A meaningless game that sends Fassel packing and mercifully ends the Giants season. The Panthers will play this game to win and little more.

Carolina Notes

The Panthers rise to 10-5 and have clinched the NFC South.

Jake Delhomme comes off a nice (and expected) big game against the Lions when he threw for 260 yards and two scores. He has thrown for at least one score in each of the last five games and now faces a defense that redefines bad each week.

Stephen Davis did not play last week but will return to practice and play on Sunday though he may not go for the full game in order to remain fresh for the first round of the playoffs against Green Bay or Seattle. De'Shaun Foster took the start last week and gained 76 yards on 21 carries.

Steve Smith will look to end the regular season on a strong note and improve on his seven touchdowns and two 100 yard efforts this season. He could hardly ask for a better opponent though with little to win in the game and a probable early lead, he may not be needed in order to win.

Match against the Defense: The Giants, for all their many failings, have been at least average against the run. Michael Strahan is playing well even if no one else is. Look for a decent but not huge rushing effort by the Panthers that will likely use both Davis and Foster.

Delhomme could shred this secondary if he wanted to but this looks more like a wind down game that the Panther defense can secure with only moderate help from the offense.

NY Giants Notes

The Giants fall to 4-11 and have lost their last seven games. It is hard to recall that they were 4-4 at one point.

Jesse Palmer threw for 190 yards against Dallas last week and his two starts have produced only one score. Palmer was off target much of the game last week, missing even short dumps in the flats that could have kept drives alive. More than anything, Palmer is running for his life back there in the face of repeated blitzes.

Tiki Barber had 47 yards rushing and 55 yards receiving last week and was the only facet of the Giants offense that seemed geared to the pro game last week. With the exception of a couple of medium range completions to Amani Toomer, he was the entire offense last week.

The wideouts have become almost inconsequential now since there is normally not enough time to throw the ball down the field and Toomer only had four scores on the season with three 100 yard games. He has only 116 yards total in the last three games.

Match against the Defense: The Giants have not scored more than seven points in the last five games. Like Mariucci in Detroit, the coach wants to have a good final home game and yet simply does not have the personnel to get the job done. The Panthers are most likely going to win this by just enough to take the game safely, so Barber will still be allowed to run and combined with his receiving yardage might top 100 yards as the only player of significance for the Giants.

* Fantasy point rankings calculated using standard Huddle fantasy points