A dubious mark: Saints QB Drew Brees is tied for the NFL lead in interceptions (18). (US Presswire)

Neither the Saints nor the Panthers have been legitimate playoff contenders for several weeks, but it is impossible to tell from their effort level on the field.

The “battle” for second place in the NFC South this Sunday at the Superdome will be between two of the hottest teams in the league.

After an 0-4 start, New Orleans has won seven of 11 and can finish .500 with a victory over the Panthers.

“We didn’t give up,” OT Jermon Bushrod said. “A lot of teams would have given up, but we did a tremendous job getting ourselves out of the hole. It just wasn’t good enough.”

After losing eight of its first 10, Carolina has won four of five and can tie the Saints at 7-9 while completing a season sweep.

“We looked at ourselves as a playoff contender that lost a couple of close games,” Panthers WR Brandon LaFell said. “We gave two or three games away, the Seattle game, the first Atlanta game we played and also the Tampa Bay game we played at home.

"We feel if we had won those games we would have put ourselves in a better situation at the end of this year.”

The Saints and Panthers share other similarities. They each handed Kanas City its only wins and Atlanta its only two losses, showing why neither of them have been above .500 all year, but both have potential greater than their records.

“They have veteran guys, and they are a very talented group, too,” Saints QB Drew Brees said of Carolina. “I know their goals and aspirations are higher than their record, just like us. They are not the type of team that shuts it down, and obviously you see that in their play.”

The difference between 7-9 and 8-8 is not much for a team that began the year with Super Bowl aspirations. But the Saints have played hard in back-to-back victories and figure to give the same effort on Sunday.

“There’s not anybody in our building that’s happy with 8-8, but the other choice is 7-9,” interim coach Joe Vitt said. “That’s a losing record, and it speaks volumes.”

Painful INT: Brees is tied with the Colts’ Andrew Luck with an NFL-high 18 interceptions, and none of his picks were more costly than the one he threw in the first quarter against Carolina in Week 2.

With the Saints ahead 7-0, Brees rolled away from pressure in his own end zone and forced a pass right into the hands of Panthers LB Charles Godfrey, who returned it for a 9-yard score.

By the time New Orleans scored its second touchdown, it trailed 28-13 and was well on its way to an 0-2 start that belied all of the Saints talk about how coach Sean Payton’s season-long, bounty-related suspension would not be a distraction.

“Obviously the turnover early in that game, you hate to see that happen,” Brees said. “We had some momentum going and a chance to really score touchdowns on two of our first three drives.”

Brees has cut out the mistakes the last two weeks, throwing zero interceptions in 92 attempts in wins against Tampa Bay and Dallas. The focus has returned to his league-leading 39 TD passes and 4,781 passing yards.

“You always are as good as your next performance,” he said. “I want the last impression in people’s minds to be something really good. I want us to be really sharp and have a really good team effort.”

Injury update: Four players missed practiced on Wednesday. FB Jed Collins, RB Pierre Thomas and DT Akiem Hicks sat out with knee injuries, and CB Jabari Greer is recovering from a concussion he sustained against Dallas.

Vitt said RB Chris Ivory, who has missed three straight games with a hamstring injury, participated fully, as did TE Jimmy Graham, who has a right finger injury to go along with a left wrist issue.

Follow Saints reporter Guerry Smith on Twitter @CBSSaints.