Saints coach Sean Payton takes a small measure of comfort in New Orleans

It means the Saints (11-5) play the Panthers (11-5) in the Superdome Chris Lindstrom Jersey , where New Orleans hasn’t lost a playoff game since 1992 and is 4-0 in the postseason under Payton.

Beyond that, however, the Saints coach asserts that teams evolve over the course of a season as they develop chemistry and adjust to roster or positional changes brought on by injuries.

And on Sunday, there will be a different psychology to performing in the postseason, when losing brings the season to a sudden end.

”Each game’s different,” said Payton, whose team took its first NFC South crown since 2011 by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreaker over Carolina.

”From the midpoint of the season, when (Carolina) got on a roll, you can see the confidence grow with that team. And you’re also talking about a team that (two years ago) was in the Super Bowl,” Payton said. ”The prior two games don’t matter.”

Payton pointed out that the Panthers not only defeated two of the top teams in the NFL this season – New England and Minnesota – but beat the Patriots on the road.

Carolina coach Ron Rivera doesn’t downplay the significance of those victories.

”I don’t think that is overplayed. I think that is a reality. But at the same time, we are playing against a team that has beat us twice,” Rivera said. ”We have to figure out what went well and improve on that and what went wrong and correct that.”

When the Saints pounded the Panthers by 21 in Carolina in Week 3 http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-kaleb-mcgary-jersey , it began an eight-game winning streak that vaulted New Orleans atop of the division for good.

When New Orleans topped Carolina by 10 in the dome in Week 13, it ended a Panthers four-game winning streak and was one of only two losses in Carolina’s past nine games.

Their third meeting – also the first playoff clash between them – is loaded with story lines. Here are some of the main ones:

CAM ON THE RUN: The Panthers have been better when quarterback Cam Newton runs the ball. But Newton, Carolina’s leading rusher this season, didn’t run much in two losses to New Orleans, gaining 67 yards on nine carries.

That could change with the season on the line. Newton has averaged 12.5 carries for 59.7 yards per game in Carolina’s past four games.

”That’s my edge,” Newton said. ”I’m comfortable running the football. I feel like I help the team when I’m running the football.”

While Saints All-Pro defensive end Cam Jordan has done well containing the 6-foot-5, 245-pound, fleet-footed Newton in previous meetings, he said he doesn’t exactly enjoy the prospect of having to do so again.

”Who likes facing Cam Newton? I mean, come on,” Jordan said. ”He’s able to escape, spins. He reverse-spins. He pivot-spins. He gets out of the pocket as well as he climbs through the pocket and he’s got some weight to him. I mean Kendall Sheffield Jersey , he’s not a frail guy.”

FAMILIAL INSPIRATION: Saints quarterback Drew Brees, whose 72 percent completion rate this season was an NFL record, enters his first playoff game in four years just days after traveling to Texas for the funeral of his 92-year-old grandfather, Ray Akins, a World War II veteran and long-time high school football coach.

Brees said his two days in Texas was ”obviously very sad” at times, but stressed that he ”really came back energized.”

”Being with my family, and with friends, and with guys that played for my grandfather, and just listening to their stories again, just reemphasizing to me what a great man he was, and what a wise man he was, and just a true American hero http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-john-cominsky-jersey ,” Brees said.

”He was my hero. I learned so much from him and it just reemphasizes all the important things in life, and the values and morals that I want to live by not only in the way I conduct myself as a family man and in the community, but also as a member of this team.”

DEFENDING THE RUN: The Panthers finished third in the league against the run, but struggled to stop the Saints.

The Pro Bowl running back tandem of Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara helped the Saints rush for 149 and 148 yards in two games against Carolina, the two highest rushing totals allowed by Carolina this season.

”We take pride in being good at stopping the run,” Panthers outside linebacker Thomas Davis said. ”If you look at those two games, we flat out didn’t get it done. … It’s uncharacteristic of this defense. This weekend should be a much better showing.”

GETTING HEALTHIER: The Panthers expect to get two key players back on offense – running back Jonathan Stewart and guard Trai Turner.

Stewart sat out last week’s 22-10 loss to Atlanta with back soreness. Turner has missed three games with a concussion.

New Orleans could get starting left tackle Terron Armstead back from a thigh injury that kept him out of last week’s 31-24 loss at Tampa Bay. He practiced on a limited basis this week and was listed as questionable.

Meanwhile, Panthers star tight end Greg Olsen and Saints Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore are slated to play after missing each of the previous two meetings.

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BALTIMORE — The Seattle Mariners manufactured runs the way they’ve done many times all season in Monday’s 5-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Now, the Mariners will try and do it again on Tuesday in the second game of a four-game series at Camden Yards.

Seattle drew a season-high 10 walks in the win on Monday, and five of them helped lead to four runs. Manager Scott Servais liked how his team kept finding ways to put runners on base and cause problems.

“We had a lot of traffic,” Servais said. “We had the opportunities to score a few more runs — but we’ll take it.”

James Paxton (6-2, 3.72 ERA) will try and break out of a bit of a slump when he starts Tuesday against Kevin Gausman (3-6 Qadree Ollison Jersey , 4.38).

Paxton has allowed 10 earned runs and three homers in his last two starts. He’ll try to rebound from that in his third career start against the Orioles — the left-hander has a 1-0 record with a 4.50 ERA versus Baltimore.

Gausman will try to snap a four-game losing streak. The right-hander has not won in his last seven starts despite pitching effectively in several of them.

However, the Orioles have not always given him a lot of offensive support. He is 1-2 with a 3.04 career ERA versus Seattle.

The Mariners got back shortstop Jean Segura Monday after missing four games due to an infection in his arm.

Segura went 0-for-3 in the series opener Monday but made two great defensive plays while Baltimore scored twice in the sixth inning. The Orioles could have scored one or two more, which would have turned the game around.

Catcher Mike Zunino did not play on Monday due to a sore thumb but Servais said he’d return to the lineup for Tuesday’s game.

Servais also said the Mariners can’t overlook the Orioles despite the team’s struggles in the first three months.

“They’ve got power up and down the lineup,” he said. “They’ve started to heat up a little bit. You’ve got to make pitches, you got to keep them off-balance.”

The Orioles reinstated infielder Tim Beckham from the 60-day disabled list (left groin strain/surgery) and optioned pitcher Donnie Hart to Triple-A Norfolk. They also transferred infielder Luis Sardinas to the 60-day disabled list (left ankle sprain).

However, the Orioles may have run into another problem when starter Dylan Bundy, who’s been their top pitcher this season, rolled his ankle while running the bases in last weekend’s series with Atlanta.

Manager Buck Showalter said there’s a chance that Bundy will not make his scheduled start in the final game of this series on Thursday. There also is a chance Bundy could go on to the disabled list.

“He’s still scheduled to pitch on Thursday, but it’s something we’re going to have to see and prepare for … in case he can’t,” Showalter told reporters Monday.

Showalter also said Bundy could wind up on the 10-day disabled list. If so, the Orioles would need to do that by Tuesday so they could make it retroactive to Sunday and have Bundy back on the roster faster.