• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 9, 2009

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NEW ORLEANS — For the third straight game Sunday, the New Orleans Saints struggled to keep their perfect record intact.

After not trailing in any of their first five games, the Saints were behind in the first half for the third consecutive week — this time digging a 14-0 hole for themselves in the first 8:07 of their game with the Carolina Panthers in the Superdome.

But they outscored the Panthers 30-6 over the final 3 1/2 quarters to secure a 30-20 win over their NFC South rivals and improve to 8-0 for the first time in the team’s 43-year history — eclipsing the 7-0 start of the 1991 Saints.

The eight victories also matched their win total for the entire 2008 season. That 8-8 mark a year ago came on the heels of a 7-9 record in ’07, which made Sunday’s come-from-behind victory even more special to many.

“It (being 8-0) is great,” said quarterback Drew Brees. “From 1967 until now, we’re the only team to have done that. I feel like we have a special group of guys.”

“(8-0) means a lot to me because I know what we had to go through the last two seasons,” running back Reggie Bush said. “To get here means a lot.

“We have a lot of heart and a lot of great character guys,” he added. “Just take the Miami game, look at last week (against Atlanta) and today. We always stay together in the face of adversity.”

They certainly proved that the last three games.

They trailed the Dolphins, 24-3, in the second quarter on Oct. 25 before rallying for a 46-34 victory. On Monday night, they twice fell behind the Falcons by seven points and eventually emerged with a 35-27 win.

On Sunday, they stumbled around on offense and defense early and didn’t score a touchdown in the first half for the first time this season — getting just field goals of 23 and 25 yards from John Carney.

The Panthers (3-5) started much better, scoring on runs of 66 and 7 yards by DeAngelo Williams almost before the crowd of 70,011 could settle into their seats. John Kasay later added a 32-yard field goal to push the lead to 17-3 following Carney’s first field goal.

At halftime, the Saints’ problems showed.

The Panthers had 130 rushing yards and the Saints, who led the NFL in total offense coming into the game, had just 164 yards. Most alarming was two turnovers by Brees, who has eight giveaways in the last three games.