The Panthers have been up and down alternating wins and loss the last six weeks.  If that trend holds then they are due to win this week.  The Jets have been awful the last three weeks losing all three games by a combined score of 85-61.  The Panthers are going to come out running the ball so the Jets better tighten their chin straps.  DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart will be in a battle the whole game with the front seven of the Jets and ILBs David Harris and Bart Scott in particular.  The Jets are allowing 111.5 yards rushing per game (4.0 ypc) so far this season and the Panthers are averaging 159.1 yards rushing and 4.7 ypc this season so the Panthers should have some success on the ground on Sunday.  The Panthers probably will have QB Jake Delhomme in game manager mode on Sunday but they will likely still go up top a couple of times to Steve Smith who will probably be covered most of the game by Jets’ lock-down corner Darrelle Revis. 

QB Mark Sanchez has looked like a deer in headlights at times this season so the Jets will try to put him in conditions that he might succeed in this week.  That could mean a few more throws on first down than usual with Jerricho Cotchery being the most likely target.  Dustin Keller will be the guy that Sanchez looks for if he’s under duress from DE Julius Peppers and the rest of the Panthers’ D.  But the Jets have averaged 163.5 yards rushing per game (4.7 ypc) so they will take aim at a Panthers’ D that is allowing 130.7 yards rushing per game and 4.7 ypc.  That means that Thomas Jones will be the workhorse for the Jets on Sunday and that’s a good thing for the Jets’ O.

PREDICTION:  PANTHERS 17, JETS 13

22-year old rookie Tyrell Sutton was said to be too small to play in the Big 10 and the experts were wrong as he was a force at Northwestern.  The same things were whispered when he went undrafted.  But, the 5′8″, 213 pound Sutton played well in the pre-season and that caught the eye of the Panthers who signed him recently.  He has played in 3 games for the Panthers this season and he has carried the ball 3 times for 15 yards (5.0 ypc) and he has also caught 3 passes for 29 yards (9.7 avg).  Sutton also has found a home on special teams as he has returned 4 kickoffs for 106 yards (26.5 avg).  The Panthers found themselves a great little player in Sutton who I used to watch play at Hoban High School in Akron, Ohio.

The Panthers just didn’t play good enough to win the game last night.  Jake Delhomme looked sub par again last night completing 19 of 42 passes for 227 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 17 yards (8.5 ypc) last night.  DeAngelo Williams led the way for the Panthers last night on the ground with 13 carries for 122 yards (9.4 ypc).  Jonathan Stewart pitched in with 12 carries for 43 yards (3.6 ypc) last night.  WR Steve Smith had another solid game against the Fins catching 7 passes for 87 yards (12.4 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Panthers finished up with 383 total yards on offense (182 rushing, 201 passing) last night.

The defense didn’t play too well for the Panthers last night.  LB Jon Beason led the way on D for the Panthers last night with 8 tackles including 1 tackle for a loss.  CB Richard Marshall pitched in with 8 tackles last night.  The Dolphins finished up with 326 total yards on offense (154 rushing, 172 passing) in this game.  The Panthers are now 4-6 on the year.

This is a big game for both teams tomorrow night as they each sit at 4-5 on the year.  The Dolphins will be without Ronnie Brown which could force them to throw the ball a bit more than usual.  Still, they will try to ride Ricky Williams against a Panthers’ D that is allowing 128.1 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.  The Dolphins will likely have to throw the ball a few times on first down to make the Panthers pay for cheating the safeties up towards the line of scrimmage.  That would mean that Ted Ginn and Brian Hartline will have to step up and that is a iffy proposition.  But, Chad Henne has a strong enough arm to get the ball deep if he has time to throw the ball.  That means that the Dolphins will have to keep DE Julius Peppers (who is playing with a broken hand) out of the backfield which is easier said than done.

The Panthers will likely pound the ball with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart against a Dolphins’ D that is only allowing 97.6 yards per game and 3.7 yards per carry so something will have to give in this game.  The Panthers could also come out throwing the ball before they run it to try to get the Dolphins out of their comfort zone offensively getting them to play from behind.  To do that though the Panthers will need to keep Jason Taylor, Cameron Wake and Charlie Anderson away from Jake Delhomme.  Because if Delhomme has time to throw the ball he will likely beat the rookie CBs of the Dolphins with Steve Smith and Mushin Muhammad.  Delhomme has been better about protecting the football and look for that to continue tomorrow night against a Fins’ D with 8 interceptions that is allowing 239.4 yards passing per game.

PREDICTION:  PANTHERS 27, DOLPHINS 20

Over the last three games the Panthers are averaging 27.3 points per game and QB Jake Delhomme has not thrown and pickoffs.  In his last three games, Delhomme has completed 39 of 68 passes (57.4%) for 486 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs.  The Panthers need Delhomme to keep up the good work if they are going to make a playoff run.   Delhomme has now completed 145 of 245 passes (59.2%) for 1,658 yards with 7 TD passes and 13 INTs (67.0 QB Rating) so far this season.  The Panthers need his rating to keep climbing if the offense is going to take off in the 2nd half of the year and they need him to protect the football.