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CHARLOTTE (AP) — So much for momentum going into the playoffs. The Saints decided to play it safe, and it means a three-game losing streak for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Jonathan Stewart rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown, and the Carolina Panthers finished their disappointing season with a 23-10 win over the lifeless Saints on Sunday.

While the Carolina locker room was filled with speculation on whether coach John Fox will be back, if defensive end Julius Peppers will return and who the quarterback will be next season, the Saints were trying to convince folks they can turn it around in two weeks in the divisional round.

Mark Brunell, 39, started for Drew Brees. Jeremy Shockey never got on the field. Reggie Bush got five carries. By the second half, nearly every defensive starter was watching.

The backups proved no match for the Panthers, and the Saints (13-3) looked nothing like the team that less than a month ago was flirting with a perfect season.

"The key now is to get ourselves mentally and physically refreshed and ready." Payton said.

Sitting out allowed Brees to break the NFL record for completion percentage in a season with 70.60, besting the previous NFL record of 70.55 Ken Anderson set in 1982 with Cincinnati.

It also allowed the Panthers (8-8) to finish on a three-game winning streak. Matt Moore threw for 162 yards and a touchdown to Dwayne Jarrett to finish 4-1 as a starter after the struggling Delhomme was sidelined with a broken finger.

If it was his last game in Carolina, Stewart made it enjoyable with a 67-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage. He surpassed Pro Bowl pick DeAngelo Williams for the team rushing lead as they became the first teammates since the AFL-NFL merger to each rush for over 1,100 yards.

Williams (1,117 yards) sat out his second straight game with a sprained ankle, while Stewart (1,133 yards) left in the third quarter after aggravating his chronic left Achilles' tendon injury.

"For us to both reach a goal like that says a lot about our team," Stewart said. "Our offensive line was real (intent) on getting that."

The Panthers put it away with 10 points in the final 13 seconds of the first half to take a 17-3 lead.

Jarrett, the disappointing 2007 second-round pick, was active only because Steve Smith broke his left forearm a week earlier. But Jarrett had a leaping fourth-down catch, then caught a 30-yard touchdown -- his first as a pro -- to put the Panthers up 14-3.

Courtney Roby then fumbled the kickoff return, Dante Wesley recovered and John Kasay's 41-yard field goal on the final play put Fox's Panthers in command.

"I don't want to play for anybody else," linebacker Jon Beason said of Fox.

The second half resembled a preseason game -- with the 30-degree temperature at kickoff the exception. Backup Lynell Hamilton's 1-yard touchdown run at the end of the third quarter was the Saints' only TD.

Brunell, making his first start since 2006 in Washington, was 15-of-29 for 102 yards and an interception as the Saints became the first No. 1 seed to enter the playoffs on a three-game skid.

New Orleans 0 3 7 0 — 10
Carolina 7 10 6 0 — 23

Car—Stewart 67 run (Kasay kick).
NO—FG Hartley 35.
Car—Jarrett 30 pass from M.Moore (Kasay kick).
Car—FG Kasay 41.
Car—FG Kasay 39.
Car—FG Kasay 37.
NO—Hamilton 1 run (Hartley kick).
A—73,047.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs — NO 14, Car 15
Total net yards — NO 213, Car 327
Rushes-yards — NO 32-111, Car 37-178
Passing — NO 102, Car 149
Punt returns — NO 2-11, Car 4-36
Kickoff returns — NO 5-79, Car 2-33
Interceptions ret. — NO 0-0, Car 1-0
Comp-Att-Int — NO 15-29-1, Car 14-23-0
Sacked-Yards lost — NO 0-0, Car 2-13
Punts — NO 9-46.3, Car 8-42.5
Fumbles-lost — NO 2-2, Car 0-0
Penalties-yards — NO 4-35, Car 3-29
Time of possession — NO 29:22, Car 30:38

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING
New Orleans — Hamilton 10-48, Bush 5-35, Bell 17-28.
Carolina — Stewart 16-125, Goodson 13-44, Hoover 7-10, M.Moore 1-(minus 1).

PASSING
New Orleans — Brunell 15-29-1-102.
Carolina — M.Moore 14-23-0-162.

RECEIVING
New Orleans — Dinkins 4-20, Hamilton 3-38, Meachem 2-12, Bell 2-(minus 2), Henderson 1-18, Humphrey 1-7, Eckel 1-6, Colston 1-3.
Carolina — Muhammad 7-85, Jarrett 5-68, Hoover 1-6, King 1-3.

MISSED FIELD GOALS
None