CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- When Luke Kuechly was carted off the field with a concussion, the tears streaming down his face as he left, it appeared the Carolina Panthers might be ready for another collapse.Their defensive leader was gone and another big fourth-quarter lead was crumbling.Instead, the Panthers did just enough to hold on and beat the New Orleans Saints 23-20 on Thursday night in a game marred by injuries to key players.When Kuechly went down the lead was at 10, and players gathered around him as he was put on a cart near midfield. Carolina would give up another score, but hold on for itsr third win in four games.We rally behind that guy, defensive end Charles Johnson said about Kuechly. Hes our leader. When you see a leader go down like that, we just rally behind him. Im keeping Luke in my prayers.The Panthers, who surrendered a 17-point lead and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs last week, entered the fourth quarter with a 23-3 lead before injuries began to take their toll. Along with Kuechly, the Panthers lost two-time All-Pro center Ryan Kalil (shoulder), top pass rusher Mario Addison (foot) and cornerback Leonard Johnson (chest) to injuries. The Saints lost running back Mark Ingram to a head injury in the third quarter.It was the Grim Reaper walking around out there, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said.Saints quarterback Drew Brees seemed to seize the momentum.Brees, who had been held to 171 yards and no touchdowns in the first three quarters, rallied the Saints back to 23-20 with touchdown passes to Brandon Coleman and Coby Fleener.But an 18-yard reception by Kelvin Benjamin on a third-and-10 with 2:39 left in the game proved pivotal, taking enough time off the clock where Brees only had 14 seconds to work with on his final drive. He couldnt manage to get his team into field goal range.Newton finished 14 of 33 for 192 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown pass to Ted Ginn Jr. as the Panthers (4-6) pulled even with the Saints for third place in the NFC South.Our mantra is to Keep Pounding and it speaks volumes in situations like this, Newton said. I will take an ugly win over a pretty loss.Jonathan Stewart also ran for a touchdown and Graham Gano had three field goals.Carolinas next two games are on the West Coast -- at Oakland and Seattle.Hopefully, the time off will give us enough time to heal up for this long road trip, safety Kurt Coleman said. And also you wonder if it wasnt a Thursday game and it was a Sunday game, would there be these type of injuries? You never know. ... Im just going to pray for everybody. Not only our team but their team.BETTER DEFENSEBrees finished with 285 yards passing.That was a dramatic difference from the last time the two teams met on Oct. 16 when Brees threw for 465 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-38 win over the Panthers.They did exactly what we hoped and that was keep the ball it in front of them, Rivera said of his young secondary. You cant ask for the guys to do a better job.KICKING WOESSaints coach Sean Payton was upset after the game about the teams continuing struggles on special teams, including a blocked field goal that was returned 73 yards by Kuechly before the half to set up Ginns touchdown catch.Last week the Saints lost to Denver when a potential game-tying extra point was blocked and returned for a 2-point defensive conversion.Fundamentally weve got to be able to kick an extra point. ... Weve got to be able to, you know, kick a field goal thats a makeable one, Payton said. Weve just struggled in that area. It cost us at New York, it cost us last weekend (against) Denver and it cost us again tonight. And weve got to be smart enough in the game early to understand that the turnovers arent good.LOSE SOME, WIN SOMEMaybe Ginn is just too fast for officials.In the first quarter Ginn appeared to score on a 14-yard run, but officials reviewed the play and ruled his knee was down at the 1-yard line taking away a touchdown. Then, in the closing seconds of the second quarter, officials ruled Ginn was out of bounds on a pass from Cam Newton. But after instant replay officials overturned the ruling and gave Ginn a 40-yard touchdown catch.UNDER PRESSURENewton was under heavy pressure for most of the first half, taking a sack on third down that took his team out of field goal range -- the second time he has done that in as many weeks.A COOL BREESBrees eclipsed 3,000 yards passing for the 13th consecutive season, tying Peyton Manning for the second-longest streak in NFL history.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFLCheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. Cheap Calgary Flames Jerseys China . On Mar. 16, coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November, St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the welterweight title. 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West Coast coach Adam Simpson admits his team wont make much of an impact during finals time if they dont get out of their current funk, but hes not panicking just yet.The Eagles (12-5) enter round 19 just percentage adrift of second spot following a five-match winning run; all against sides below them on the ladder.But their patchy form during that streak has been a huge concern, with the absence of star ruckman Nic Naitanui telling.West Coast were lucky to notch a six-point win over Melbourne last week after losing the inside-50m count 66-37.Naitanui (Achilles surgery) wont return until next weeks clash with Fremantle, meaning the Eagles will need to come up with a different way to generate enough attacking opportunities against Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday.A loss to Collingwood would prove disastrous to West Coasts top-four hopes, and Simpson is well aware the stakes are high.But rather than panic, Simpson said it was just a matter of helping the clubs mid-tier players rediscover the form they displayed during last years run to the grand final.I would have thought a few have dropped away, Simpson said.We need them stepping up.Our good players are playing well at the moment, we just need a few more contributors.The Eagles will start as favourites against both Collingwood and Fremantle.But their top-four hopes will be put to the test in the final three rounds, when theey take on GWS (away), Hawthorn (home) and Adelaide (away).dddddddddddd.Simpson knows his team need to get out of their recent funk if they are to be a legitimate challenger for the premiership this year.You would have thought were not going to progress too far if we continue to play the same standard were playing at the moment, Simpson said.We understand that every game is critical for us at the moment because were fighting with six other sides for two or three spots up the top there.The challenge for us is we want to be a consistent top-four side, and were not there yet.I dont think having one good season gets you that right. Were still working towards that consistency with our sustained success.It doesnt necessarily mean youll win a premiership every year. But if you can be a contender and up amongst it, thats our ultimate goal.West Coast havent beaten Collingwood at the MCG since 1995, and Simpson said it was a challenge his team would embrace.Collingwood were dealt a triple injury blow when Alex Fasolo (shoulder), Jarryd Blair (groin), and Ben Sinclair (concussion) were all forced out this week.West Coast recalled Dom Sheed for his first AFL match of the season, while Will Schofield, Mark Hutchings and Simon Tunbridge also return to the side. ' ' '