NFC South champion New Orleans Saints (11-5) host their division rivals Marquise Brown Jersey , the Carolina Panthers (11-5), in a wild-card playoff game Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

The Saints turned around an 0-2 season by beating the Panthers 34-13 in Charlotte in Week 3, igniting an eight-game winning streak. They then beat them in the Superdome 31-21 on Dec. 3.

Since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, teams that swept the regular-season series also won the playoff game 13 of 20 times, a 65 percent edge.

The Saints are not banking their hopes on statistical probabilities but on a balanced offense that does not rely on 45 throws a game by Drew Brees and on a revitalized defense that so far has withstood a withering number of injuries to starters.

Brees, who will turn 39 on Jan. 15, said he does feel an internal clock ticking on his career but treats every game with respect.

“I prepare like every game could be my last or (like) it’s a playoff game or I’ve got something to prove and I’ve got an edge,” Brees said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, the playoffs are here, it’s time to ramp it up or things are a little more important.’ It’s always important for me.”

There were some common threads in the Saints’ two regular-season victories over Carolina. The Panthers are ranked No. 7 in the NFL on defense, allowing 317.2 yards per game http://www.ravensfootballauthentics.com … -authentic , and just 88.1 yards rushing, third best in the league. But Carolina yielded their most yards rushing this season to the Saints — 149 yards in Week 3 and 148 in Week 13.

That’s a credit to rookie sensation Alvin Kamara and veteran running back Mark Ingram as well as to the Saints’ offensive line. Brees is the biggest beneficiary of a powerful running attack that is averaging 4.7 yards per carry, best in the NFL, and 129.4 yards per game, fifth in the league.

Brees threw 137 fewer passes this year (536) but connected on 386 for an NFL-record 72.0 completion percentage. His 4,334 passing yards are nearly 800 yards fewer than his 2016 totals but just about equal to his 4,388 passing yards in 2009, the Saints’ Super Bowl season.

“Sure is nice,” Brees said, smiling. “Does it change the way I prepare? No. Does it change my mindset going into a game? No. It’s just that when you add up the number of throws … if you take away five, seven, 10 attempts a game and those are going to the run game Miles Boykin Jersey , that means you’re doing something right in the run game, and it probably means you’re playing good defense. It doesn’t force me to take as many chances.”

The Saints also have done an excellent job putting a vise around Carolina quarterback Cam Newton, who happens to be the Panthers’ leading rusher. Newton has passed for just 350 yards in the two losses. He threw three interceptions in the first meeting, including one in the end zone. He is a dangerous runner, but his only gash run against the Saints this year was a 32-yard scramble in garbage time.

The Panthers could have won the NFC South outright last week but were hamstrung by an inept offensive performance in a 22-10 loss to the Falcons. Newton completed just 14 of 34 passes for 180 yards and was picked off three times.

Newton said the Panthers have erased that game from their memory banks and are poised to make a playoff statement.

“This is when real football starts,” said Newton, who led the Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2015 with a 15-1 regular-season record. “(We’re) explaining it to the young guys and the guys who haven’t witnessed playoff football. This is where you are made or broke. I look forward to these types of moments because it brings out the best in individuals because there is so much pressure. We all know what they say about pressure — it does one of two things — and we’re hoping to shine like diamonds.”

Each team will have a significant player available who did not play in either of the first two games: Carolina tight end Greg Olsen, who has been battling a foot injury all season, and Saints rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore.

Saints coach Sean Payton said if Olsen is healthy, it could pose a threat to his defense because Olsen is “one of the better tight ends in the game. Not having him is significant and having him is huge.”

Carolina coach Ron Rivera knows that Lattimore, who made the Pro Bowl, can help the Saints shut down any deep threat the Panthers have. Lattimore normally shadows the opponent’s best receiver Deandre Baker Jersey , so he may draw Devin Funchess, who has 63 catches for 840 yards.

“When I watch (Lattimore), he’s a terrific football player,” Rivera said.

