THE PANTHERS:

• Have started 3-0 just three times in their history (1996, 2002, 2003). Since 1990, 75 percent of NFL teams (93 of 124) that started 3-0 have made the playoffs.

• Are 17-2-1 when scoring at least 20 points since the start of 2013.

• Scored just three points in the first quarter of their first two games. They’ve scored 17 points in the second, 14 in the third and 10 in the fourth.

• Have rushed for 100 or more yards in 13 straight games, which ties them with Seattle for the longest active streak.

• Rushed for 271 yards (third-most in team history) in their last meeting against the Saints, a 41-10 win in New Orleans.

• Are 12-3-1 in the regular season when QB Cam Newton has at least 10 carries.

• Are 18-6-1 in the regular season when Newton rushes for at least 50 yards.

• Are allowing 3.64 yards per 1st down, the fewest in the NFL.

• Allowed their first two opponents to go just 8-for-31 on third down. Carolina’s 25.8 percent conversion rate is second-stingiest in the NFL.

PANTHERS:

• QB Cam Newton has accounted for all four of Carolina’s offensive touchdowns this season. He needs one more touchdown pass to tie Steve Beuerlein for second-most in Panthers’ history (86). Jake Delhomme tops that list with 120.

• WR Ted Ginn has as many receiving touchdowns (six) in 18 games with the Panthers as he’s had in 104 games with his three other teams. Five of his six touchdowns have gone for 25 or more yards.

• TE Greg Olsen caught a career-high 10 passes for 72 yards and a touchdown in his last meeting with the Saints.

SAINTS:

• QB Drew Brees will miss his first start with the Saints since he sat out the 2009 regular-season finale in Charlotte. Brees is 117-86 as a starter, including a 9-9 record against the Panthers. In his last seven games against Carolina, he threw for 15 touchdowns and four interceptions.

• QB Luke McCown, who’s in his 12th season, is 2-7 in his career as a starter with nine touchdowns and 14 interceptions. His last start was on 9/18/11 when he went 6/19 for 59 yards with no touchdowns and four interceptions in a 32-3 loss to the Jets. His last completed pass in a regular-season game was against Houston on 11/27/11. His only pass since then was on an ill-fated fake field goal attempt against the Panthers on 12/22/13.

• RB Mark Ingram scored twice in the Saints’ 20-10 win at Bank of America Stadium last October. It was the only time in his career he’s rushed for multiple scores. In December’s rematch, Ingram lost a fumble for just the second time in his career.

• RB C.J. Spiller rushed for 103 yards in his only previous game against the Panthers (9/15/13 with Bills).

• WR Marques Colston has scored six touchdowns in his past seven games against the Panthers.

• TE Benjamin Watson leads Saints’ TEs with five receptions for 31 yards and no touchdowns through two games. Former Saints TE Jimmy Graham had scored a touchdown in six straight games against the Panthers until he was kept out of the end zone in December.

• DE Cameron Jordan has six sacks in his past seven games against the Panthers.