NFL Week 12: Dolphins vs. Panthers Preview

The Miami Dolphins (5-5) have dominated the Carolina Panthers (7-3) in the teams’ past few meetings, but Sunday’s bout between the two squads might go a bit differently, as the Panthers enter week 12 as one of the league’s hottest teams.

Coming off a controversial win against New England, Carolina aims for its franchise record-tying seventh straight win today. Victories haven’t always been easy to come by on the streak and although the Panthers are as confident as any team, they don’t expect the feisty Dolphins to make things any easier.

Even amidst the ongoing bullying controversy, the Phins have managed to hold things together, winning two of their last three games. Now, with a .500 record, Miami is in the playoff hunt and doesn’t see why they can’t still turn 2013 into a positive season for the franchise.

“We’re fighting through this,” tackle Tyson Clabo said of the controversy surrounding Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin, according to ESPN.com. “Someone’s got to get that last wild-card spot. Why not us?”

It seems the Dolphins have the right attitude, but they’ll certainly need more than that to snap Carolina’s winning streak. The Panthers come into today’s battle with the league’s 10th best run game (125.3 yards per game), which should thrive against a defense that has allowed more than 150 yards per contest over the last four weeks.

Of course, much of that rushing production can be credited to Carolina’s dual-threat quarterback, Cam Newton, who has also accounted for 13 total touchdowns during the team’s impressive streak. Containing the elusive Newton will definitely be a chore for the Dolphins, but defending him as a drop-back passer will be too, as Newton comes into today’s game completing 63.2 percent of his passes and has thrown twice as many TDs (16) as INTs (8) this year.

Offensively, the Phins face even stiffer challenges in going against the NFL’s fifth-ranked pass defense and third-ranked rush defense. Considering no team has scored more than 20 points on the Panthers during their current winning streak, Miami can expect some tough sledding as it tries to move the ball downfield.

The Dolphins have certainly fought hard to get where they are this season, but the Panthers appear to have nearly every conceivable advantage in this match-up – other than home field. Look for Carolina to extend its streak to seven wins and cover -4.5 points in the process today.