Panthers... 33, Saints... 31

John Kasay’s 42-yard field goal with a second left lifted Carolina to a 33-31 victory over the New Orleans Saints (8-8), locking up the NFC South title and the second seeding in the conference for the Panthers.

Carolina’s DeAngelo Williams rushed for 178 yards to set the franchise single-season record. His 1,515 yards eclipse Stephen Davis’ 1,444 in 2003.

Drew Brees, meanwhile, came up just short in his bid to top Dan Marino’s 1984 single-season NFL record of 5,084 yards passing. Brees needed 402 yards to set the mark. He finished with 386, which made him only the second player to pass for more than 5,000 yards.

Carolina (12-4), the only team to go 8-0 at home this season, will get a first-round playoff bye and then a chance to extend its perfect record in Charlotte in the divisional round.

Quoteworthy: “It’s a huge relief. If we lose this game . . . the cards would have been stacked against us.” -- Steve Smith, Panthers receiver