Panthers hope for road trifecta at Seattle for NFC Championship

First it was the NFC East champions New York Giants. Then the NFC North champions Chicago Bears. Next week, the Carolina Panthers will try for a road trifecta as they travel to Seattle to face the offensive minded Seahawks for a place in Super Bowl XL.

In the very even NFC, these could very well be the two best teams. Seattle had the conference's best record, but Carolina was probably the preseason favorite. One problem: both lost key players to injury in their wins this weekend.

Shaun Alexander, the league's leading rusher and MVP this season, left the Seahawks' 20-10 victory over Washington Saturday with a concussion. Indications are he will play. Carolina lost starting running back DeShaun Foster for the season with a broken ankle. Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers injured his shoulder but said he expects to play next week.

On paper, this is a matchup between Seattle's offense and Carolina's defense - the Seahawks led the NFL this season with 452 points. But that can be simplistic - the Panthers and Bears both moved the ball well in a game that was supposed to end up something like 6-3 or 10-6 instead of a contest with 50 points and 716 yards between the two teams.

It's also a matchup between two of the NFL's more underrated quarterbacks - Carolina's Jake Delhomme (5-1 in the playoffs in his career) and Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck, both Pro Bowlers. Delhomme threw for 319 yards and three TDs in Chicago; Hasselbeck carried the Seahawks after Alexander went out in the first quarter.

But the offensive players to watch will be two All-Pros - Alexander, assuming he plays, and Carolina's Steve Smith, the league's leading receiver. Smith had 12 catches for 218 yards and two TDs in Chicago and sometimes seems impossible to stop no matter what the coverage - he's skilled at turning short screens into long gains and also is threat on the reverse.

The home field should be an edge for Seattle. The Seahawks are 9-0 at Qwest Field, one of the noisiest venues in the league - indoors or out. But Carolina won the NFC title two seasons ago in Philadelphia, another tough home field.

NFL Football Betting odds: BODOG Sportsbook

NFC Championship Matchup :

Seattle Seahawks (off the board)

Carolina Panthers (off the board)

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