The Series: With the 16-14 victory, the Saints won for the second time in their last three games against the Panthers, who lead the all-time series 17-14. Carolina and New Orleans will meet again later this season at Bank of America Stadium on Nov. 7.
Paws for Clausen: Quarterback Jimmy Clausen completed 11-of-21 passes for 146 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions to produce a 90.6 quarterback rating. He connected with running back Jonathan Stewart on a 55-yard scoring strike for his first career touchdown pass in the second quarter. Clausen also rushed for 11 yards on two scrambles and was sacked three times. In four games with two starts this season, he has completed 34-of-69 passes for 393 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions.
Double Trouble: Running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart accumulated 176 combined net yards, gaining 107 yards rushing with one touchdown on 20 attempts and 69 yards receiving with one touchdown on two catches.
Williams compiled a team-high 86 yards rushing on 13 carries with one touchdown, scoring on a 39-yard cutback run in the third quarter, and added one catch for 14 yards. He leads the Panthers with 266 yards and one touchdown on 56 attempts this season.
Stewart made a career-long 55-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter, Carolina's longest offensive play this season. It also marked his second career receiving touchdown. Stewart carried seven times for 21 yards and has posted 89 yards on 28 attempts this season.
On The Receiving End: Wide receiver Steve Smith, tight end Dante Rosario and wide receiver David Gettis shared the team lead with two receptions each.
Smith ranks first on the Panthers with 13 catches for 174 and two touchdowns this season. Both of Rosario's catches resulted in first downs. Of his 59 career receptions, 40 (67.8 percent) have yielded a first down or touchdown. Gettis kept Carolina's final drive alive with a 16-yard catch on fourth down as he skillfully tap-danced along the sideline to get both feet in bounds.
Takeaway/Giveaway: Carolina forced two turnovers on two fumbles. Safety Sherrod Martin prevented a touchdown on New Orleans' first possession of the game by dislodging the ball from Saints wide receiver Lance Moore at the Panthers' one-yard line. Linebacker James Anderson fell on the loose ball in the end zone for a touchback. In the second quarter, cornerback Richard Marshall knocked the ball away from Saints running back Chris Ivory to force a fumble, which Anderson recovered at Carolina's 21-yard line.
With two fumble recoveries, Anderson tied the team record for the most opponents' fumbles recovered in a game, previously accomplished five times - most recently by Ricky Manning, Jr. at Atlanta (1/1/06).
The Panthers turned it over once on one fumble to finish with a plus-one turnover ratio. The two takeaways resulted in no points for Carolina, and the one giveaway led to three points for New Orleans. The Panthers have a negative-five turnover ratio this season, compiling an 0-1 record when having a positive turnover margin and an 0-3 record when having a negative turnover margin.
Sakrete Sacks: The Panthers collected two sacks against the Saints and have gathered four this season. Defensive end Charles Johnson dropped New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees for a five-yard loss in the second quarter and leads the team with two sacks this year. Anderson took Brees down for an eight-yard loss on the final play of the first half.
During the 2010 season, Sakrete, a leader in concrete and concrete-related products, is donating $100 to the BVC Playground Build for every sack Carolina records. Through four games, $400 has been raised.
The Specialists: Kicker John Kasay converted both of his extra-point chances. He has been successful on all three of his field-goal attempts and perfect on all five of his extra-point opportunities for a team-leading 14 points this season. Kasay ranks seventh in NFL history with 411 made field goals and eighth with 1,745 points scored. He is the Panthers' all-time leader with 1,404 points scored and 329 field goals.
Punter Jason Baker generated a gross average of 43.5 yards and net average of 40.8 yards with three inside the 20, no touchbacks and long of 50 yards on six punts. His gross average improved to 43.1 yards and his net average increased to 37.1 yards with five punts inside the 20, one touchback and long of 57 yards this season.
Kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd placed one-of-three kickoffs in the end zone with one touchback, helping limit the Saints to an average kickoff drive start of their own 26-yard line. He has reached the end zone on three-of-seven kickoffs with three touchbacks this season.
Table Setter: Running back Mike Goodson averaged 28.4 yards on five kickoff returns with a long of 46 yards. His returns provided the Panthers with an average kickoff drive start of their own 32-yard line. Through four games, Goodson has produced two kickoff returns longer than 40 yards. In 2009, Carolina only had one kickoff return the entire season longer than 40 yards, a 55-yarder by Kenny Moore versus Washington (10/11/09).
Inactives: The following eight players were inactive for the Panthers: wide receiver Armanti Edwards, center Chris Morris, defensive tackle Andre Neblett, tackle Jeff Otah, quarterback Tony Pike, running back Tyrell Sutton, linebacker Jamar Williams and cornerback C.J. Wilson.
House Of Blues: The Panthers wore their blue alternate jerseys for the first time this season and 16th time overall since debuting them in 2002. This marked the first time in franchise history that Carolina has ever sported the blue jerseys indoors. The Panthers own a 7-9 regular season record when wearing the blue tops. Carolina will also wear the blue jerseys this year at home versus San Francisco (10/24/10).
Claw Marks: Carolina only conducted 47 offensive plays, which equaled the third fewest in team history, previously accomplished three times - most recently versus Dallas (12/22/07). The record for fewest plays is 42 versus Cincinnati (9/26/99) followed by 45 at St. Louis (11/11/01).
Fleur-de-Lis: The Saints' 27 first downs (nine rushing, 16 passing and two penalty) equaled the second most ever allowed by Carolina, previously accomplished five times - most recently by Dallas (10/29/06). The most first downs allowed by the Panthers is 28 at Oakland (12/24/00)...New Orleans generated an 18-play drive in the fourth quarter that consumed nine minutes and 25 seconds and resulted in John Carney's game-winning 25-yard field goal. The 18 plays are the fourth most ever allowed on a drive by an opponent. The Saints have produced three of the top four drives against the Panthers with series lasting 24 and 19 plays at New Orleans (10/7/07)...Saints quarterback Drew Brees completed 33 passes, the fourth-most ever by an opposing quarterback against Carolina. The most completions by an opponent is 35 by Kurt Warner for Arizona (10/19/08).
Ball Control: The Saints converted eight-of-14 third-down attempts, enabling them to hold a 16-minute, 44-second advantage in time of possession for the game. New Orleans kept the ball for 19:46 in the first half - including 10:40 in the first quarter and 9:06 in the second quarter, and 18:36 in the second half - including 9:09 in the third quarter and 9:27 in the fourth quarter.
