brees
19-yard pass to Johnson to Carolina 4. NEW ORLEANS 17-6.
8:46 NOR - TD, DREW BREES 8 YD RUN (OLINDO MARE KICK).
Drive: 4 plays, 58 yards in 1:36.
Key plays: Brees 45-yard pass to Colston to Carolina 13; Brees
10-yard pass to Moore to Carolina 8. NEW ORLEANS 24-6.
14:13 NOR - TD, MARQUES COLSTON 4 YD PASS FROM DREW BREES (OLINDO MARE KICK).
Drive: 10 plays, 42 yards in 5:07.
Key plays: W Smith recovery of Foster fumble at Carolina 42; Brees
11-yard pass to Colston to Carolina 30; Brees 5-yard pass to Moore on
3rd-and-3 to Carolina 18; Brees 8-yard pass to Miller on 3rd-and-6 to
Carolina 6. NEW ORLEANS 31-6.

4TH QUARTER:

NONE

NEW ORLEANS - CAROLINA Final Statistics

TEAM STATISTICS NEW ORLEANS CAROLINA

FIRST DOWNS 22 11
Rushing 5 1
Passing 17 9
Penalty 0 1
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 11-18-61% 3-13-23%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 0-2-0%
TOTAL NET YARDS 373 195
Total offensive plays 75 55
Average gain per play 5.0 3.5
NET YARDS RUSHING 113 43
Rushing attempts 39 18
Average gain per rush 2.9 2.4
Tackles for loss-yards 4-10 0-0
NET YARDS PASSING 260 152
Times sacked: Number-Yards 0-0 1-9
Gross passing yards 260 161
PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 36-24-1 36-18-3
Avg gain per pass play 7.2 4.1
KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 6-0-0 3-0-0
PUNTS: Number and Average 5-42.6 4-43.3
Had blocked 0 0
Net punting average 40.2 40.3
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 8 12
Number-Yards: Punt Returns 2-12 2-12
Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 2-43 6-101
Number-Yards: Interception Returns 3--4 1-0
PENALTIES: Number-Yards 5-76 5-35
FUMBLES: Number-Lost 0-0 2-1
TOUCHDOWNS 4 0
Rushing 1 0
Passing 3 0
Interceptions 0 0
Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0
EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 4-4 0-0
Kicking: Made-Attempts 4-4 0-0
Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 1-2 2-2
FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 0-0
RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 4-4-100% 0-1-0%
GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 3-3-100% 0-1-0%
SAFETIES 0 0
TIME OF POSSESSION 39:23 20:37


INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

NEW ORLEANS CAROLINA

RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
A STECKER 13 42 3.2 9 0 S SMITH 1 22 22.0 22 0
P THOMAS 12 32 2.7 9 0 D WILLIAMS 4 19 4.8 6 0
R BUSH 9 32 3.6 7 0 D CARR 2 5 2.5 3 0
D BREES 1 8 8.0 8 1 B HOOVER 2 2 1.0 2 0
M KARNEY 1 2 2.0 2 0 D FOSTER 9 -5 -0.6 6 0
J MARTIN 3 -3 -1.0 0 0

PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
D BREES 24-36-260 1 3 45 D CARR 10-22- 95 2 0 24
M MOORE 8-14- 66 1 0 14

Sacked-Yards Lost: None Sacked-Yards Lost: D CARR 1-9.

RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
M COLSTON 7 93 13.3 45 1 S SMITH 6 47 7.8 14 0
B MILLER 4 32 8.0 17 1 J KING 5 36 7.2 12 0
R BUSH 3 30 10.0 15 0 D CARTER 3 41 13.7 24 0
L MOORE 3 16 5.3 10 1 K COLBERT 2 21 10.5 14 0
D PATTEN 2 17 8.5 14 0 D FOSTER 2 16 8.0 9 0
A STECKER 2 8 4.0 4 0
D HENDERSO 1 33 33.0 33 0
E JOHNSON 1 19 19.0 19 0
T COPPER 1 12 12.0 12 0

INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
J BULLOCKS 1 0 0.0 0 0 J PEPPERS 1 0 0.0 0 0
J CRAFT 1 0 0.0 0 0
R HARPER 1 -4 -4.0 0 0

PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
S WEATHERF 5 213 42.6 1 2 51 J BAKER 4 173 43.3 0 1 53

T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20

PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
L MOORE 2 12 6.0 7 0 R ROBINSON 2 12 6.0 14 0

KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
P THOMAS 2 43 21.5 24 0 D WILLIAMS 4 69 17.3 19 0
K MOOREHEAD 2 32 16.0 17 0

KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA
---------------------------------- ----------------------------------
O MARE 4/4 1/2 J KASAY 0/0 2/2
Dist.: 46 (57) Dist.: 45 29

