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CHARLOTTE, N. Youth Gabe Carimi Jersey .C. - The New Orleans Saints will have to wait another week for a chance to clinch a playoff spot. It will be their last chance. The Saints needed a win over the Panthers to wrap up the NFC South and a first-round bye. Or, at the very least, an Arizona loss to clinch a playoff spot. They got neither. Instead, the Saints headed back to the Big Easy knowing they will need to beat Tampa Bay next week to qualify for the post-season following a 17-13 loss at Carolina on Sunday. They can also qualify if Arizona loses or San Francisco loses twice. "Right now just trying to take this, because its obviously tough with so much on the line for us personally," Saints tight end Jimmy Graham said. "... Obviously we have to play better and we just have to finish. When you are up like that you want to win those tight ones. When you want to get into the playoffs you cant lose those." Drew Brees called the loss "painful," but said the key is to take from the positives. "Its all out there in front of us," Brees said. "Obviously, we need some help in order to win the division and be the two seed, but the fact of the matter is all we can worry about is what is ahead of us." Carolina (11-4) can wrap up the NFC South and a first-round bye in the playoffs with a win next Sunday at Atlanta. The Saints would win the division if they beat the Buccaneers and Carolina loses to the Falcons. The manner in which the Saints lost was particularly tough. Cam Newton, who had struggled all afternoon, threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Domenik Hixon with 23 seconds left to get the Panthers their first playoff berth since 2008 before more than 70,000 rain-drenched fans. Newton had been limited to 116 yards passing in the games 59 minutes. But the defence, dominant all day, gave him one last chance to win by forcing the Saints to go three-and-out. Newton took over at the Carolina 35 trailing 13-10 with 55 seconds left, no timeouts, a sore ankle and his best receiver, Steve Smith, on the sideline with a knee injury. He dug in and completed a 37-yard pass to Ted Ginn Jr. to quickly get the Panthers in field goal range. Then he connected with Greg Olsen for 14 yard. After Newton spiked the ball, Hixon made a diving catch in the left side of the end zone, cradling the ball in his chest after beating cornerback Corey White. The catch set off a huge celebration that left the stadium shaking. "I was 99 per cent sure it was a catch," Hixon said with a grin. The seldom-used Hixon came into the game with just three catches for 21 yards on the season. "Cam was very resilient," coach Ron Rivera said. "He struggled all day and he knows that. But he came through when we needed him." Carolinas defence kept the team in the game while the offence struggled, intercepting Brees twice and sacking him six times to avenge a 31-13 loss two weeks ago. Middle linebacker Luke Kuechly had 24 tackles — tying an NFL record, according to STATS — and an interception while building his case for Defensive Player of the Year, and Greg Hardy had three sacks going up against rookie left tackle Terron Armstead. "Theyre a good pass-rushing team," Brees said. "They did a good job of applying the pressure at times. They did a good job of covering some things downfield when we were trying to push the ball downfield. Maybe the result of that ended up being having to hold the ball a little bit longer and take sacks." New Orleans took the lead with 6:37 left after Brees drove his team 97 yards in 11 plays, connecting on a 5-yard pass to Graham on a jump ball in the end zone. Graham caught three passes for 62 yards, including a 46-yard reception, on the series. NOTES: Smith injured a knee ligament and he will need an MRI on Monday. He injured the knee in the first quarter then tried to return in the second but couldnt run on it. ... The Saints lost safety Kenny Vaccaro for the game in the second quarter when he was carted off with a left lower leg injury. Atlanta Falcons Steven Jackson Jersey . Reo-Coker is expected to miss the Major League Soccer clubs game this weekend against the Houston Dynamo with a concussion after he tripped over a bike rack and banged his head in Vancouver on Sunday. Atlanta Falcons Lamar Holmes Jersey .6 million deal on Monday night. Thorburn was set to become an unrestricted free agent at noon on Tuesday.SUNRISE, Fla. -- Alex Ovechkin rebounded from his Olympic disappointment. In the