Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers Sunday afternoon in Charlotte, the Carolina Panthers host the Atlanta Falcons in an NFC South match-up of two struggling teams looking to turn it around in the second half of the season.

In the South, everyone is looking up at the 8-0 New Orleans Saints and neither of these teams can afford to lose, but the Panthers are in desperation mode as their 3-5 record leaves them with a lot of work to do.

NFL odds makers are calling the Falcons as slight road favorites in this one. The Vegas line is sitting at, Atlanta -1.5 with the total in the contest set at 43.5.

When these two meet in Week 2, the Falcons were able to come away with a 28-20 win in Atlanta. Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme threw for over 300 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the contest while Atlanta's Matt Ryan tossed 3 touchdowns and Michael Turner ran for over 100 and score a touchdown of his own.

The quarterback position may be an area of concern
for both of these teams, but neither is letting on that they think they have any problems.

The Falcons insist that Ryan isn't struggling despite his poor numbers over the last three games and the Panthers appear to be happy just to see Delhomme making less mistakes as of late.

As so often is the case in the NFL, the ground game will be key for this game.

For the Panthers, DeAngelo Williams missed Friday's practice with a knee injury and will be a game-time decision for coach John Fox, however back-up Jonathon Stewart is ready to go if Williams is inactive.

As for the Falcons, Turner has been hot lately after a bit of a slump. The Atlanta tailback gained 166 yards and scored two touchdowns last week for the Falcons, six days after he gained 150 yards on 20 carries in a 35-27 loss at New Orleans.

I like the Panthers at home in this one. Atlanta just hasn't played well on the road and that will continue this week in Carolina.

Take the Panthers getting 1.5 points at home.