Carolina Panthers at Pittsburgh Steelers, 8:20 ET, NFL Network: The NFC's worst team, a Southern team, plays a cold-weather road game against an AFC team needing a win to keep a handle on home field advantage. We cherish our neighbors to the northeast, and wish them no harm. Please return them in one piece as soon as the game's over, Steelers.
Was just looking at Sports Illustrated's NFL preview from earlier this season. They had the Panthers going something like 10-6 and grabbing a wild card spot. The thinking around these parts was either that they'd lost interception wizard Jake Delhomme, and would thus improve by turning the ball over less, or that they'd lost Julius Peppers and others and were going to be quarterbacked by a committee of youngsters and would thus lose a lot.
This could be the second-to-last game of John Fox's NFL coaching career. For his contributions to the NFC South, including repping the division in its second-ever Super Bowl, we salute the dean of NFC South coaches.
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