Written by Jesse Lamovsky

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Carolina Panthers @ Cleveland Browns

Time: 1:00 pm, Sunday, November 28, 2010

Location: Cleveland Browns Stadium

Network, Announcers- FOX: Chris Rose and Torry Holt

Line: Browns by nine-and-a-half

Team W/L Records: Cleveland is 3-7; Carolina is 1-9.

Coaches: Eric Mangini is 31-43 overall, 8-18 in his second season with the Browns; John Fox is 72-66 in his ninth season with the Panthers.

Last Week for the Browns: Forced six turnovers yet somehow still lost to the Jaguars, 24-20. Jacksonville turned the ball over on five consecutive possessions in the second half, yet the Browns were only able to glean a defensive touchdown and a field goal from the bounty.  

Last Week for the Panthers: Were manhandled at home by Baltimore, 37-13. The Ravens blew the game wide open late with a pair of defensive touchdowns, while Joe Flacco pierced Carolina’s defence for 301 passing yards.      

All-Time Series: Panthers lead, 3-0.

Last Meeting- October 8, 2006: Carolina’s defence held Cleveland out of the end zone, forced three turnovers and scored a touchdown of its own as the Panthers defeated the Browns handily, 20-12. DeShaun Foster led the way for Carolina with 106 yards on 24 carries.

Out, Doubtful or Questionable for Carolina: S Marcus Hudson (ankle), S Jordan Pugh (hamstring), RB Tyrell Sutton (ankle) and G Travelle Wharton (toe) are doubtful.

Out, Doubtful or Questionable for Cleveland: LB Scott Fujita (knee) is out; QB Colt McCoy (ankle) and CB Eric Wright (knee) are doubtful; WR Joshua Cribbs (foot), S Mike Adams (abdomen), LB Eric Barton (shoulder), DE Kenyon Coleman (knee), DT Shaun Rogers (ankle) and TE Benjamin Watson (ankle) are questionable.

What to watch for the Browns: It’s been a season of gut-wrenching losses for the Browns. In six of Cleveland’s seven losses they’ve had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter or in overtime. A few more plays made here or there and the Browns could be 5-5 or 6-4, not 3-7.

It’s been frustrating. And now here comes a talent-deficient, injury-riddled Carolina team that sports the NFL’s worst record at 1-9. The Panthers are last in the league in scoring offense, last in total offense and have the biggest negative point differential at -135. By almost every measure this is the worst team in pro football.

I know I should be wishing simply for a Browns victory- any kind of victory. But after a season of near-misses I’m fed up. I don’t just want Cleveland to win. I want a rout. I want the guys on “Around the Horn” to argue about whether or not Eric Mangini should have “called off the dogs” in the fourth quarter. I want the Browns to take out a season’s worth of exasperation on the hapless Panthers. The guys on the team deserve it... and so do we.

What to watch for the Panthers: There’s not much to watch. Carolina is bad- very bad. They’ve won just one game this season, by three points over the 49ers, and had to rally from a fourth-quarter deficit to do it. They’ve lost four in a row, the last three by margins of 31, 15 and 24 points. The Panthers are terrible. What else is there to say?

Next Week for Both Teams: Cleveland plays at Miami; Carolina visits Seattle.

Trivia: The Panthers are the only team in the NFL the Browns have never beaten. They lost to Carolina in the expansion year of 1999, the playoff year of 2002 and 2006.