carolina+3....square side, public side, whatever you want to call it, the panthers have some value with this number. yeah, i know chicago dominated them earlier in the year when carolina was a 3 point favorite. the panthers came into that game riding a 6 game winning streak, needless to say they took the bears lightly and were beaten. however, the bears offense didn't do anything to win this game. delhomme made 2 dumb picks to give the bears 10 points and the panthers were never able to recover despite steve smith catching 14 balls for a lot of yards. ortman was the qb then, today it will be grossman. i have a lot of respect for lovie smith, but not starting grossman against the vikes in week 17 made no sense. he has played 6 quarters the whole season and only thrown 39 passes an all of a sudden he is the savior for the offense. i do believe he gives the offense a better chance to be productive, however this is the playoffs and the panthers defense looked rather impressive last week shutting out manning, tiki, shockey, and plexiglass. could the bears win this game? sure could the panthers win this game? sure.....bottom line when it comes down to it, the panthers defense ranks number 3 right behind the bears by less than a yard. the panthers will not give this game away today, they will make the bears earn it. i will take the panthers defense and delhomme, who has been to a superbowl, over the bears great defense and an inexperienced grossman, who is only making the 8 start of his career. the bears could win, but the line for this game should be a pick'em.
good luck
good luck
