3 Things to Watch
Lions injuries
Detroit's winless streak has been exacerbated by a spate of health problems. Four starters are out – defensive ends Dewayne White (calf) and Jared DeVries (hand), center Dominic Raiola (hand) and safety Dwight Smith (foot). A fifth, receiver Mike Furrey (concussion), is doubtful. Three more starters are questionable: defensive tackle Cory Redding (groin), linebacker Ernie Sims (shoulder) and tight end John Owens (hamstring).
Panthers' 3rd receiver
Coach John Fox has been tightlipped about who the Panthers' third receiver will be today – D.J. Hackett or Dwayne Jarrett. With Hackett healthy, they appear to be in a dead heat. Hackett is a veteran, but the only way for Jarrett (the team's No.2 pick in 2007) to get much-needed experience is to play. Hackett got the nod last week in Oakland, but he caught just one pass. Jarrett caught two in the previous game against Arizona.
Detroit's QB
Daunte Culpepper probably doesn't have great memories of Bank of America Stadium, where he hurt his knee in 2005 while with Minnesota. He had stints in Miami and Oakland and a brief retirement before signing with the Lions on Nov.3.
The List
With high school playoffs starting, here are some Panthers' favorite prep postseason memories:
1. HILEE TAYLOR (SCOTLAND COUNTY): “Almost beating Independence when they had Chris Leak. Almost. We came pretty close (21-7). … That game got me into North Carolina, because a lot of colleges were there looking at Leak and a few of them noticed me.”
2. JASON BAKER (FORT WAYNE, IND.): “My junior year we won the state. We beat the best team in the semifinals, then went to the RCA Dome (in Indianapolis) for the championship. We had the whole road-to-the-dome mentality.”
3. DWAYNE JARRETT (NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.): “After we clinched the title my senior year, all the fans and the people in my town were just the happiest they'd ever been. My school hadn't won a championship since, like, 1926.”
4. STEVE SMITH (LOS ANGELES UNIVERSITY): “We were one game away from the championship. We lost. It was hard. But California, Texas, Florida – there's no high school football like it.”
Key to the Game
Panthers cornerback Chris Gamble
Gamble is having one of his better seasons, although he's intercepted just one pass. He has the speed and size (6-foot-1) to stay with Detroit's No.1 receiver and to go up with him after high balls.
The Panthers have the luxury of another outstanding corner – Ken Lucas – on the other side. So Johnson won't necessarily have an advantage when he switches from one end of the line of scrimmage to the other.
Lions receiver Calvin Johnson
A second-year player out of Georgia Tech, Johnson is developing into one of the NFL's top receivers and is perhaps the Lions' only legitimate offensive threat.
Johnson uses his size (6-5, 239 pounds) to be an extremely physical receiver. He also has plenty of speed and can stretch a defense by getting downfield in a hurry. He has 39 catches this season for 774 yards (19.8 yards per catch) and six touchdowns.
Panthers Insider
Watch the Panthers' Jason Baker today if he punts inside Detroit territory, where he'll want to kick the ball high and near the goal line.
Baker will use a “rugby” punt. He'll point the nose of the ball downward – so it's at a right angle to the ground – as he's punting and it will take a high trajectory. It will go almost straight up, end over end.
The rugby punt allows Baker to kick the ball hard without fear of it traveling too far and into the end zone.
“It's kind of like when they invented the lob wedge in golf,” said Baker. “You can take a full swing and it will go only 60 yards. With the rugby punt, I don't have to finesse it to have it travel 35 yards.”
Baker said the rugby punt came to the NFL with Darren Bennett, an Australian who punted for the San Diego and Minnesota in 1995-2005.
“It's kind of a trend,” said Baker. “Some guys are pretty good at it. Then there are guys like me who are still kind of figuring it out.”
Scott Says
Could the Panthers lose today? Absolutely. Even though Detroit is 0-9, it's so far been impossible for a team to go 0-16 in the NFL. The Lions will beat somebody. If Jake Delhomme flings the ball around like he's throwing left-handed again, like he did last week, it might be possible today.
The Lions are usually relevant around the NFL once per season – at Thanksgiving. Even though it's a couple of weeks early, I feel like I should be eating turkey today.
I liked this quote from Lions coach Rod Marinelli last week. He said of the Lions: “You're in this dark tunnel and you've got no way out. You're waiting for light, and you see that light, what do you do? What do you do? You start digging and getting out. … I've always believed you stay in the tunnel and you keep digging when you expect no light. You have the same faith when you expect no light. You have the same belief in what you're doing when you expect no light. … It's dark and I'm going to dig through. My shovel is sharp and my pick is sharp and my will is outstanding.”
This led to all sorts of jokes in Detroit, about whether you could receive text messages in such a tunnel, and so on. But I wish John Fox would use an analogy like that in his Monday news conference sometime, just for fun.
I don't think Delhomme will throw that badly for two games in a row. If he does, something's wrong. My prediction: He throws for three TDs and Carolina wins 34-14.
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