The Series: With the 30-20 victory, New Orleans ended a seven-game home losing streak against Carolina, who leads the all-time series 16-13. The Panthers and Saints will meet again at Bank of America Stadium in the regular-season finale on Jan. 3.
Inactives: The following eight players were inactive for the Panthers: quarterback A.J. Feeley (third quarterback), fullback Tony Fiammetta, safety Charles Godfrey, defensive tackle Nick Hayden, fullback Brad Hoover, wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad, tight end Dante Rosario and guard Duke Robinson.
For Starters: Dwayne Jarrett started his second consecutive game at wide receiver for Muhsin Muhammad, who was inactive with a knee injury. Rookie Tyrell Sutton replaced Brad Hoover and Tony Fiammetta, who did not play because of an ankle injury and concussion, respectively, in the starting lineup at fullback. Rookie Sherrod Martin made his second consecutive start at free safety in place of Charles Godfrey, who was sidelined with an ankle injury. Rookie cornerback Captain Munnerlyn made his second NFL start as the Panthers opened in a nickel defense.
Rookie Show: After being inactive for the first seven games, Sutton made his NFL debut and finished with 15 yards on three attempts and one catch for 11 yards. The 5-foot-8, 213-pound running back, who finished his career as Northwestern's second-leading all-time rusher, played fullback because of injuries to Hoover and Fiammetta. Sutton gained nine yards on his first NFL carry - a dive play up the middle on the Panthers' first offensive snap of the game. He also lined up as a returner on kickoffs.
Rookie tackle Garry Williams, who also had been inactive for the first seven games, dressed for the first time this season but did not play.
DeAngelo Does It Again: Running back DeAngelo Williams rushed for a team-leading 149 yards and two touchdowns - scoring on runs of 66 and seven yards in the first quarter - on 21 carries to compile his second consecutive 100-yard rushing effort and third this season. His 66-yard touchdown on the Panthers' second play from scrimmage stands as the fourth-longest scoring run in team history behind runs of 70 yards by DeShaun Foster at Atlanta (1/1/06), 69 yards by Williams at Oakland (11/9/08) and 67 yards by Tshimanga Biakabutuka versus Cincinnati (9/26/99). In his last six games against NFC South opponents, Williams has averaged 140.8 yards on the ground with eight touchdowns. He leads the Panthers with 768 yards and seven touchdowns on 149 carries this season and is third on the team with 20 receptions for 185 yards.
Smitty: Wide receiver Steve Smith posted a team-high 64 yards receiving on four catches. He leads the Panthers with 34 receptions for 478 yards and one touchdown this season.
In The Pocket: Quarterback Jake Delhomme completed 17-of-30 passes for 201 yards and no touchdowns with no interceptions to produce a 77.2 quarterback rating. He has completed 130-of-221 passes for 1,463 yards and five touchdowns with 13 interceptions this season.
Gaining Ground: Behind an offensive line featuring Jordan Gross at left tackle, Travelle Wharton at left guard, Ryan Kalil at center, Keydrick Vincent at right guard and Jeff Otah at right tackle, the Panthers generated 182 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 39 attempts for an average of 4.7 yards per carry. Carolina is averaging 153.0 yards rushing per game and 4.7 yards per rush this season.
Play Time: The Panthers manufactured a 19-play, 73-yard drive that was capped by a 25-yard John Kasay field goal on their first second-half possession. The drive consumed nine minutes and 47 seconds. The 19 plays set a record for the most on a drive in team history, bettering the previous mark of 18 - previously accomplished twice, most recently versus Indianapolis (10/28/07).
Takeaway/Giveaway: Carolina forced two turnovers on an interception by cornerback Chris Gamble and a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Jon Beason and forced by defensive end Tyler Brayton. The Panthers turned it over three times on three fumbles to finish with a minus-one turnover ratio. The two takeaways resulted in 10 points for Carolina, and the three giveaways led to seven points for New Orleans. The Panthers have a negative-nine turnover ratio this season, compiling a 1-0 record when posting a positive turnover margin, an 0-1 record when being even in turnover margin and a 2-4 record when having a negative turnover margin.
Good Gamble: Cornerback Chris Gamble intercepted New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees in the second quarter and returned it 41 yards to move into second place in team history with 269 interception return yards, breaking a tie with Eric Davis. Mike Minter holds the team record with 418 interception return yards. The Panthers' first-round draft choice in 2004, Gamble also ranks second in team history with 21 interceptions behind Davis with 25. He has led or tied for the team lead in interceptions in four of his first five seasons and has one this year.
Sacked Out: The Panthers collected one sack against the Saints and have gathered 18 this season. Defensive end Tyler Brayton recorded a sack and forced fumble on the same play when he took down Brees in the first quarter. He ranks third on the team with 2.5 sacks this year behind defensive end Julius Peppers with seven and defensive end Charles Johnson with three.
The Specialists: Kicker John Kasay connected on both of his field-goal attempts, converting from 32 and 25 yards, and both of his extra-point chances. He has been successful on eight-of-11 field-goal attempts and perfect on all 16 of his extra-point opportunities for 40 points this season. Kasay ranks seventh in NFL history with 394 made field goals and 11th with 1,674 points scored - including a franchise record 1,333 for the Panthers - and has made a team-record 151 consecutive extra points.
Punter Jason Baker generated a gross average of 37.3 yards and net average of 36.0 yards with three inside the 20, no touchbacks and long of 44 yards on three punts. His gross average fell to 45.9 yards and his net average decreased to 36.3 yards with 11 punts inside the 20, three touchbacks, one block and long of 61 yards this season.
Kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd placed three of his five kickoffs in the end zone with two touchbacks, helping limit New Orleans to an average kickoff drive start of the 23-yard line. He has reached the end zone on 24-of-33 kickoffs with 13 touchbacks this season.
Claw Marks: Wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett tied for the team lead and established a single-game career high with four catches for 30 yards. He surpassed his previous best of three receptions at Green Bay (11/18/07)...Tight end Gary Barnidge equaled his single-game career high of three catches for 46 yards, previously accomplished versus Buffalo (10/25/09).
