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Saints prep for home playoff game in regular-season finale

Dec 31, 2006 - 5:25 PM Carolina (7-8) at New Orleans (10-5) Sunday 1:00 pm EST

NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- The fans in New Orleans will get to celebrate on Sunday in the regular-season finale. Then they will get treated to a home playoff game.

The Saints face the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, two weeks before they host a divisional playoff game.

New Orleans sealed a first-round bye when Dallas lost to Philadelphia on Monday.

The Panthers no longer have a shot at the last NFC wild-card spot. The New York Giants officially eliminated Carolina from playoff contention with a win at Washington on Saturday.

This scenario would have been unfathomable at the start of the season. The Saints finished in last place in the NFC South with a 3-13 record last season after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina while the Panthers reached the NFC championship game.

The additions of quarterback Drew Brees and Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush along with the return of running back Deuce McAllister, who suffered a torn ACL last season, was supposed to improve the Saints. But no one expected rookie coach Sean Payton to guide them to a division title.

The Panthers were picked by many to reach Super Bowl XLI this season. But Carolina has played without starting quarterback Jake Delhomme (sprained thumb ligament) for the last three weeks.

Delhomme returned to practice this week and will start on Sunday.

Backup quarterback Chris Weinke attempted just seven passes, but the Panthers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 10-3 win at Atlanta last week. DeShaun Foster and rookie DeAngelo Williams combined to rush for 184 yards and Carolina limited the Falcons to eight first downs and 177 total yards.

Bush rushed for a season-high 126 yards and a touchdown and McAllister added 108 yards and a score as the Saints rolled to a 30-7 victory over the New York Giants last week. New Orleans held the Giants to 142 total yards and six first downs.

Bush has rushed for 545 yards and caught 86 passes for 729 yards this season. McAllister eclipsed 1,000 yards (1,057) for the fourth time and Brees leads the NFC with a quarterback rating of 96.1, completing 64 percent of his passes for 4,372 yards and 26 touchdowns with 11 interceptions.

The Panthers posted a 21-18 victory over the Saints in the first meeting on October 1.

Delhomme hit Drew Carter with a four-yard touchdown pass and Foster scored on a 43-yard run in the fourth quarter to lead Carolina.

Brees completed 28-of-38 passes for 349 yards without a turnover. His favorite target was rookie Marques Colston, who had five catches for 132 yards and a touchdown.

A seventh-round pick from Hofstra, Colston has 70 catches for 1,038 yards and eight touchdowns.