Ravens / Pats

A 32-point victory was a case of too little, too late for the Carolina Panthers' ill-fated playoff bid.

Steve Beuerlein threw a club-record five scoring passes and Michael Bates returned a kickoff 95 yards for another touchdown in a 45-13 victory over the hapless New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

Carolina (8-8) won six of nine to finish its first season under coach George Seifert, but the Panthers still came up short of qualifying for an NFC wild-card berth. Carolina had to win Sunday by 18 points more than Green Bay's winning margin over Arizona. The Packers won by 18, meaning the Panthers needed to win by 36 to have a chance.

The Panthers intercepted Delhomme four times and converted two into 10 points. Beuerlein, who completed 22 of 41 passes for 322 yards, hit Wesley Walls and Patrick Jeffers for two scores each and Muhsin Muhammad for one.

Jeffers, who three days earlier signed a four-year, $10 million contract extension, wound up with 165 yards on seven catches, extending his club record to five consecutive games with at least 100 receiving yards.

New Orleans (3-13) fell to 15-33 under Mike Ditka, whose future with the Saints is to be reviewed soon by team owner Tom Benson.

One of Ditka's biggest gambles in his three ears with the Saints was his 1999 draft-day gamble on Ricky Williams, who ended his rookie season on an unproductive note. The oft-injured Williams, trying to become the first New Orleans back in 10 years to rush for 1,000, carried 14 times for seven yards and finished with 894 for the season

Delhomme, the NFL Europe graduate who endeared himself to New Orleans fans by leading the Saints to a surprise victory over Dallas a week earlier, wasn't nearly as successful in his second NFL start. He completed 26 of 49 for 243 yards and repeatedly drew Ditka's wrath.

Walls' second scoring pass, a 15-yarder that came when he found a seam in the middle of the coverage early in the third quarter, gave him 12 TDs on the season, tying an NFL record for tight ends. The record, now shared by four players, was first set by Ditka in 1961 while he was with the Bears.

So inept were the Saints on offense that they didn't even get into Carolina territory until the final 90 seconds of the first half, and when they did, they were only there for one play. A six-yard pass to Eddie Kennison put the ball on the Carolina 45, but Delhomme was dropped for a 12-yard sack by Kevin Greene on the next play, prompting a red-faced Ditka to call timeout and erupt, screaming at Delhomme for not throwing away the ball.

New Orleans did not get inside the Carolina 40 until Delhomme engineered a drive that produced a two-yard scoring toss to Kennison with 13 minutes left in the game, making it 31-7.

But on the ensuing kickoff, Bates took the ball at his own 5, raced up the middle to the 30, found his path sealed and busted out to the right sideline, where the 1992 Olympic sprinter found clear sailing.

©2000 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed