CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Drew Brees threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns, the Saints had 5 interceptions and New Orleans defeated the Carolina Panthers 33-7 on Sunday to wrap up the No. 2 seed within the NFC playoffs.
The Saints will host the seventh-seeded Chicago Bears within the wild-card spherical subsequent weekend.
Ty Montgomery ran for 105 yards on 18 carries for the Saints (12-4), who turned the primary staff to comb the NFC South by going 6-0 because the division was fashioned in 2002.
The Saints nonetheless managed to run for 156 yards regardless of taking part in with out Alvin Kamara, who tied an NFL document with six TDs in a Week 16 win over the Vikings, and Latavius Murray. Each working backs had been positioned on the COVID-19/reserve listing.
Taysom Hill had 41 yards speeding, together with a 3-yard TD run.
Carolina’s Teddy Bridgewater was benched halfway by the third quarter after throwing his second interception ultimately zone into double protection. The previous Saints QB completed 13 of 23 for 176 yards and was changed by P.J. Walker, who was intercepted thrice.
The Panthers (5-11) had been additionally with out their prime two working backs Christian McCaffrey and Mike Davis because of damage and managed simply 74 yards speeding.
Extensive receiver Curtis Samuel, who is about to turn into an unrestricted free agent, turned in his second straight 100-yard receiving recreation with seven catches for 118 yards.
The Saints jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on an 18-yard TD strike from Brees to Jared Cook dinner, marking the fourth straight recreation the tight finish has scored towards the Panthers. Brees later added an 8-yard scoring toss to Emmanuel Sanders and an 11-yard TD go to Austin Carr.
Wil Lutz missed his first additional level of the season within the second quarter, snapping a string of 55 straight profitable makes an attempt however he added two subject targets.
INJURIES
Saints: LT Terron Armstead left for a play within the fourth quarter, however shortly returned.
Panthers: McCaffrey missed his thirteenth recreation of the season because of damage. The Panthers additionally performed with out prime go rusher Brian Burns and LT Russell Okung.
UP NEXT
Saints: The four-time defending NFC South champions host the Bears subsequent weekend within the playoffs.
Panthers: After failing to make the playoffs for the third straight season, Carolina will look to the NFL draft to improve a lot of urgent wants.
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Extra AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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