Follow along with us as the Panthers and Saints face each other in the NFL playoffs.

Second quarter

The Saints suffered a big loss to their offensive line when Andrus Peat got carted off with his leg in an air cast.

Saints 7, Panthers 3 Carolina couldn’t find the end zone again, but at least this time Gano connected on his field goal kick, getting his team on the board.

First quarter: Saints 7, Panthers 0

Newton took advantage of blanket coverage on Funchess, drawing a pass interference flag that gave the Panthers 39 free yards.

Saints 7, Panthers 0 Following the missed field goal, the Saints struck fast with an 80-yard touchdown by Ted Ginn. Of course Ginn burns his former team.

The Panthers got a handful of first downs with Cam Newton scrambles, getting deep into Saints territory. However, they came away from the drive with zero points after Kaelin Clay dropped a touchdown pass and Graham Gano shanked the field goal attempt.

Funchess’ injury turned out to not be serious — he was back in on the Panthers’ next drive.

The Saints went three-and-out to start the game. The Panthers also punted on their opening possession, with Devin Funchess suffering a knee injury in the process.

Before the game

The Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints will meet for the third time this season, with higher stakes than the previous two meetings. That’s because they’re playing in a Wild Card Game on Sunday, beginning at 4:40 p.m. ET on FOX (live streaming available via Fox Sports GO and FuboTV).

Carolina finished the regular season with an 11-5 record despite significant issues on the offensive side of the ball, namely a lack of production from running backs and a whole lot of interceptions from Cam Newton. Jonathan Stewart rushed for just 680 yards on 198 attempts, while Newton led the team with 754 yards on 139 attempts.

Newton also rushed for six touchdowns, and when combined with his passing touchdowns, the interceptions might not look as bad. He completed just 59.1 percent of his passes for 3,302 yards, 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions this season.

Drew Brees has had a good season for the Saints, completing 72.0 percent of his passes for 4,334 yards, 23 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He’s also been assisted by a productive running game featuring Mark Ingram, who put up 1,124 yards and 12 touchdowns with a per-carry average of 4.9 yards.

Newton threw three interceptions and Brees threw three touchdowns in the first meeting between the two teams, a 34-13 Saints’ win. Newton didn’t throw any picks in the second game, but the Saints still won it, 31-21.

We’re going to have coverage of the game with highlights and other news, and below you can take care of some pregame reading.

Pregame reading

• Seven SB Nation experts picked the Wild Card Games, and all seven of them are going with the Saints. To make it truly unanimous, the OddsShark computer joined them in picking New Orleans.
• History is on the side of the Saints when it comes to season sweeps rolling over into the postseason. Since 1970, there have been 20 different instances of a team sweeping a division rival in the regular season, and 13 of those 20 times, the team completed the sweep. New Orleans beat the Falcons both times they played in the regular season.
• On the injury front, the Panthers had some big names limited like Newton and Matt Kalil, and also were without Julius Peppers, Mario Addison, and West Horton, all defensive linemen, earlier in the week.
• The Saints have seven players listed as limited on their injury report earlier in the week, but for the most part, they have fewer big names on the list than Carolina.
• The folks at Cat Scratch Reader took a look at three reasons why the Panthers will win the Super Bowl, not just a win over the Saints. Pretty ambitious!
• Also from Cat Scratch Reader: they took a deep dive on the offensive side of the ball for the Panthers and how far that unit can take the team. There are some issues, but if they’re playing to their potential, they can keep up with the Saints.
• And over at Canal Street Chronicles, they examined the battle between the New Orleans offense and the Carolina defense, obviously the marquee matchup for Sunday.
• The odds of every single potential playoff matchup has been released, if you’re interested in the general opinion of how each team will perform in the postseason.