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This has been a weird week. The Panthers have never played a real game on a Thursday before, as they've never been considered high-profile enough to grab one of the plum spots on Thanksgiving Day. But two home games in five days?! That's a slow week in the NBA, but it has caused a lot of hurry-up around the Panthers' building.
That Buffalo loss is going to haunt Carolina all year. Buffalo is so bad it just fired head coach Dick Jauron in midseason - not uncommon in some sports, but very rare in the NFL. Carolina outgained the Bills 425-167 in that one and still lost by 11. Nasty.
Speaking of Buffalo, did you see Tennessee owner Bud Adams got fined $250,000 for repeatedly shooting the bird at some Buffalo fans last week? That's $125,000 per hand! Somehow, I can't see Jerry Richardson ever doing that.
Losing Pro Bowl offensive tackle Jordan Gross for the season hurts Carolina, but I still think he's a bit easier to replace in this game than Ronnie Brown will be for Miami. Brown is a superb tailback and the master of the "Wildcat" formation - no one in the NFL runs it better. Without him tonight, the Dolphins will look far more conventional.
Let's face it, neither of these teams is exactly going to contend for a Super Bowl spot. With both of them limping along at 4-5, about the best you can say about this one is the winner gets to .500. But I think Carolina has more talent than Miami and is rounding into form a little better, having won four of its past six. I'm 6-3 this season predicting the Panthers' outcome, and here's my pick tonight: Carolina 27, Miami 16.
