NFL Preview - Carolina (3-4) at New Orleans (7-0)

By Michael Rushton, Sports Network - The Sports Network

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Better play over their last four games has the Carolina Panthers thinking they can get back into the playoff mix. A win over the undefeated New Orleans Saints this weekend would go a long way in validating those beliefs.

Carolina faces its toughest matchup of the season Sunday at the Superdome, where they will take on a New Orleans club that is aiming for its first-ever 8-0 start.

Despite minimal roster turnover, the Panthers have hardly looked like the club that went 12-4 last year, a season that included a pair of wins over the Saints and Carolina's seventh win a row at the Superdome.

The Panthers dropped their first three games of the season and were outscored 87-37 over that span, but have won three of their last four games since an October 4 bye. That does still have them four games back of the first-place Saints.

With quarterback Jake Delhomme struggling, Carolina turned to its ground game last weekend, getting a combined 245 yards from DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart in a 34-21 victory over Arizona. The defense, meanwhile, forced six turnovers out of Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner.

Delhomme did suffer a chest injury in the victory that caused him to miss the end of the game and required a hospital visit, but he returned to practice on Wednesday and should be under center when the Panthers try to knock off a Saints club that is off to the second 7-0 start in franchise history. New Orleans also opened the 1991 season with seven straight wins for the franchise's best-ever start before this year.

New Orleans is coming off a win over division-rival Atlanta on Monday night, a contest that saw the Saints rip off 21 straight points in the second quarter and record two fourth-quarter interceptions in a 35-27 victory.

With the win, the Saints moved three games up on the second-place Falcons and joined the Indianapolis Colts as the lone unbeaten teams left in the NFL.

Quarterback Drew Brees threw for 308 yards with two touchdown passes, but has never beaten the Panthers at home in a Saints uniform. He threw four touchdown passes against them in the Superdome in New Orleans' 2008 season finale, but Carolina kicker John Kasay booted a 42-yard field goal with one second left to give the Panthers a victory.

Brees fell 15 yards shy of breaking Dan Marino's NFL record of 5,084 passing yards in a single season, but still become the second quarterback ever to throw for 5,000 yards in a campaign.

SERIES HISTORY

Carolina leads its all-time series with New Orleans, 16-12, including a home- and-home sweep last season. The Panthers earned a 30-7 home victory when the teams met in Week 7, then closed out the NFC South with a dramatic 33-31 victory at the Superdome in Week 17. The Panthers have now won six of the last seven over the Saints, with the only defeat during that stretch a 31-6 triumph by New Orleans in Charlotte in Week 12 of the 2007 season. The Panthers have won seven straight road games in the series since last losing in New Orleans in 2001.

Panthers head coach John Fox has a 10-4 record against the Saints in his career, including 7-0 in road games. New Orleans' Sean Payton is 1-5 against both Fox and the Panthers as a head coach. Fox and Payton both served as members of Jim Fassel's staff with the New York Giants from 1999 through 2001.

WHEN THE PANTHERS HAVE THE BALL

Delhomme (1262 passing yards, 5 TD) entered the Arizona game with an NFL-high 13 interceptions, but he did not turn the ball over once before exiting with his injury. However, Carolina also seemed to play it safe with its quarterback, letting him throw just 14 times. Delhomme completed seven of those passes for 90 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith (30 receptions). Smith caught his first scoring pass of the season and ended with three catches for 56 yards, while young wideout Dwayne Jarrett started in place of the injured Muhsin Muhammad (knee) and made two catches for 22 yards. The Panthers wisely put the ball in the hands of Williams (619 rushing yards, 5 TD) and Stewart (360 rushing yards, 4 TD) last week. Williams had 23 carries for a season-high 158 yards, while Stewart added 17 rushes for 87 yards with two touchdowns. After some early-season struggles, the Panthers now rank 5th in the NFL with an average of 148.9 rushing yards per game.