first game back since the break, Ovechkin scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and had two assists, and Troy Brouwer had two power-play goals, lifting the Washington Capitals to a 5-4 victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night. Nicklas Backstrom and Brooks Laich also tallied for the Capitals and Braden Holtby made 30 saves. Backstrom and Laich each had two assists. Russia was eliminated by Finland in the quarterfinals at the Sochi Games, where Ovechkin had only one goal and one assist. Brad Boyes scored twice for Florida, and Drew Shore and Tomas Fleischmann also had goals. Tim Thomas stopped 27 shots. Ovechkin broke a 4-all tie in the third period when he took a pass from Laich on the right side and sent a one-timer past Thomas at 15:43 for his 41st goal. "I think we had a pretty good game, but a couple of mistakes, a couple of turnovers almost cost us points," Ovechkin said. "But its good we bounced back and finished." Ovechkins goal came just 16 seconds after a great save by Thomas with 4:43 left in the game. Mike Green came in on a breakaway on Thomas, who slipped backward into the crease and stretched out his glove into the net as he fell. Greens shot went right into Thomass glove as he was flat on his back. "I just caught a rut on the ice or something but it turned into a really nice highlight reel save," Thomas said. "I had to make the save because I look like an idiot." Thomas save might have turned the momentum toward Florida but Ovechkin spoiled the effort. "We tied it up, we were fortunate enough for me to make that save, but (after) that type of save, the last thing you want to give up is a two-on-one," Thomas said. The Capitals beat the Panthers for the ninth time in 10 meetings. Florida lost for the sixth time in seven games. For Ovechkin, looking forward might be the best way to handle the disappointment, and this game was a good start. "Its always important when you score goals because youre going to feel great the next day and the next game," Ovechkin said. The Panthers rallied twice from two-goal deficits but it wasnt enough to stop the Capitals. "The guys showed huge character after being down. Womens Kroy Biermann Jersey. I didnt like the goals they (Washington) scored, but they fought back and got a goal at the end of the first, we fought back and tied the game up, and we give them two goals again," Panthers coach Peter Horachek said. "We fight back and tie it up, then you give them the winner. Its frustrating." Down 4-2, the Panthers tied it in the first half of the third period with two goals 82 seconds apart. Shore scored a power-play goal at 8:01 with a slap shot. Boyes tied it 4-all when he grabbed his own rebound and put it into the net at 9:23. "We lost our composure a little bit and they were able to capitalize on it," Laich said. Brouwers second power-play goal gave the Capitals a 4-2 lead. Thomas made a pad save on a shot by Ovechkin but lost his stick. Brouwer knocked in the loose puck with 47 seconds left in the second. "Were trying to make a good playoff push and we need everyone to contribute to try and find ways to get points like we did tonight," Brouwer said. The Panthers tied the score 2-2 just 40 seconds into the second. Boyes found a rebound at the right side of the net and poked in the puck. The Capitals regained the lead about three minutes later. Backstrom took a rebound that went off a Panthers defenceman and put it into the net at 3:44. The Capitals scored twice in the first period. During a power play, John Carlson took a shot from the point that was blocked by Thomas. Brouwer grabbed the rebound after it deflected off Laich and backhanded it past Thomas at 5:48 to make it 1-0. Laich then took a cross-ice pass from Ovechkin and scored on a one-timer from the right circle that went over Thomass shoulder at 8:10. The Panthers closed to 2-1 on Fleischmanns goal. Fleischmann took a pass from Jesse Winchester below the left circle and beat Holtby on the stick side at 15:27 of the first for his first goal in 23 games. NOTES: Capitals C Marcus Johansson sat out the game due to fatigue after a 20-hour plane trip from Sweden via London to return to the U.S. ... D Mike Green and C Mikhail Grabovski, who missed five and eight games respectively due to injury before the Olympic break, were back in the lineup for Thursdays game. ... Panthers C Scott Gomez and D Dylan Olsen were healthy scratches. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys from china ' ' '