The danger in playing a team like the winless Detroit Lions is one, they have absolutely nothing to lose, and two they are going to get a win sometime between now and week 17.  This is a classic trap game for the Carolina Panthers, who come in with the third best record in football, facing a team with the worst record in football.  Be it cockiness or simply not focusing, games like this tend to go the lesser teams way.

All that being said, here one reason why the Panthers will not give the Lions their one win of the season: Jake Delhomme had an absolutely horrible game last week.   Despite having some bad games in the past, Delhomme has always managed to rebound from not-so-great performances.  I’m not saying he’s going to throw five touchdowns, just that he is going to come out motivated and ready to play, something the Lions don’t want.

One other, if Delhomme does start to struggle as much as he did last week, just give DeAngelo Williams the ball in the Wildcat.  Williams showed how effective that can be both this season, and two years ago against Atlanta.  With a rush defense that ranks 31st in the league, Williams will probably be pretty effective, even if Detroit is stacking 9 guys in the box.

Keys to the Game

1. Don’t Keep the Lions in the Game- The Panthers did a great job of going up early last week against the Raiders, the problem is, they let the Raiders hang around, and when you do that in NFL, chances are you are going to get beat.  The Panthers simply need to go up early and not look back.  That means pounding the ball with Williams and Stewart, and getting the ball to Steve Smith.  As long as the offense does their job, the defense will do theirs.

2. Be ready for both Daunte Culpepper and Drew Stanton- The Lions alternated between quarterbacks last week against Jacksonville, and I expect them to do more of that today as well.  Culpepper has had another week to learn the offense, but he still won’t be able to use the entire playbook, in which case Stanton may com into the game.  With Julius Peppers suddenly red hot, things will be tough for Culpepper if he has trouble deciding where to throw the ball.

Really there isn’t much else to say, the Panthers just need to play their game, and they should come out with a win.  With Carolina playing at home, where they have been perfect all season, they should be able to move past the Lions and maintain their one game lead over Tampa Bay and Atlanta in the NFC South.

Panthers 28 Detroit 9

Tags: Jake Delhomme, panthers, winless lions