CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sticking to the master plan is starting to pay off for the New Orleans Saints.

“We didn’t point fingers and we stuck together,” Saints linebacker Junior Galette said. “We told each other we’re going to stick together and here we are in first place.”

Running back Mark Ingram rushed for two touchdowns and reached the 100-yard mark for the second game in a row as the Saints won consecutive games for the first time this season by defeating the Carolina Panthers 28-10 on Thursday night at Bank of America Stadium.

Quarterback Drew Brees threw for a touchdown and ran for another for the Saints (4-4) in the first meeting of the season between the primary NFC South contenders.

“It doesn’t matter how you start (the season). It matters how you finish,” New Orleans cornerback Keenan Lewis said. “We have to play everyone again in the division.”

Three of the Saints’ touchdown drives covered 80 or more yards Thursday night.

“We have to bring our ‘A’ game on the road,” Ingram said. “We just stayed with it.”

Ingram’s 3-yard touchdown run with 5:30 left sealed the outcome. He gained 100 yards on 30 carries just four nights after a 172-yard rushing performance against the Green Bay Packers.

“I feel like the more carries you get, the more you get in a rhythm,” Ingram said.

The Panthers (3-5-1), the defending champions in the division, have lost three games in a row and they’re winless in their last four games.

“We stand up and answer the same questions week-in and week-out,” Carolina tight end Greg Olsen said. “We say we’re going to fix it, but we have yet to find the solutions.”

Brees completed 24 of 34 passes for 297 yards, ending a string of four 300-yard passing games but it didn’t matter.

Carolina quarterback Cam Newton was 10-for-28 for 151 yards. He was sacked four times.

“I didn’t do enough,” Newton said. “There’s a lot that hasn’t been done. We have to take ownership and hold ourselves accountable.”

The Panthers picked up their first touchdown in two games on Newton’s scramble on third-and-goal from the 10, completing a 10-play, 81-yard march with 10:14 to play in the third quarter.

New Orleans responded with a 14-play drive, scoring on Brees’ fourth-down sneak from 1-yard out for a 21-7 advantage.

Carolina reached the New Orleans 6 on the second play of the fourth quarter before losing yards and settling for kicker Graham Gano’s 31-yard field goal.

“We’ve got to find a way,” Panthers center Ryan Kalil said. “My concern is with myself and the offensive line. We’ve got to do better.”

The Saints broke out to a 14-0 halftime lead with two scores late in the second quarter.

What the Saints said:

“The offense was just going to have to continue to push and keep pounding and eventually things would open up for us, and they did.” — Wide receiver Kenny Stills.

What the Panthers said:

“The game is about making plays. We play really well when we feed off of one another, and we didn’t feed off of the defense tonight.” — Wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery, on the team’s inability to take advantage of two first-quarter turnovers by New Orleans.

What we learned about the Saints

1. When running back Mark Ingram provides a boost on the ground, the Saints are bound to be more potent on offense. Ingram’s two most productive games of the season came in the past two outings. He posted 172 yards against the Green Bay Packers and then racked up 100 yards against the Carolina Panthers, all in a five-night period. Ingram, in his fourth season in the NFL, is only 24 years old. He is displaying his durability.

2. The defense showed lockdown capabilities on Carolina’s wideouts, assisting a heightened pass rush. Although the Saints were facing a mobile quarterback, Cam Newton, they keep him contained. “As for the defensive line, that pressure up the middle is so crucial for the ends,” defensive end Cameron Jordan said. The Saints notched four sacks and forced Newton into several other quick releases. Newton completed only 10 of 28 passes for 151 yards with an interception.

–RB Mark Ingram showed the type of durability that makes him so valuable, carrying 30 times for 100 yards against Carolina. “I’ve never carried the ball 30 times since high school,” said Ingram, who played in college for Alabama. His latest output came just four nights after his 172-yard outing against the Green Bay Packers. Across the two-game period, he has 54 attempts for 272 yards.

–WR Kenny Stills should be OK despite missing time after sustaining a second-half groin injury at Carolina. Stills racked up 72 receiving yards (tops on the team before he left in the third quarter), with QB Drew Brees throwing in his direction more than one-quarter of the time.

–TE Jimmy Graham gives the Panthers problems on a regular basis. Graham is a clutch weapon for QB Drew Brees in many situations, but he tends to come up particularly big against Carolina. Graham scored in a sixth consecutive outing against the Panthers on a 1-yard touchdown grab in the waning seconds of the first half Thursday night. He ended up with team highs of seven receptions and 83 receiving yards.

What we learned about the Panthers

1. The Panthers can’t afford to settle for field goals so often because the defense isn’t as stingy as a year ago. Scoring touchdowns is the best way to keep up. In the past two games combined, the Panthers have four field goals and one touchdown. “We’re not disciplined enough, speaking offensively,” center Ryan Kalil said. “We’ve just got to be more consistent. We have to make plays when plays are there, and we haven’t done that.”

2. The Panthers need to develop more reliable targets for quarterback Cam Newton because rookie wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin is the subject of mounting attention. Newton goes in Benjamin’s direction a good share of the time (10 of his 28 passes against New Orleans), but Benjamin still needs to work on his consistency. He finished with only two catches for 18 yards. It is not going to get much easier for a receiver who is drawing some double coverage. Bryant makes some tough receptions, but he also is prone to lapses in concentration, such as a dropped would-be touchdown pass in the end zone in the third quarter against New Orleans. “We were open,” Bryant said of receivers in general. “We just have to come down with the catch.”

–LB Luke Kuechly was the Panthers’ leading tackler again, contributing eight stops against New Orleans. That was hardly a dent compared to his career-high 24 tackles in the previous meeting against the Saints last season. Kuechly tends to be the emotional leader of the defense, and he will have a task ahead of him trying to rally the unit that hasn’t come close to reaching the level of dominance often displayed a year ago.

–RB DeAngelo Williams played in only his second game of the season after missing time with a sprained ankle. The Panthers used him right away on their first possession, and he proved to be helpful in the passing attack as well. Because he has missed so much time, he gives the Panthers another fresh running back. He compiled 43 rushing yards on seven carries and another 30 yards on one reception.

–S Roman Harper is in his first year with the Panthers after eight seasons with New Orleans, so he was particularly hyped up for the first matchup of the season between the division rivals. He produced a few noteworthy hits in the defensive backfield. “We didn’t make the plays that we needed to,” said Harper, who helped compile a scouting report on his former team in the days leading to the game. He ended up with five tackles Thursday.