The Panthers hope to have guard Trai Turner back after missing three games with concussion symptoms. Saints starting left tackle Terron Armstead (thigh) and wide receiver Michael Thomas (hamstring) were limited in practice on Wednesday but should be able to go.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jaylen Samuels spent the months leading up to the 2018 NFL draft answering one question over and over again.“People were like, ‘What position (are you) going to play?'” the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie said. “And I just kept saying ‘I’m going to play running back.'”Not everyone believed him. The NFL included.The NFL was so skeptical of the former North Carolina State star’s potential out of the backfield he was told shortly before the scouting combine that he wouldn’t be working out with the running backs but the tight ends. Samuels shrugged his shoulders, figuring it was better to be at the combine — even if it wasn’t your preferred position — than stuck at home watching it on TV.Fast forward 10 months. They don’t ask Samuels where he fits anymore. Not after the 22-year-old lit up the New England Patriots for 142 yards rushing and 172 total yards in a victory over the New England Patriots last Sunday.Samuels carried the ball 19 times — more than he can remember at any level of football — and caught a pair of passes, including a leaping 20-yard, fourth-quarter grab that helped the Steelers run some clock before adding a late field goal that pushed the margin to seven points.There were the usual aches and pains on Monday, but nothing out of the ordinary after the heavy workload. Good thing, because Samuels figures to be just as busy when the Steelers (8-5-1) travel to New Orleans to face the NFC South champion Saints (12-2) on Sunday.Newly minted Pro Bowler James Conner is still dealing with a sprained left ankle that’s forced him to miss the past two weeks, meaning Pittsburgh’s running game will be in the hands of a fifth-round pick who has quickly morphed from project to capable starter.Samuels earned a spot out of training camp thanks to the way he embraced special teams and had found a small niche as a receiving threat — he’s N.C. State’s career leader in receptions (202), just ahead of former NFL wide receivers Jerricho Cotchery and Torry Holt — before Conner went down in the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers. Samuels came in and caught a 10-yard touchdown pass on the next play.His first NFL start didn’t go quite as planned. He managed just 28 yards on 11 carries in a stunning loss to the Oakland Raiders. The problem wasn’t so much Oakland’s defense or the iffy turf so much as Samuels’ own jitters.“I felt like I wasn’t being patient enough http://www.giantsauthorizedshops.com/au … nes-jersey , just being in a rush, hurry up and get to the hole and try to get there,” Samuels said. “(Against the Patriots) I could definitely feel it all sorting out. The holes are just opening. I just felt smoother and it felt like it was more my game.”A game that not every college coach that recruited Samuels out of high school understood. UNC brought the Charlotte native in for a camp and had him practice with the linebackers.“I was like, ‘What am I doing? Why am I going backward'” Samuels said. “I need to be going forward with the ball.”N.C. State assistant coach Eddie Faulkner saw the potential and during the recruiting process pointed out all the varied ways the Wolfpack could use him. Samuels spent four record-breaking years doing a little bit of everything.Running back. Fullback. H-back. Tight end. Slot receiver. His polished route running was immediately apparent to Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger when Pittsburgh used its second pick of the fifth round on Samuels.“He has really good hands, soft hands you can really throw it all over the place and he can make plays,” Roethlisberger said.“I think he showed that this week that we can put him out there and we can do some things with him and hopefully we are just scratching the surface.”While Steelers coach Mike Tomlin jokingly replied “who said I had confidence?” when asked what gave him faith Samuels could produce, he’s not particularly surprised by what he saw against the Patriots. The shakiness in Oakland was understandable. The bounce back versus New England was promising.“There are oftentimes when you walk into stadiums, particularly as a young guy, it is a first time for a lot of things,” Tomlin said. “And I am sure as he continues to step into stadiums with a significant role for us he’ll check some boxes and do some things he hasn’t done before, but that’s just a very natural thing in terms of a young player.”One who no longer has to deal with questions about where he fits.NOTES: Conner and LB Bud Dupree (knee) did not practice Wednesday. … S Terrell Edmunds (concussion) was limited. … DE Cam Heyward (knee) was a full participant. … Roethlisberger and C Maurkice Pouncey were given the day off.