In a game pitting one of the best passing offenses in the league against one of the best rushing offenses in the league (kind of redundant considering last week huh??), the Cardinals will attempt to continue their "Cinderella" season against what is arguably the best team in the league. Winner of this game moves on to play either the Giants or Eagles, for a chance to play in the SB.
When the Cardinals have the ball:
Running the ball
Although the Cardinals had the 32nd ranked rushing offense in the league, they ran well last week against the Falcons, racking up 86 yards, but only averaging 3.1 yards per carry. Edge, had the best game, gaining 73 yards on 16 carries for 4.6 yards a carry. The Cardinals should give James the ball this game as well in an attempt to keep their running "success" up and have a chance to win the game. They are facing a defense that is ranked 20th against the run, allowing 118 yards per game, and should take advantage of it.
The Panthers biggest worry isn't going to be the run, but after what Edgerrin James was able to do last week, they still need to give it attention. They don't do a great job stopping the run, the loss of Kris Jenkins having hurt them in that area, but Jon Beason and the rest of the LBs need to step up and make some plays in order to keep the Cardinals one dimensional.
Passing the Ball
Well known to be the Cardinals strength this season, as it should be with the talent they have. Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald must, again, put on a "show." They are both great young WRs who can pick up big yards after the catch, as Boldin showed last week on his 70 yard TD catch, and have a knack for getting open. Kurt Warner needs to keep his mistakes to a minimum because the Cardinals do not want the Panthers to have the ball in this game. One question mark will be Boldin's status heading into the game as he has not practiced much this week because of a hamstring... If Boldin goes down, Steve Breaston will have to step up come game time.
The Panthers have fared better against the pass this season than the run, although not by much. They were 16th in the league, allowing 211 yards per game, but they do have one of the better CBs in the league in Chris Gamble. Gamble was 3rd on the team in tackles with 93, 83 of which were solo, and tied for the team lead with 3 INTs. Gamble will probably spend most of his time on Fitzgerald, while Richard Marshall makes his bid to cover Anquan Boldin. Julius Peppers is one of the league's best pass rushers, racking up 14 sacks this season, and the best description of his physical skills is that he is a freak of nature. The Cardinals OL will have much difficulty in keeping him quiet this week.
When the Panthers have the ball:
Running the Ball
The Panthers running game has been all but unstoppable this season, averaging 152 yards per game. Deangelo Williams seems to have found his stride in his 3rd season of play. While on his way to a 1,500 yard season, he also led the league in TDs with 18. Jonathan Stewart has proven to be a great compliment to Williams, during his rookie season. In their dual HB system, Stewart has put up respectable numbers, rushing for 836 yards (4.5 yards per carry), and 10 TDs of his own. The Panthers offense lives and dies by the effectiveness of their running game.
The Cardinals played a good game against the league's second leading rusher last week, but are in for a much bigger challenge this week. Coming into the game having allowed 110 yards per game on the ground (regular season), they must contain the 2 headed monster of the Panthers if they have any hope of winning this week. Karlos Dansby will have to play lights out again from the MLB position in order to hold Williams and Stewart down.
Passing the Ball
The Panthers strength hasn't been in the passing game, but they have played well. Having Steve Smith is obviously an asset when the ball is in the air. Dellhomme will need to take care of the ball better then he typically does. He threw 12 INTs this year, and only 15 TDs, while only completing 59% of his passes. If he takes care of the ball, and gets it to Steve Smith in the open field, their passing game will have done exactly what it is supposed to do.
While the Panthers want to get it to Steve Smith... The Cardinals will need to keep it AWAY from Steve Smith. Cromartie played well against Roddy White last week, but Steve Smith is a different story. Cromartie will need to have the best game of his young career if he wishes to keep Smith from tearing their defense apart. Not that Roderick Hood will have a much easier task in keeping Muhsin Muhammad quiet. They both need to be on their A games this week because if Muhammad and Smith can have big games, the Cardinals will be in for a lot of trouble. Bertrand Berry needs to have another big game and get pressure on Dellhomme in order to help out Cromartie and Hood.
If the Panthers get their ground game going, the Cardinals don't have much of a chance to win this game. They don't have a defense that is well equipped for the kind of rushing attack the Panthers can put together, and if the Cardinals sell out for the run, it will leave Steve Smith in single coverage, and that is never a good thing for the defense.
On the other hand, if the Cardinals can get their passing game going they can turn the game into a helluva shoot out, and it could get very interesting.