Drew Brees passed for 376 yards and two touchdowns Youth M.J. Stewart Jersey , and the New Orleans Saints held off Carolina’s late comeback bid to seal a 31-26 victory in their NFC wild-card game on Sunday.

The Panthers had a first down on the Saints 26-yard line with 58 seconds left, but heavy pressure by All-Pro defensive end Cameron Jordan a couple plays later induced an intentional grounding penalty on Carolina quarterback Cam Newton, making it third-and-25 on the Saints 34 and a required 10-second runoff left 22 seconds on the clock.

After an incompletion in the end zone on third down, Vonn Bell sacked Newton on a safety blitz, ensuring the Saints (12-5) swept all three meetings with Carolina (11-6) this season, in addition to winning their first playoff game in four seasons.

Brees’ touchdowns went for 80-yards to Ted Ginn and 9 yards to tight end Josh Hill. Fullback Zach line and running back Alvin Kamara each ran for short touchdowns, the latter set up by Michael Thomas 46-yard reception.

Thomas caught eight passes for 131 yards on a day when the Saints needed the passing game to compensate for a ground game that struggled to get going.

JAGUARS 10, BILLS 3

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Blake Bortles put together one decent drive all day, doing as much with his legs as his arm, and the defensive-minded Jacksonville Jaguars eked out an ugly and sometimes unwatchable victory against the Buffalo Bills in an AFC wild-card game.

In the postseason for the first time since January 2008, the third-seeded Jaguars (11-6) advanced to play at No. 2 seed Pittsburgh next week.

The sixth-seeded Bills (9-8) will head home after ending the longest Authentic Armani Watts Jersey , current playoff drought in North American professional sports.

Bortles was a big reason Jacksonville won the game and a big reason it was so close. He was off most of the day, misfiring short and long, but made up for it with 88 yards rushing – becoming the second starting quarterback in the past 25 years to win a playoff game with more rushing yards than passing (87). Atlanta’s Michael Vick also did it against the St. Louis Rams in the 2004 playoffs.

Bortles’ TD pass to backup tight end Ben Koyack late in the third quarter was his best throw of the game, helping Jacksonville win its first playoff game at home since the 1997 season.

The Bills finished with 263 yards, with 119 of those coming from hobbled running back LeSean McCoy (ankle). Quarterback Tyrod Taylor left the game after being thrown to the ground by Dante Fowler Jr. and hitting his head hard. Nathan Peterman entered the game with 1:27 remaining. All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey tipped and then intercepted Peterman’s third pass, and the Jaguars ran out the clock.

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Curtis Martin took and dished out plenty of helmet hits as he rushed for more than 14,000 yards in his Hall of Fame career.

He just wishes he didn't have to endure that.

The retired running back sees the NFL's enhanced rule penalizing players for leading with their helmets as a positive step for the sport. As a member of the player safety advisory panel, he's part of a leaguewide effort to educate the current generation on how to stay on the right side of the rule and reduce injuries.

"Hopefully we can extend careers and just have less contact to the head, which I just think is beneficial over a long period of time," Martin said by phone this week. "We're really focusing on getting the head (contact) out of the game. I wish it was like that when I was playing. I think it's something that's very positive, and I think it's important as we go forward and the future of the game."

Martin and former linebackers Willie Lanier , also a Hall of Famer http://www.redskinsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-geron-christian-jersey , and Willie McGinest taped minute-long "NFL Way to Play" instructional videos for players stressing stance, posture and technique. For specific examples of head-contact hits that are now 15-yard penalties or possibly ejections, there are situation-specific videos narrated by coaches Anthony Lynn of the Chargers (ball carriers ), Doug Marrone of the Jaguars (offensive linemen ), Dan Quinn of the Falcons (defensive linemen ), Mike Vrabel of the Titans (linebackers ), and Todd Bowles of the Jets (defensive backs ).

"I just had some things I wanted to try to share being a former player and having played that technique and coached that technique," Vrabel said. "It's what's best for the game, the fundamentals. We always try to teach the fundamentals that are good: playing with your knees bent, leading with your hands and playing with your face up."

After watching those videos, Redskins coach Jay Gruden said making sure players don't use their helmets as weapons is "a big thing we're trying to get over." That's the NFL's emphasis: a helmet is for protection and not to be used as a projectile.

"You don't necessarily want to hurt anyone," Martin said. "As an offensive player Authentic Jonathan Cooper Jersey , a lot of times, especially when you see those times when a player or whoever's carrying the ball they're very close to the sidelines, but before they go out, they decide they just want to punish that (defensive back). That's where you see the helmet used as a weapon, and you want to cut things like that out of the game because it's unnecessary, No. 1, and it just protects the players better."

Bowles, who played defensive back for eight NFL seasons, illustrated in his video many of the shoulder-to-shoulder hits that are legal and expected. He contrasted them with some players who made helmet-to-helmet contact. Because the enhanced rule now makes helmet-to-anywhere contact a penalty, he knows it's on coaches to give players a refresher on the proper way to tackle.

"It's really teaching football to be played the right way," Bowles said. "There are going to be hard collisions, but if the helmet's up Authentic Calvin Ridley Jersey , and you have to keep the helmet out of the way and hit with the shoulder, which most of the teams do all the time. There's an occasional head-to-head when someone's putting their head down, but we don't teach it any differently."

Martin fully understands the football mentality of pushing for the extra yard and going for the big hit, so he figures it'll take time for players to adjust. It's his hope the culture change toward understanding head injuries helps players accept the updated rule for their own good.

"As former players, we can sit back and see how this rule would've been very effective for us when we were playing," Martin said. "But when you're in the midst of something, it's like anything 鈥?when you're in the midst of a problem, it's hard to see the benefits of (fixing) that problem or the outcome or the potential positive things that can come out of that problem. Now that we're on the other side, we can see that maybe a little clearer than current players can and as we're able to inform them and teach, I think that they'll come around."
AP Pro Football Writers Teresa M. Walker and Dennis Waszak Jr. contributed.
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