NEW ORLEANS _ The Carolina Panthers got Drew Breesed Sunday, ending their season after a single playoff game.
Brees, a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback, was seldom pressured by the Panthers' pass rush, and generally picked apart the Carolina secondary in a 31-26 victory at the Superdome. The Panthers finished their season 11-6. The Saints advance to a divisional-round trip to play the Minnesota Vikings.
The Saints led 21-9 at halftime, and 24-12 heading into the fourth quarter. Brees's long throw off a roll-out to wide receiver Michael Thomas set up what proved to be the decisive touchdown.
Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was briefly knocked out of the game with about 8 { minutes left, on a sack by Saints defensive tackle David Onyemata. The play lost 10 yards, and Newton went to the sideline, replaced by backup Derek Anderson.
Newton was evaluated for a possible concussion. He was cleared to play.
Down five, the Panthers failed to convert a first down, and had to punt to the Saints, who took over at their own 38 with just more than eight minutes left.
Brees rolled out to his right and found Thomas far downfield for another red-zone possession. Saints rookie running back Alvin Kamara ran it in from 2 yards out.
In the ensuing Panthers possession, Newton rolled to his left, and threw a long ball to Kaelin Clay. The pass was incomplete, but the Saints' Ken Crawley was called for pass interference. However, Panthers lineman Trai Turner was also flagged for holding, offsetting that penalty.
The Panthers still ended up scoring on that possession. Rookie running back Christian McCaffrey had a 56-yard catch-and-run into the end zone with 4:09 left to trail 31-26. That was McCaffrey's longest gain _ rushing or receiving _ this season.
Panthers safety Adams intercepted Brees with 1:51 left, giving Carolina possession on its own 31 yard line. Newton immediately found Devin Funchess for 19 yards Newton to push the ball to midfield. Newton's pass to Clay advanced the ball to the 26, then a defensive holding moved it to the 21.
But then Newton was called for intentional grounding, moving the ball back to the 34 with 34 seconds remaining. The penalty meant 10 seconds had to be run off the game clock to 24.
Newton was sacked on Carolina's final play, a 17-yard loss.
Panthers tight end Greg Olsen, much of whose season was side-tracked by injury, made two huge plays leading to Carolina's first touchdown in the fourth quarter. Olsen got wide open near the right sideline to get the Panthers to the red zone, then worked himself free in the end zone, as Carolina finally didn't settle for a field goal.
The first half was full of frustration for the Panthers, in that they retained possession for long stretches without converting drives into anything more than field-goal tries. Placekicker Graham Gano could have given the Panthers an early lead, but he missed a 25-yard field goal, just his second missed field goal this season. That was in the first quarter, after the Panthers had driven all the way from their own 30-yard line to the Saints 7.
Newton failed to complete a pass to Clay on third-and-2, which sent Gano out for the failed field-goal try. The Panthers had held the ball for more than eight minutes, in what was then a scoreless game.
It wasn't scoreless for long. Two plays later, Brees hit ex-Panthers wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr., who got behind Panthers cornerback James Bradberry for an 80-yard touchdown. Speed to beat opposing defenses long has been a weakness for the Panthers most of this season.
