Starting QB Jake Delhomme has a broken finger on his throwing hand and it could cause him to miss some time.  Delhomme has played in 11 games this season for the Panthers and he has completed 178 of 321 passes (55.5%) for 2,015 yards with 8 TD passes and 18 INTs (59.4 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 17 times for 60 yards (3.5 ypc) so far this season.  This makes things easier for Coach Fox who has likely wanted to bench Delhomme for his poor play for quite some time now.  Matt Moore will practice with the first team until they make a decision on Delhomme.  Moore has played in 2 games for the Panthers this season and he has completed 6 of 12 passes (50%) for 63 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT (30.9 QB Rating).  A.J. Feeley will move up to the second team for the Panthers with Delhomme injured.  As bad as Delhomme has played this season the Panthers can’t do much worse with Moore or Feeley starting for them.

31-year old Dirk Nowitzki is really playing at a high level this season for the Mavericks. He has played in 16 games (all starts) so far this season and he is averaging 38.0 minutes, 27.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.6 blocked shots per game. Nowitzki, in my own opinion, reminds me a lot of Larry Bird. Bird was a better all-around player as he was a better passer, rebounder and defender but the numbers of Nowitzki are not far off from his. Bird played in 897 games (870 starts) in his NBA career and he averaged 38.4 minutes, 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.8 blocked shots per game. Nowitzki has played in 855 games (831 starts) in his NBA career so far and he has averaged 36.6 minutes, 22.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Even though he falls a little short in the comparison with Bird it’s still a solid area for Nowitzki to be in and the Mavericks are lucky to have him around to lead the team

Ben Roethlisberger is out for tomorrow’s game against the division rival Baltimore Ravens.  He is still having issues with the concussion he suffered last week against the Chiefs.  Roethlisberger has played in all 10 games for the Steelers this season and he has completed 237 of 344 passes (68.9%) for 2,867 yards with 17 TD passes and 10 INTs (98.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 26 times for 42 yards (1.6 ypc) with 2 TDs this year.  The Steelers will be forced to start 24-year old Dennis Dixon at QB.  Dixon has played in 1 game in his NFL career and he has completed his only pass attempt for 3 yards.  He also has 2 carries for -3 yards (-1.5 ypc) this year.  Under ordinary circumstances the Steelers would likely just run the ball more with Rashard Mendenhall.  But, two factors will make that hard to do.  First up is the Ravens’ D which is allowing only 92.1 yards rushing per game and 3.5 yards per carry.  Secondly, Rashard Mendenhall ran his mouth last season before the Steelers played the Ravens and they broke his shoulder ending his rookie year.  This is a big, big loss for the Steelers and they better hope his concussion like syndrome doesn’t linger too long or the Steelers will be watching the playoffs on T.V.

26-year old righty swinging 1B Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers finished 4th in the MVP voting of the A.L. Cabrera played in 160 games for the Tigers last season and he was 198 for 611 (.324 avg, .942 OPS) with 96 runs scored, 34 homers, 103 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. The thing about Cabrera that is downright scary for opposing pitchers is that he is nowhere near his prime yet. He has played in 1,040 games in his major league career so far and he is 1,220 for 3,921 (.311 avg, .925 OPS) with 630 runs scored, 209 homers, 753 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. There have been rumors that the Tigers might be willing to part with Cabrera over the winter in a trade to relieve them of his salary but you heard it here first…….that would be idiotic!

This is a heated rivalry that the Bills and Dolphins have that goes back to the good old days of Dan Marino and Jim Kelly.  Chad Henne and Ryan Fitzpatrick won’t be likely putting on an air show like Marino and Kelly used to this weekend.  The Dolphins are really playing well the last seven weeks losing to only the Patriots and Saints in that time.  They abused the Bills in the first meeting between these teams 38-10 in Miami.  The Dolphins will likely have the same type of gameplan which included a lot of running the ball on offense.  The Bills are allowing 165.9 yards rushing per game and 4.9 yards per carry this season so look for Ricky Williams to be heavily involved in the offense.  Chad Henne will likely only be asked to manage this game and that is a good idea due to the ballhawking secondary that the Bills employ that already has 17 pickoffs this season.

The Bills will likely come out firing the football around the field in a attempt to get the Dolphins out of their game plan.  Terrell Owens and Lee Evans will likely be the players most targeted in the passing game as the Fins will be starting two rookies at CB.  For that type of offense to work the O-Line will have to give Fitzpatrick time to throw the ball.  That will be easier said than done with the injuries the Bills have suffered recently along the O-Line.  The Fins will likely be blitzing a lot in this game with Jason Taylor and the recently rejuvenated Joey Porter.  The Bills will also likely use a lot of screen passes in this game to beat the blitz.  Fred Jackson will likely do a lot of the heavy lifting in the running game and out of the backfield in the passing game as Marshawn Lynch is gimpy right now. 

PREDICTION:  DOLPHINS 24, BILLS 17