The Panthers dodged a bullet on Sunday, claiming their first NFC South victory over a Saints team that even in defeat is clearly a good team.

Two key miscues for the Saints in the first half set them far enough back that even an 84-yard touchdown catch by rookie WR Marques Colston in the final minutes couldn't even up the score. The first was a fumble by RB Reggie Bush (11-22, 4-48) in the early second quarter at the Carolina 20, which took at least three points off the board for the Saints.

K John Carney's missed field goal at the end of the first half was off by a small margin. So were the Saints today as a team. A stellar game in the air for Drew Brees (28/38, 349 yards, TD) and a five catch, 132-yard performance by the team's most productive rookie Marques Colston weren't enough for the Saints against Jake Delhomme (19/29, 169, 2 TD) and the Panthers, who were just good enough to survive a slugfest with the hard-fighting Saints.

The Saints were down 7-3 at halftime after the Panthers scored early on a Steve Smith touchdown pass, one of his ten receptions of the day. Smith had caught a 22-yard pass to the Saint two yard line on a Delhomme scramble, but the Saints challenged a reverse the ruling that found that Smith's elbow hit the ground before his second foot. But a 15-yarder to Keyshawn Johnson over the middle set up Smith's nine yard catch three plays after the challenge. Johnson's catch was bobbled and questionable, but the Panthers rushed the line of scrimmage and connected on the quick slant.

The final drive of the second quarter was triggered by two 15-yard catches by Terrance Copper, one of ten pass receivers that Brees hit on his way to a 110.5 quarterback rating. The Saints and Panthers each punted twice in the third, starting the fourth quarter with 7-3 still on the scoreboard. But in the early fourth the Saints capped off a 13-play, 82 yard drive with a three yard run by Deuce McAllister when the Brees rushed to the line and ran the play while most of the Panthers weren't set.

The Saints held the 10-7 lead for 6:18, the length of time it took the Panthers to score on their next drive when Delhomme hit WR Drew Carter wide open in the end zone when Omar Stoutmire had been picked at the line of scrimmage. With a 14-10 lead, the Panthers tried to run out the clock on their next possession after a Saint punt. DeShaun Foster was only trying to grab a first down on 3rd and 7 and stay inbounds when he broke free down the right side for a 43-yard touchdown. Foster broke 100 yards on the carry, and the Panthers finished with 167 yards on the ground, the most allowed by the Saints in four games.

The Panthers were celebrating their 21-10 lead with 1:56 left in the game, but the Saints weren't done. The Saints started their final drive with an incomplete pass and a holding call on rookie right guard Jahri Evans. It was Evans' first and only the Saints' third offensive holding penalty of the season.

On the next play, 2nd and 20, Brees found Colston deep over the middle. He ripped the ball to his chest out of the grasp of the Panthers defender and ran towards the right pylon as the Panthers' secondary stumbled and struggled to catch up with him. The fourth-longest touchdown catch in Saints history was followed by a beautiful Brees to a leaping Joe Horn two-point conversion. Down 21-18, the Saints needed an onsides kick to keep the game and possibly send the game to overtime with a field goal. But RB Nick Goings gobbled up the onside kick and the Panthers kneeled off the game.

Record Book Notes: WR Joe Horn now has 502 receptions as a Saint, just 30 short of Eric Martin's team record for career pass receptions. Horn now has 7166 receiving yards, second only to Martin's 7854. Horn needs only to average a little over 57 yards per game for the remainder of the season to break Martin's team record... RB Deuce McAllister already owns the team record for career rushing yards, but needs only eight more carries after today's game to tie Dalton Hilliard's career mark for rush attempts (1126), and only two more touchdowns to tie Hilliard's career mark for rushing touchdowns (39).

Injury notes: DB Curtis DeLoatch agonizingly pulled his hamstring in the first quarter.