O-D O-D
FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
R HARPER 0 0 1 0-0 D FOSTER 2 1 0 0-0
W SMITH 0 0 0 0-1 D CARR 0 0 0 1-0

DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
S FUJITA 6 6 0 0-0 R MARSHALL 13 10 3 0-0
J BULLOCKS 5 5 0 0-0 J BEASON 10 7 3 0-0
R HARPER 5 5 0 0-0 T DAVIS 6 5 1 0-0
M MCKENZIE 4 3 1 0-0 C HARRIS 6 4 2 0-0
S SHANLE 4 2 2 0-0 D COOPER 6 2 4 0-0
H THOMAS 3 2 1 0-0 K JENKINS 5 5 0 0-0
A LAKE 2 2 0 1-9 P DENDY 5 4 1 0-0
K KAESVIHARN 2 2 0 0-0 K LUCAS 3 3 0 0-0
K CLANCY 2 2 0 0-0 N DIGGS 3 3 0 0-0
R WYNN 1 1 0 0-0 M KEMOEATU 3 2 1 0-0
J DAVID 1 1 0 0-0 D LEWIS 3 0 3 0-0
J CRAFT 1 1 0 0-0 M RUCKER 2 1 1 0-0
W SMITH 1 1 0 0-0 K MOOREHEAD 2 1 1 0-0
M SIMONEAU 1 1 0 0-0 S MCCLOVER 1 1 0 0-0
C GRANT 1 0 1 0-0

Att: 53,493</div>

 

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Drew Brees and the NewOrleans Saints have been inconsistent this season. One thingthat has remained constant is the Carolina Panthers' inabilityto win at home.


Brees threw three touchdown passes and ran for another to helpthe Saints snap a two-game skid with a 31-6 victory over thePanthers on Sunday.


Brees completed 24-of-36 passes for 260 yards with aninterception for New Orleans (5-6), which opened the season 0-4,won four straight and then dropped two in a row prior to thisone.


Meanwhile, John Kasay kicked a pair of field goals for Carolina(4-7), which turned the ball over four times and has lost sevenstraight home games dating to last season.


David Carr got the start in place of the 44-year-old VinnyTestaverde, who sat out with a stiff back, and completed just10-of-22 passes for 95 yards and two interceptions.

Steve Smith played despite a shin injury, but was renderedirrelevant due to poor quarterback play. He caught just sixpasses for 47 yards.


New Orleans led, 10-6, at halftime thanks to a 1-yard pass fromBrees to Lance Moore and a 46-yard field goal from Olindo Mare.

The Saints then opened the second half by driving 73 yards innine plays and took a 17-6 lead as Brees hit tight end BillyMiller for a 1-yard score with 10:12 left in the third.

After a Carolina punt, Brees hit Marques Colston for 45 yards tothe 42 and capped the scoring drive with an 8-yard run to putthe Saints up, 24-6, with 6:14 left in the third.


The lead grew to 31-6 as Brees connected with Colston for a4-yard score with 47 second remaining in the third period.

Carr was replaced late in the fourth quarter by backup MattMoore, who completed 8-of-14 for 66 yards and an interception.

 

NFL: NEW ORLEANS at CAROLINA

<div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
NEW ORLEANS 0 10 21 0 31
CAROLINA 3 3 0 0 6 FINAL

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER:

10:36 CAR - FG, JOHN KASAY 45 YD.
Drive: 5 plays, 53 yards in 1:36.
Key plays: 41-yard pass interference penalty on Saint's David to New
Orleans 33. CAROLINA 3-0.

2ND QUARTER:

7:27 NOR - TD, LANCE MOORE 1 YD PASS FROM DREW BREES (OLINDO MARE KICK).
Drive: 13 plays, 67 yards in 7:10.
Key plays: Brees 17-yard pass to Miller to Carolina 40; Brees
12-yard pass to Colston on 3rd-and-4 to Carolina 22; Brees 11-yard pass to
Bush to Carolina 12. NEW ORLEANS 7-3.
11:58 NOR - FG, OLINDO MARE 46 YD.
Drive: 6 plays, 21 yards in 2:37.
Key plays: Bullocks interception at Carolina 49. NEW ORLEANS 10-3.
14:35 CAR - FG, JOHN KASAY 29 YD.
Drive: 11 plays, 55 yards in 2:37.
Key plays: Carr 6-yard pass to Smith on 3rd-and-2 to Carolina 48;
Carr 14-yard pass to Smith to New Orleans 38; Carr 24-yard pass to Carter
to New Orleans 7. NEW ORLEANS 10-6.

