NFC Wild Card: Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers - Live Blog

Arizona Cardinals	Saturday, January 3, 2015 - 2:35 PM MDT			Carolina Panthers
	AVG. YDS (RNK)	TEAM CATEGORY	AVG. YDS (RNK)
	14th	Pass Off.	19th
	31st	Rush Off.	7th
	29th	Pass Def.	11th
	13th	Rush Def.	16th
11-5	Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC			7-8-1
2nd NFC West	Spread: Panthers by 6.5			1st NFC South
Around SB Nation: Game Preview • Cardinals D • Key Matchups 1 • Key Matchups 2 • Panthers D • History

You would think there would not be much interest in this game for us Denver Broncos fans, but you'd be wrong. There just so happens to be a team playing here that we should all be rooting for. That teams is the Carolina Panthers. That's right, the 7-8-1 laughingstock Carolina Panthers. Why? Because of the three teams that the Seattle Seahawks could play next week, this one gives them the most issues on the football field.

Why you ask? Because the Seahawks have played the Panthers once in each of the last three seasons and here were the final scores: 16-12, 12-7, 13-9. All Seahawks wins, but in close games like those anything could happen. The Arizona Cardinals on the other hand, were curb stomped twice late in the season by a combined score of 54-9 against the Seahawks. So yeah, go Panthers!

Besides, it would be so delightful to see a 7-8-1 team go into Seattle and make that team work for it hard. I could potentially die and go to heaven if the Panthers roll on into the NFC Championship game. Hey, a delusional guy can dream right?

Back to today's game. I actually think the Panthers are the better team right now. All this talk about the Cardinals defense is way overrated and the Panthers actually have the better defense, so that's a bunch of overblown malarkey. Cam Newton may not be elite, but he surely isn't a second or third string quarterback in the NFL. By all accounts, this should be a win for the home team.

Prediction: Panthers 16, Cardinals 9.

What is your prediction, Broncos Country?

SB Nation blogs: Revenge of the Birds and Cat Scratch Reader