3RD QUARTER:

4:48 NOR - TD, BILLY MILLER 1 YD PASS FROM DREW BREES (OLINDO MARE KICK).
Drive: 9 plays, 73 yards in 4:48.
Key plays: Brees 6-yard pass to Miller on 3rd-and-1 to New Orleans
42; Brees 33-yard pass to Henderson on 3rd-and-8 to Carolina 23; Brees
19-yard pass to Johnson to Carolina 4. NEW ORLEANS 17-6.
8:46 NOR - TD, DREW BREES 8 YD RUN (OLINDO MARE KICK).
Drive: 4 plays, 58 yards in 1:36.
Key plays: Brees 45-yard pass to Colston to Carolina 13; Brees
10-yard pass to Moore to Carolina 8. NEW ORLEANS 24-6.
14:13 NOR - TD, MARQUES COLSTON 4 YD PASS FROM DREW BREES (OLINDO MARE KICK).
Drive: 10 plays, 42 yards in 5:07.
Key plays: W Smith recovery of Foster fumble at Carolina 42; Brees
11-yard pass to Colston to Carolina 30; Brees 5-yard pass to Moore on
3rd-and-3 to Carolina 18; Brees 8-yard pass to Miller on 3rd-and-6 to
Carolina 6. NEW ORLEANS 31-6.

4TH QUARTER:

NONE

NEW ORLEANS - CAROLINA Final Statistics

TEAM STATISTICS NEW ORLEANS CAROLINA

FIRST DOWNS 22 11
Rushing 5 1
Passing 17 9
Penalty 0 1
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 11-18-61% 3-13-23%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 0-2-0%
TOTAL NET YARDS 373 195
Total offensive plays 75 55
Average gain per play 5.0 3.5
NET YARDS RUSHING 113 43
Rushing attempts 39 18
Average gain per rush 2.9 2.4
Tackles for loss-yards 4-10 0-0
NET YARDS PASSING 260 152
Times sacked: Number-Yards 0-0 1-9
Gross passing yards 260 161
PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 36-24-1 36-18-3
Avg gain per pass play 7.2 4.1
KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 6-0-0 3-0-0
PUNTS: Number and Average 5-42.6 4-43.3
Had blocked 0 0
Net punting average 40.2 40.3
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 8 12
Number-Yards: Punt Returns 2-12 2-12
Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 2-43 6-101
Number-Yards: Interception Returns 3--4 1-0
PENALTIES: Number-Yards 5-76 5-35
FUMBLES: Number-Lost 0-0 2-1
TOUCHDOWNS 4 0
Rushing 1 0
Passing 3 0
Interceptions 0 0
Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0
EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 4-4 0-0
Kicking: Made-Attempts 4-4 0-0
Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 1-2 2-2
FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 0-0
RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 4-4-100% 0-1-0%
GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 3-3-100% 0-1-0%
SAFETIES 0 0
TIME OF POSSESSION 39:23 20:37


INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

NEW ORLEANS CAROLINA

RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
A STECKER 13 42 3.2 9 0 S SMITH 1 22 22.0 22 0
P THOMAS 12 32 2.7 9 0 D WILLIAMS 4 19 4.8 6 0
R BUSH 9 32 3.6 7 0 D CARR 2 5 2.5 3 0
D BREES 1 8 8.0 8 1 B HOOVER 2 2 1.0 2 0
M KARNEY 1 2 2.0 2 0 D FOSTER 9 -5 -0.6 6 0
J MARTIN 3 -3 -1.0 0 0

PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
D BREES 24-36-260 1 3 45 D CARR 10-22- 95 2 0 24
M MOORE 8-14- 66 1 0 14

Sacked-Yards Lost: None Sacked-Yards Lost: D CARR 1-9.

RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
M COLSTON 7 93 13.3 45 1 S SMITH 6 47 7.8 14 0
B MILLER 4 32 8.0 17 1 J KING 5 36 7.2 12 0
R BUSH 3 30 10.0 15 0 D CARTER 3 41 13.7 24 0
L MOORE 3 16 5.3 10 1 K COLBERT 2 21 10.5 14 0
D PATTEN 2 17 8.5 14 0 D FOSTER 2 16 8.0 9 0
A STECKER 2 8 4.0 4 0
D HENDERSO 1 33 33.0 33 0
E JOHNSON 1 19 19.0 19 0
T COPPER 1 12 12.0 12 0

INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
J BULLOCKS 1 0 0.0 0 0 J PEPPERS 1 0 0.0 0 0
J CRAFT 1 0 0.0 0 0
R HARPER 1 -4 -4.0 0 0

PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
S WEATHERF 5 213 42.6 1 2 51 J BAKER 4 173 43.3 0 1 53

T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20

PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
L MOORE 2 12 6.0 7 0 R ROBINSON 2 12 6.0 14 0

KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
P THOMAS 2 43 21.5 24 0 D WILLIAMS 4 69 17.3 19 0
K MOOREHEAD 2 32 16.0 17 0

KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA
---------------------------------- ----------------------------------
O MARE 4/4 1/2 J KASAY 0/0 2/2
Dist.: 46 (57) Dist.: 45 29

O-D O-D
FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
R HARPER 0 0 1 0-0 D FOSTER 2 1 0 0-0
W SMITH 0 0 0 0-1 D CARR 0 0 0 1-0

DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
S FUJITA 6 6 0 0-0 R MARSHALL 13 10 3 0-0
J BULLOCKS 5 5 0 0-0 J BEASON 10 7 3 0-0
R HARPER 5 5 0 0-0 T DAVIS 6 5 1 0-0
M MCKENZIE 4 3 1 0-0 C HARRIS 6 4 2 0-0
S SHANLE 4 2 2 0-0 D COOPER 6 2 4 0-0
H THOMAS 3 2 1 0-0 K JENKINS 5 5 0 0-0
A LAKE 2 2 0 1-9 P DENDY 5 4 1 0-0
K KAESVIHARN 2 2 0 0-0 K LUCAS 3 3 0 0-0
K CLANCY 2 2 0 0-0 N DIGGS 3 3 0 0-0
R WYNN 1 1 0 0-0 M KEMOEATU 3 2 1 0-0
J DAVID 1 1 0 0-0 D LEWIS 3 0 3 0-0
J CRAFT 1 1 0 0-0 M RUCKER 2 1 1 0-0
W SMITH 1 1 0 0-0 K MOOREHEAD 2 1 1 0-0
M SIMONEAU 1 1 0 0-0 S MCCLOVER 1 1 0 0-0
C GRANT 1 0 1 0-0

Officials: Referee-Jerome Boger, Umpire-Garth Defelice, Line
Judge-Jeff Bergman, Field Judge-Dick Creed, Side Judge-Joe Larrew,
Back Judge-Bob Waggoner.

Att: 53,493 Time of Game: 3:08</div>

 

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Drew Brees and the NewOrleans Saints have been inconsistent this season. One thingthat has remained constant is the Carolina Panthers' inabilityto win at home.


Brees threw three touchdown passes and ran for another to helpthe Saints snap a two-game skid with a 31-6 victory over thePanthers on Sunday.


Brees completed 24-of-36 passes for 260 yards with aninterception for New Orleans (5-6), which opened the season 0-4,won four straight and then dropped two in a row prior to thisone.


Completing passes to nine different receivers, Brees helped theSaints convert 11-of-18 third downs and remain two games behindTampa Bay (7-4) for first place in the NFC South.


"We wanted to dictate to them how the tempo for the game wasgoing to feel," Brees said. "I think we really made an emphasisof this game. We really had to have this game. I think thatwhen we're rolling, we can just open up the playbook.

"You gotta convert, though. You have to score touchdowns. Whenyou get around the goal line, we have a lot of options."

New Orleans broke open the game in the third quarter with threetouchdowns in three possessions by converting all five of itsthird downs.


"I thought we played one of our better games on all threephases," Saints coach Sean Payton. "Both sides of the ball dida good job on third down. Our guys battled well."

Meanwhile, John Kasay kicked a pair of field goals for Carolina(4-7), which turned the ball over four times and has lost sevenstraight home games dating to last season.


David Carr got the start in place of the 44-year-old VinnyTestaverde, who sat out with a stiff back, and completed just10-of-22 passes for 95 yards and two interceptions.

"You just try to go out and make a play," Carr said. "It wasn'tlike we wanted to go out there and do what we were doing. Theywere efficient on offense and we weren't. We weren'tconsistent. We had plays in the beginning to make."

Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith played despite a shin injury,but was rendered irrelevant due to poor quarterback play. Hecaught six passes for just 47 yards.


New Orleans led, 10-6, at halftime thanks to a 1-yard pass fromBrees to Lance Moore and a 46-yard field goal from Olindo Mare.

The Saints then opened the second half by driving 73 yards innine plays and took a 17-6 lead as Brees hit tight end BillyMiller for a 1-yard score with 10:12 left in the third.

After a Carolina punt, Brees hit Marques Colston for 45 yards tothe 42 and capped the scoring drive with an 8-yard run to putthe Saints up, 24-6, with 6:14 left in the third.


The lead grew to 31-6 as Brees connected with Colston for a4-yard score with 47 second remaining in the third period.

"We were able to come out and really translate what we did thisweek in practice," said Colston, who caught seven passes for 93yards and a score. "We were able to get into a rhythm and andkeep it going. That's going to be a key every week, not turningthe ball over and getting turnovers on defense. We were ableto do both today and you saw the outcome."


Carr was replaced late in the fourth quarter by backup MattMoore, who completed 8-of-14 for 66 yards and an interception.

Carolina had just 84 total yards in the first half, and wereoutgained, 373-195.


"My take on it right now is that we are not a very good footballteam," Panthers coach John Fox said.